The Aquinas Honors Program
Advanced Placement Courses

The Aquinas Honors program

Mount Saint Dominic offers courses on an Honors level and also on a college prep level. Admittance to our Aquinas Honors program is by invitation. We offer freshmen honors courses in history, language, algebra or geometry, english and biology. Admittance is based on standardized testing, COOP results and past academic performance. A student may be invited into and may accept one or more courses.

At the end of each academic year a student's record is reviewed and an invitation may be issued by the Academic Deans even if a student has not been in an honors course before.
Please see below for specifics.

Courses: 23 offered across the diversity of academic disciplines:

Freshmen:

• Are invited based on previous academic records and/or the Cooperative Admissions Exam
• Incoming Freshmen are notified of their acceptance for an Honors course(s) along with their MSDA acceptance letter in late January.

Current incoming Mount sophomores, juniors, seniors who are CURRENTLY in an HONORS Course:

• May be accepted into the Honors section of the next year’s course provided she has achieved an average of 85 or better in the current and related courses in that discipline and has the recommendation of the teacher and the approval of the Academic Dean.
• A student whose average is below 85 in the current course may or may not be considered.
• Critical thinking skills
• Analytical writing skills as evidenced by a graded writing sample
• Initiative as a learner

Current incoming Mount sophomores, juniors, seniors who are CURRENTLY in a COLLEGE PREP Course:

• Must have an average of 92 in related courses in that discipline before being considered for acceptance into the Honors section of the next year’s course
• An average of 92 in the current course does not guarantee an acceptance into Honors.
• Critical thinking skills
• Analytical writing skills as evidenced by a graded writing sample
• Initiative as a learner

Acceptance into Honors program

• Acceptances will be issued by the Academic Deans ( not by the individual teachers) to students who meet the requirements.
• At the end of each academic year a student's record is reviewed and an invitation may be issued even if a student has not been in an honors course before. Placement in the right course and level is a priority for us.
• A student who receives an acceptance in any course(s)will respond with Yes or No.
• Students who are accepted do not have to take the Honors level course of every subject.

Academic Weighting—GPA

• Honors courses will be weighted +3 in determining GPA

Appeal Process

A student who does not receive an acceptance can request a review, which has the following steps:

• The student makes an appointment to discuss the situation with her counselor.
• If the student decides to proceed with the appeal, she will have to complete the Request for review form and return it to her counselor
  
• The counselor will gather information from the student’s current teacher and the student’s permanent record. She will pass all information to the Academic Deans who will make the decision.
• The decision of the Academic Deans will be final.

100% of MSDA’s AP courses are recognized and approved by the College Board

Courses: 8 offered across core disciplines

Eligibility for Advanced Placement Courses

Include all of the requirements for Honors listed above PLUS the following considerations:

• An interview with the Academic Dean and the current teacher of the student from that discipline
• The ability to write comparative and analytical essays
• Demonstrated ability to work independently
• The commitment to the extra time and work required

Acceptance into Advanced Placement Courses

• Acceptances will be issued by the Academic Deans ( not by the individual teachers) to students who meet the requirements.
• A student who receives an acceptance in any course(s) will respond with Yes or No.
• Students who are accepted do not have to take the Advanced Placement course
• Students electing to accept an invitation into an AP course will sign a contract agreeing to the following:
  -- Will take a 3 hour exam in January ( except for Studio Art), simulating a real AP exam.
      There are no exemptions for seniors.
  -- Expected that will attend review sessions in the weeks before the exam.
  -- Must take the AP exam in May. The exam fee is approximately $86 per exam, payable no later
     than the last Friday in September.
  -- For AP Studio Art the exam means submitting a portfolio and paying the fee of approximately
     $86, payable by the last Friday in September
  -- There is no June exam for AP students.
• Consideration will be given to having an extra period of class during the second semester for AP U.S. History and AP Literature and Composition

Academic Weighting—GPA

• AP courses will be weighted +5 in determining GPA

Appeal Process

A student who does not receive an acceptance can request a review, which has the following steps:

• The student makes an appointment to discuss the situation with her counselor.
• If the student decides to proceed with the appeal, she will have to complete the Request for
• review form and return it to her counselor
• The counselor will gather information from the student’s current teacher and the student’s permanent record. She will pass all information to the Academic Deans who will make the decision.
• The decision of the Academic Deans will be final.