Texas Tech University

 

 

 

 

 

Do I have to take an Honors course in the fall?

YES! Regardless of major, all incoming Honors first year students are required to participate in the Honors College First-Year Experience Program. This program has two components: the First-Year Experience course and the Learning Community Group.

The First-Year Experience (FYE) course is an Honors course specifically designed for newly admitted Honors students. These courses are taught by top faculty across campus and capped at enrollments of 18-21. Students may select from a varied list of courses based on their degree requirements and/or personal interests. All FYE courses provide some form of core curriculum or lower-level degree credit. See our Fall 2023 FYE course list.

The Learning Community Group (LCG) is a complementary component of the FYE. It is led by two Honors student mentors whose job it is to help first year students as they transition to university life. Each LCG section is matched to a specific FYE course, so students will take the LCG with the same classmates in their FYE course. All LCG sections provide one hour of course credit, and participation in all weekly LCG sessions is MANDATORY.


I have no idea which FYE class would be best for me to take!

All of our FYE lower-level classes are specifically designed for first-semester students, and almost all fulfill a TTU core curriculum requirement. The core curriculum is required for every student at TTU, no matter what your major. Some students enter TTU with AP, IB, or dual credit earned in high school, which may check off boxes in the Core Curriculum section of your DegreeWorks, and you should check this before your RRO session to see if there may be core curriculum credits which you already have fulfilled. Then, consult our Fall 2023 FYE course list and read course descriptions for our courses, where we've noted the core curriculum credit fulfilled by each course. We believe that all of our FYE courses will provide a wonderful first-semester Honors experience for you, so you can't go wrong, but here are some potentially helpful suggestions:

For Engineering majors: ENGR 1320-H02, any HONS 1304 section, HIST 2300-H01, or HIST 2301-H01
For Science majors/Pre-Health students: ENGL 1301-H01, MATH 2300-H01, HDFS 2322-H01, HONS 1302-H02, any HONS 1304 section, PSY 1300-H02, or SOC 1301-H01
For Rawls majors: BA-1301-H01 -or- H02, ENGL 1301-H01, any HONS 1301 section, any HONS 1304 section, or HONS 2406-H01 -or- H02
For Pre-Law students: ENGL 1301-H01, HIST 2300-H01, HIST 2301-H01, HONS 2406-H01 -or- H02, any HONS 1301 section, PHIL 2320-H01, or THA 2301-H01
For Humanities majors: ENGL 1301-H01, ENGL 2391-H01, HIST 2300-H01, HIST 2301-H01, any HONS 1301 section, any HONS 1304 section, HONS 2406-H01 -or- H02, or PHIL 2320-H01


How do I know how many spaces are left in the FYE course I want to take?

After deciding which FYE course you wish to take by viewing our Fall 2023 FYE course list, you may look up the number of spaces left in the course using the Section Search Tool on Raiderlink. The Section Search Tool is located under the MyTech tab, Advising Tools and Resources, under Explore Course Options heading. The LCG section associated with the FYE you have chosen will have the same number of seats remaining, as students cannot register for one without registering for the other.

Please make certain that the course you are looking at is the FYE section by double-checking the section number and CRN against our Fall 2023 FYE course list.


I can't get into an FYE that fulfills a degree requirement. Is it still mandatory?

Yes, all incoming first year Honors students must take a First-Year Experience course in order to retain membership and good standing in the Honors College. Each of our Fall 2023 FYE courses does cover either a university core curriculum requirement or a lower-level degree requirement applicable to particular majors. However, if you discover that the FYE courses remaining open to you offer credit that you already have through AP, IB, CLEP, or dual credit, you must still make an FYE course selection for your fall schedule. While we do not keep waitlists for our FYE courses, we encourage you to continue checking back on Raiderlink throughout the summer to see if spaces open up in your preferred FYE class, at which point you are free to switch your FYE/LCG selection. (You do not need permission from an Honors advisor to make this change.) We mandate participation in the FYE/LCG program for all entering first year Honors students because we believe that enrollment in your LCG (HONS 1101) will be integral to your successful transition into the Honors College, and we are sure that any FYE course you take will be a very positive first Honors course experience for you.


Do I need to take RaiderReady (IS 1100) in addition to my Honors LCG (HONS 1101)?

