Honors Points & Activities
The Point System is designed to motivate Honors students to remain active and engaged.
As a general rule, students can earn points for all activities for which they are not receiving financial compensation or academic credit.
Points Goals
- To graduate with Honors: 120 points
- To earn an Honors Medallion: 150 points
Recommended milestones: 30 points per year
Note: Meeting either threshold satisfies only part of the Honors graduation requirement; for more on the complete fulfillment of this requirement, refer to the Activity Goals section below.
Exceptions can be made for Transfer students or for students who joined the Honors program after their 1st year, as well as on a case-by-case basis. Please consult with the Program Coordinator or Director.
In earning their points through a variety of different activities, Honors students develop a wide array of professional skills while also building a sprawling network of connections both at Saint Mary's and beyond.
Activity Goals
Each activity can earn a student a certain number of points toward a their graduation goal. By the time they graduate, students who have met the points threshold above must also be sure that they’ve earned the requisite points for each category of activities:
- Colloquia attended (20 points minimum)
- Each colloquium attended: 1 point.
- The recommendation is to attend 10 colloquia in your 1st year and 10 in your 2nd year.
- Colloquia led (20 points minimum)
- Each colloquium led: 2 points.
- The recommendation is to lead 5 colloquia in your 3rd year and another 5 colloquia in your 4th year.
- Honors Events (40 points minimum)
- Participation in an Honors event: 1 point.
- Leadership role/organization of an Honors event: 2 points.
- Service role at an Honors event: 3 points.
- The recommendation is to earn 10 points per year in this category.
- Career activities (required)
- Attend a Career Center 1-on-1 Session
- Attend a Career Center Workshop
- Participate in Soph Serve (peer-mentoring)
- Get a campus leadership role (soft skill)
- Participate in alumni-mentoring*
- Other Events (40 points minimum)
- Participation in a Non-Honors event: 1 point
- Leadership role/organization of an event: 2 points
- Service role at an event: 3 points
- Conferences (1 minimum)
- Presenting research at an SMC conference (including the SMC Student Conference): 3 points
- Presenting research at a conference (non-SMC): 5 points
- Student jobs (full and part-time): 3-5 points (depending on hours)**
- Uncompensated Summer course or volunteer service (without receiving academic credit): 5-10 points
- Paid internship: 3 points
- Unpaid internship: 5 points
- Other forms of experience for which you are not receiving financial compensation or academic credit can also be petitioned for points (orchestra, service, attendance at academic events not required for a class, study abroad, etc.)***
*Subject to availability
**A student can earn a maximum of 20 total points from student jobs in 4 years.
***Athletic events do not count as Non-Honors activities.
Honors App
Track Your Progress
In Summer 2023, we built a new app to track student success. Starting Fall 2023, Honors students will be able to track and assess their own learning in the classroom and beyond.
As you progress through your academic years, you can plan your journey and optimize it for your individual needs.
SMC Login Required
Open the app