At our mid-size institute, students are admitted to the honors program on the strength of the following criteria: grades, test scores, and an essay submission. Yet once students are placed in honors composition, little is known about the students’ research writing experiences and abilities. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative surveys to establish a baseline of 60 honors students’ expectations and assumptions about honors composition and research writing. The study also looks at the honors student’s perception of “self” as a learner.

The results of this study provide insights on the unique needs of honors students, ways to assist the honors students as they transition into the academy, and suggestions for designing honors composition curriculum.