International student

Apply to ASU first

International students who will be first-year ASU students or who are transferring to the university must first apply to Arizona State University and then may begin the separate and free Barrett application.

ASU Application  Common Application

Activate your ASURITE ID

When you apply for ASU admission, you are issued an ASURITE ID. You must activate your ASURITE ID, which includes identifying a password. The ASURITE ID and password are required to begin the free Barrett application.

ASURITE activation

Apply to Barrett

A limited number of students are admitted to Barrett each year; early application is strongly encouraged. Barrett reserves the right to request additional information following the submission of an application. Prospective students may apply only once to Barrett for any given semester.

The Barrett application does not need to be completed in one sitting. A student may start, save their work, exit, and then return at a later date to finish and submit the application ahead of the appropriate deadline.  After starting the application, a student may re-access it via the “Apply now” button.

Apply now

Letters of recommendation

Students are required to have two letters of recommendation as part of their Barrett application. The letters of recommendation must be in English. At least one of the recommendations must be academic in nature, written by a high school teacher or university professor who instructed the student in a class. The second letter may also be academic, or it may be from a guidance counselor, academic or club advisor, coach, supervisor at a place of employment, etc.

Barrett will not receive and cannot access letters submitted via Naviance, to the central ASU Admission Services office, or via the Common App. Prospective students must use the Barrett application to identify and then send notification emails to their two recommenders. These messages will contain directions for how to upload a letter directly to a student’s Barrett application.

On the Barrett application, each student is given the option to waive the right to view their letters of recommendation. This means the applicant will not be able to see the recommendations submitted on their behalf. Choosing to waive or not waive will have no impact on how the Barrett admissions committee reviews the application.

Many recommenders prefer - or may even require - the ability to submit a confidential recommendation letter. We encourage each student to have a clear understanding of their recommender’s expectations in this regard. The decision to waive or not waive the right to view a letter is shared with each recommender.

Transcripts

Incoming first-year students will upload their unofficial high school transcript to their Barrett application. An unofficial transcript is a copy of a transcript that has been in the possession of the student. No official transcripts should be sent to the honors college unless specifically requested by a Barrett admissions officer. Unsolicited official transcripts will not be opened and will be immediately forwarded to the central ASU Admission Services office. (An official transcript is an original document directly submitted by an authorized staff member or department of a high school, college, or university; e.g. the Registrar.)

Test scores

Barrett will continue to be ACT and SAT “test blind” for spring 2024 and fall 2024. To be clear, this means Barrett will not consider ACT or SAT scores for 2024 honors college applications even for students who may wish to submit exam results. As ACT and SAT scores can have a positive impact on the ASU merit scholarship process, we do encourage prospective students to provide their results to the university.

Barrett also does not consider SAT Subject Tests in our admissions process (which were permanently discontinued in 2021). Students will, however, be asked to share their Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) test results on the Barrett application, as well as indicate instances where test-sitting cancellations impacted their plans to complete an AP or IB examination.

Application essays

The Barrett application essay allows you to address our admissions committee in your own voice. We have a deep interest in knowing why you are considering Barrett, The Honors College, and your essay will let us better see you as a future scholar in our honors community.

The essay will also contribute to our assessment of your ability to write effectively, a key skill for success in the honors curriculum.

Keep the following in mind:

• Your essay should closely examine your ideas about your education and about the Barrett experience
• Your essay may take creative and intellectual risks, but be sure to address and integrate all elements of the prompt
• Your essay should give the admissions committee insight into how you think, how you reason, and what you value

With an essay of approximately 300 - 500 words, reply to *one* of the following prompts. Your response may be critical or creative. Indicate at the top of your essay which prompt you are addressing.

• Prompt 1 
  Discuss how a specific piece of art (painting, literature, photograph, etc.) or popular culture (song, comic book, etc.) helped you realize something new about yourself or the world. What was that realization, and how did the piece of art or pop culture bring about this change in your thinking? Do not simply describe the piece of art or pop culture; instead, focus on its effect on you and how it makes you a good fit for the Barrett Honors College experience. 
• Prompt 2 
  Tell us about a habit or way of thinking that others would recognize as “uniquely you.” This is something you value and would hesitate to give up because it is a distinct part of who you are or what makes you different - why is it so? Be sure to share how this aspect of your identity makes you a good fit for the Barrett Honors College experience.

International students applying for Barrett Upper Division enrollment also compose a short essay addressing the following prompt: “Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project as the culmination of their honors college experience. In an essay of no more than 250 words, share your thoughts on the value of this capstone project to your educational goals.”

You will upload the primary and Upper Division essays as PDF (strongly preferred) or Word documents to your Barrett application. 

Creative supplement (optional)

Each applicant may submit a single creative supplement - though multiple items may be included within - of no more than 5 pages in length. The document must be in Microsoft Word or PDF format and include the following:

• The student’s full name and 10-digit ASU ID number clearly presented at the top of page 1.
• A brief description of what is being submitted.
• A concise explanation of how the applicant feels the creative supplement enhances their application materials. In short, why is it important for the Barrett admissions committee to consider?

A creative supplement may be uploaded to the Essays page of the Barrett application.

• Creative Supplement Example 1
• Creative Supplement Example 2

Barrett cannot accept mp3 files. Should a student wish to submit an audio or audiovisual recording, the file must be uploaded to a website, such as YouTube, with the link to the piece then provided in the creative supplement document.