For most students, the answer is No. A small number of scholarships and degree programs do require that students enroll in IS 1100 in their first semester, but otherwise, we recommend Honors students not to do so. The reason is that much of the information provided in IS 1100 duplicates the information Honors students receive in the Learning Community Group course (HONS 1101) which they are required to take as part of FYE Program completion. Therefore, IS 1100 is likely redundant and is an unnecessary expenditure for most students. If you need an additional course credit hour to meet a 15-hour per semester Scholarship requirement, we suggest that you enroll, instead, in LIBR 1100-H01; or in a one-hour PFW course, if required for your degree plan. 


I'm getting registration errors when trying to register for my FYE class. Why?

  • Solution #1: If you're not entering the CRN for BOTH your FYE and LCG classes simultaneously, and are receiving an error, find both CRNs in the Fall 2023 FYE course list, and enter them in two separate boxes under the “Enter CRNs” tab of the Registration portal.
  • Solution #2: If you are entering the CRNs for both your FYE and LCG classes, but are receiving an error, check that you have the correct CRNs, and keep in mind that each FYE class is tied specifically to the LCG listed below it. You cannot mix and match your FYE and LCG sections.
  • Solution #3: If you're receiving a “Prerequisite and Test Score” Error, check the FYE Course Booklet to see if the course you're trying to enroll in has a prerequisite. If it does, you will either need to wait until credit for the prerequisite is posted to your TTU Transcript (in the case of AP/IB scores, or dual credit) or if you don't anticipate receiving credit in one of these ways, you'll need to select a different FYE course. If you have verified that the course doesn't have prerequisites, and believe that you are receiving the error message erroneously, you may email us at honors.advising@ttu.edu to receive assistance from an Honors advisor.

Can I take more than one Honors course in my first semester?

Yes, absolutely! First-semester students are REQUIRED to take one (and only one) First-Year Experience course along with its attached Learning Community Group (HONS 1101) course in their first semester. You may choose to take additional non-FYE Honors courses, if space permits, and if you have any stated prerequisites for the course(s). We would encourage you to take the Honors section, if available, of any course which you would be taking anyway in fulfillment of core curriculum or degree requirements, so that you maximize your Honors credit accrual. We will add that it's almost always true that students will do better in an Honors section of a course than in a regular section, as the Honors sections are smaller and are taught by fantastic faculty members who take the time to get to know their students more personally, and to make their courses interactive and engaging.

 

All of my pre-TTU course credit has not been posted to my TTU transcript yet. How will this affect my registration at RRO?

We recommend that you check your TTU transcript on your MyTech webpage prior to your RRO session: use your eRaider username and password to log in at raiderlink.ttu.edu, then select “Unofficial Transcript – View online” under the “Transcript” link below the ‘Manage My Enrollment' menu in the Action Items box at the top left of the page. All of the collegiate credit that has been posted for you to date by the Registrar's Office will appear on your transcript, including AP credit, SAT/ACT score credit, dual credit, and transfer credit from any another institution. So if you do not see all of the credit you believe you should have listed here, you should investigate this with the Registrar's Office by emailing registrar@ttu.edu. It may be the case that College Board score reports or transcripts from another collegiate institution have been sent to Tech on your behalf, but that these credits were not added to your student record at the time of their receipt if you were not yet registered for an RRO session at that time. This issue can be resolved quickly and easily by emailing the Registrar to look for documents that may have been received under your name and post any resulting credit for you. It may be important that you address this issue before your RRO session if you plan to register for any courses which have pre-requisite coursework for which you have credit prior to TTU enrollment. If you attend RRO before your senior year AP scores are published by College Board in mid-summer, it may be that you will have to register for a lower-level course for which you expect to receive AP credit during your RRO session, then exchange it for your desired higher-level course later in the summer after your forthcoming AP credit is posted to your TTU transcript. Please feel free to contact us to clarify these instructions if you're uncertain about your situation.


Am I required to meet with an Honors advisor with RRO?

NO. We've made it possible for you to register for the First-Year Experience class you MUST take this fall semester without permission from an Honors advisor. If you feel like you need assistance with anything related to the Honors College, please contact us via email (honors.advising@ttu.edu). We also encourage you to swing by McClellan Hall for our informal come-and-go Welcome Event on Day 2 of your RRO session.  You'll have the opportunity to meet current Honors students and Honors advisors to make a personal connection or ask any Honors-related questions.

 

 

 

 

Honors College