About
The photo above is of one of the architectural friezes on the south side of the Texas Union Building. Plan II acquired the photo from the Texas Union archives and has used it on many program materials for almost a decade.
Since Plan II is the interdisciplinary arts and sciences undergraduate major, we feel the iconography represents the program's ideals. The frieze incorporates classic Texas symbols (the prickly pear cactus, a road runner, a jackrabbit, a horned toad--or "horny toad" in the vernacular--and, of course, a longhorn) surrounding Athena's owl perched on the book of knowledge. Just for good measure, the emblem says "Arts and Sciences"...from the days when the two colleges, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, were one.
About the Plan II Honors Program at UT
Since 1935, Plan II has been one of the most respected honors programs in
the country, with a national reputation for academic excellence. Plan II is
education without boundaries. Plan II excites all curiosities. Its core is
the study of literature, philosophy, society, natural science, mathmatics and
the arts, all in the form in which they have the most meaning for the lives
of real individuals. Its spirit is the freedom to cross intellectual boundaries
and
to seek understanding
wherever it is to be found. Plan II students have explored everything that
makes us human in the best sense, from poetry to the latest discoveries in
physics or cosmology.
Plan II is a selective four-year interdisciplinary arts and sciences major
that leads from a broad and strenuous core curriculum in the early college
years to a student's own choice of coursework in the later ones. Our goal is
to prepare students to be ideal citizens by setting their minds on lifelong
learning. Classes are
pitched at a level to challenge students entering from the top 5% of their
graduating class and with average combined SAT verbal and quantitative scores
well over 1400. The Plan II major consists of a core curriculum including humanities,
social
sciences,
fine arts and natural sciences, with the result that Plan II graduates have
a fine general education on topics ranging from Greek Philosophy and world
literature to quantum mechanics and the structure of DNA. In the end, their
research and writing skills are put to the test in an exacting senior thesis
requirement. Although the Plan II major consists of a general core curriculum,
many Plan II students specialize by using their electives to complete the equivalent
of a second major in a particular subject area. Each year a number of students
complete the premed curriculum in conjunction with their Plan II major, while
others earn second degrees in such areas as business, film, engineering, English,
journalism and architecture.
The Plan II Honors Program emphasizes individual contact and community. Small classes and a common curriculum develop a sense of intimate community among students, while the size of the University of Texas gives students an enormous range of freedom to pursue almost any interest, and provides extensive library, student services and computing infrastructures to do it well. We have two full time professional academic advisers, experienced and well-trained peer advisers, and faculty advisers (including the Plan II director and associate director) working with Plan II students on a regular basis. These advisers help our students choose their courses each semester, plan future courses of study, research and write their Plan II theses, and explore different academic disciplines in preparation for a career. Our advisers work in conjunction with advising services offered by the University that include orientation advisers, career exploration advisers, interrnship and career advisers, study abroad advisers and professional mental health counselors. (The final bonus is that we accomplish all this at state school prices rather than the fortune charged by private institutions!)
The profiles of graduating classes name the fine law, medical and graduate programs about fifty percent of our Plan II graduates attend each year. Also included are the graduates' honors and awards, average GRE, LSAT and MCAT scores (compared to national averages) and a representative selection of first career positions. (Most of the profiles include only May graduates. Approximately 135 Plan II students graduate each May; another 15-20 graduate each August, and from 25 to 35 Plan II Honors students will graduate each December.
