Frequently Asked Questions

For 2025, most scholarships pay a large portion, but not all, of the $1,750 camp registration fee. Parents or guardians of campers are responsible only for the portion of the fee not covered by the scholarship.  Campers who meet Summer Honors requirements but are not awarded a scholarship may pay the full $1,750 camp registration fee.

When a student is accepted to Summer Honors, an email is sent to the student and parent or legal guardian. The parent should follow the link, create an account, and then his or her account will be linked to the student's. Both the student or the parent may complete the registration tabs.

The Health and Nutrition tab allows you to inform us of any special dietary needs or food allergies. While providing medical information is optional, you may alert us to concerns such as asthma, bee and wasp sting allergies, or any recent injuries or surgeries that may limit physical activity. Any medical information provided will be kept strictly confidential.

The Release Waiver tab allows you to print out the form and have a parent or legal guardian sign and date it. Please scan the signed form and email it to director Kelly West at kelly.west@ung.edu, or mail it to:

Kelly West
UNG Summer Honors Program
Health & Natural Sciences
Dahlonega, GA  30597

The Camp Fees tab allows you to review any scholarship support provided by your school district, and any remaining fees that must be remitted before camp starts.

All students who send in the Release Waiver and pay the registration fees (if any) are ready to attend camp.

Every year, we have one or two students who have to withdraw from participating, some at the very last minute. When this happens, we begin calling the wait listed students from that school district and offering them the scholarship. We appreciate our wait listed students because we really dislike having such valuable scholarships go unused. We also understand when wait-listed students have made other arrangements for their summer by the time we call. There is no obligation to being on the wait list for a scholarship, only the chance that you might actually get it.

For 2025, any student who meets our qualifications and pays the registration fee of $1,750 may attend Summer Honors. We require a 3.5 GPA or better on a 4.0 scale along with solid essay(s) and a strong teacher recommendation.

Review our suggestions of what to bring.

Yes, but we ask that you and your roommate check-in at the same time. We accept any request as long as both roommates are present and agree. If your preferred roommate is not at check-in with you, we will ask you to wait until they arrive so that we can confirm the request. Having a random roommate is a choice many of our campers make. We have a packed schedule of events, and lights out and wake-up times are pretty well fixed. We also find most of our campers spend lots of free time in the dorm common areas where there are TVs, a pool table and lots of comfortable chairs and couches. These facts of camp life mean most typical roommate friction is minimized at Summer Honors.

Yes, but we discourage it for the following reasons. We hope that your parents will join us at Awards Night, so why not have them drop you off, too? We do not allow students to access their vehicles during camp. When we check you in (if you drive yourself), you will be asked to park your vehicle in a public campus lot, lock it, and give us your keys. Your keys will remain locked in the camp office until you check out. In case of emergency, we will need confirmation from a parent before we can give you your keys.

Refer to our Sample Day page to get an idea of what to expect. We spend some part of our days outside with activities like the challenge courses at Pine Valley, hiking and rock climbing on Mt. Yonah, Camp Olympics, visiting the historic Dahlonega Square, or viewing the stars at the UNG Observatory. Each of these events is weather-dependent, and changes in the schedule are inevitable. We also have a long list of UNG faculty, staff, and students who invest in our program, and with that, there is also an increased probability of changes in the schedule. We will provide you with a schedule when camp begins, and, depending on changes, we usually hand out one or two updated schedules as camp progresses.

At the end of Summer Honors each year, we ask our students to complete in-depth evaluations of our program in order to understand how we can improve and continue to build a successful program. More than 500 Summer Honors students have given us constructive feedback; this has helped to shape our program into the unique and transformational program we have today. We know we have serious goals, but we also listen and work to make this fun for our students as well!

Yes, but neither Summer Honors nor the University of North Georgia are responsible for lost or stolen items. Class sessions are organized so that all needed technology beyond a smart phone is present. Computer labs are available in the evenings for those who want to check social media or email. UNG does have free guest wi-fi access all over campus. You can connect with a laptop, tablet or smart phone in all buildings and most outdoor areas.

No, not generally. An MP3 player or other handheld device is fine, but please remember that Summer Honors and UNG are not responsible for lost or stolen items such as personal electronics. TV’s and refrigerators are not permitted. Our dorm has several TVs, and counselors will play movies and other shows in the common areas when appropriate. Depending on the dorm, we have access to pool tables, foosball and/or ping pong tables. Finding something fun to do at Summer Honors is not a problem, even if you’re “unplugged.”

The dorm has a single refrigerator. Student access is provided by camp staff for those who need medication or supplies related to a medical condition or nutritional need. See us at check-in about any medicine or other items that need refrigeration.

We routinely schedule shuttle trips to Wal-mart, especially the first night or two, to avoid the inconvenience of needing someone to bring or mail you something from home. Some students stock up on Powerade or snacks. Others buy extra sunscreen or bug spray. We've seen students purchase pillows or an extra blanket and even clothing. If only one or two students need something, a camp counselor will typically arrange to purchase the needed items for them.

In the case of over-the-counter medication like Benadryl or Advil, ask us. We will ask you to contact a parent or legal guardian on the phone so we can verify their permission, then provide what you need at no cost.

If your parent or legal guardian needs to mail or FedEx something to you, please let us know. We will confirm they have the correct mailing address and be on the lookout for the items so we can get them to you as soon as they arrive.

If you need something, let us know. We've probably encountered it before and have a solution. We will work with you to make sure your stay at camp is as comfortable as possible.

Contact us. We have some flexibility and try our best to work with families with minor conflicts. However, if you have a scholarship, missing portions of camp may void it. We handle each of these concerns on a case-by-case basis doing our best to understand that life happens.