Plan II Honors Essays: Fall 2027 Application

Plan II Honors Essays: Fall 2027 Application

UT Austin's Plan II Honors asks for three things: a personal statement of five sentences, a 250-word humanities short answer, and an expanded résumé. The Plan II page gives a December 1 deadline. UT's main honors page lists December 10. Submit by December 1.

Two facts catch applicants. First, picking Plan II as your major does not apply you to Plan II; UT removed it as a major option for that reason. Second, the five sentences are harder than they look, because each sentence has to carry a fact the rest of your file does not. This page gives a sentence-by-sentence plan, a constructed example, and a method for the humanities answer if you lean toward STEM. When a draft is ready, the free supplemental essay review reads each answer against its exact prompt.

Every UT page quoted below was checked on October 30, 2026. The Plan II application page is labelled "Fall 2027." For the other 14 honors colleges we checked, see honors college essays for 2026-27.

What Plan II asks for fall 2027

From the Plan II application page:

"Plan II Honors is an honors major within the College of Liberal Arts but recently has been removed from the application as a major selection option. This is because listing Plan II as a major selection is not considered applying for Plan II Honors. A complete honors application for Plan II Honors (5 sentences, short answer prompt and expanded resume - along with all required UT admissions materials) will place you in consideration for Plan II Honors."

The MyStatus honors application "is accessible only after an applicant has completed and submitted the Common application." Plan II also warns: "Students who are not admitted to UT Austin are no longer under consideration for Plan II Honors."

December 1 or December 10?

The two UT pages disagree. The Plan II page says December 1. UT's Applying for Honors page lists "Honors Application Deadline December 10" for all freshman honors programs. UT's freshman page explains the likely source: the regular "Deadline To Apply" is December 1 and the "Deadline for Supplemental Materials" is December 10.

Our recommendation: submit the Plan II prompts and résumé by Tuesday, December 1, 2026. The Plan II page is the program's own page, and finishing nine days early costs nothing. If you want to rely on December 10, email Plan II and get it in writing first.

The five sentences: one job per sentence

There are two versions of this prompt on UT's pages. The Plan II page says:

"Please use these five sentences to describe yourself, your life, and your experiences that taken together form an accurate view of who you are and why the interdisciplinary nature of the Plan II honors program appeals to you. This is your chance to shine. Be creative! Be unique! Do not list what was provided in other areas of your application."

UT's honors page words it differently: "Help us get to know you better. Please write five sentences (numbered 1-5) that give us some insight into you, your life, your interests and your experiences. There are no right answers — feel free to be creative and think outside the box."

Our view: write one set that satisfies both. Number the sentences 1 to 5, as UT's page asks. Make at least one sentence say why an interdisciplinary program fits you, as the Plan II page asks. The second wording does not ask about Plan II, so a set that covers both is safe either way.

Here is a plan that gives each sentence a different job:

"Do not list what was provided in other areas of your application" is the rule that rules out a résumé in sentences. If a sentence could be checked against your activities or transcript, it is spending a sentence on a repeat.

Five sentences also tempts you to cheat with semicolons and three clauses per sentence. Our view: a sentence that needs two semicolons is two sentences. Keep each one to one idea and you will read as confident, not crammed.

Constructed example: five sentences, two ways

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): an applicant who likes chemistry and translates for her grandmother.

Weak version (résumé in sentences):

1. I am a senior at Lakeview High School with a 4.0 GPA.
2. I am president of the Chemistry Club and a member of the National Honor Society.
3. I volunteer at the local hospital every summer.
4. I love learning about many subjects, including science, history and literature.
5. Plan II appeals to me because it is a prestigious interdisciplinary honors program with small classes.

Revised version:

1. I keep the instructions from every medicine my grandmother takes in a binder, because I translate them from English to Tagalog and once got a dose wrong.
2. Every Sunday I rewrite one of those labels so that she can read it without me.
3. I used to think clear writing was a talent; now I think it is a set of choices you can test on a reader.
4. Chemistry tells me what a drug does, and translation tells me whether the person taking it will understand.
5. I want a program where a chemistry class and a writing seminar are the same question, which is why an interdisciplinary major appeals to me more than either department alone.

What each revised sentence carries: 1 is a fact no form asks for, with a stake. 2 is a repeated, chosen habit. 3 is a changed belief. 4 joins two interests at one point. 5 answers the Plan II wording without praising Plan II. None of the five repeats a résumé line, which is the rule the Plan II page sets.

The humanities short answer in 250 words

The "Fall 2027 prompt (250 word max)," verbatim:

"The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently reported that the number of bachelor's degrees in the humanities has fallen by approximately 20% from 2012 to 2021, while the number of STEM and business degrees have sharply climbed. Nonetheless, in an age of standalone large language models (LLMs), interactive chatbots, and the escalating use of artificial intelligence in medicine, meteorology, coding, and business analytics, many STEM and business leaders are urging students to study the humanities to navigate an increasingly complex world. As an applicant to the interdisciplinary Plan II Honors program, you have chosen a major with a strong humanities component. Please explain how the humanities have shaped your educational experiences and how you anticipate applying the humanities to your study of other fields during your collegiate career and beyond."

The setup is context. The question is the last sentence, and it has two parts: how the humanities have shaped you, and how you will apply them to other fields.

Our arithmetic: 110 + 110 + 30 = 250.

Our view: do not argue with the statistic or restate it. The prompt already made that argument for you. Spend the words on your own evidence.

The countercase: if you are a STEM-leaning applicant, do not hide it. The prompt names "medicine, meteorology, coding, and business analytics." Pick the one closest to your plans and show a humanities habit you would use there: reading a source for what it leaves out, writing for a reader who disagrees, or asking who a system is built for. That is a stronger answer than claiming you are secretly a humanities major.

The expanded résumé

Plan II requires "an expanded resume," and its résumé tips page (no year stated; footer © 2025) is unusually direct:

• "A two or three page resume is fine if that's what's necessary to clearly describe your activities. This is NOT a place to be overly concise."
• Include "the number of hours you dedicated to the activity (by the week and also total by semester or year."
• "If you held a leadership role, you should specify whether or not it was an elected position and your duties."
• "There are only two ways you can hurt your application with the resume: dishonesty and over-generalizing."

The page shows the difference with its own example: an activity note, "Captain of the XYZ soccer team 5hrs/wk 11, 12," versus an expanded statement that adds whether the role was elected and four duties underneath.

Our recommendation: start from your Common App activities list, then add for each entry the purpose of any group whose name is not self-explanatory, your duties, hours per week and hours per year. Hobbies count: the page lists "cycling to photography and from piano to clogging." For tightening the shorter Common App descriptions, see Common App activities list examples.

How Plan II fits with UT's other writing

Plan II is extra writing on top of UT's own short answers, which the UT Austin supplemental essays guide covers. Three overlaps to manage:

• UT's first-choice major answer. If Liberal Arts is your second college choice, your UT major answer may be about a different field. That is fine. Plan II's answer is about the humanities, not your first-choice major.
• Liberal Arts Honors. On UT's honors page, its five-sentence prompt uses the same words as the second Plan II wording. If you apply to both, one set of five sentences can serve both, as long as it also covers the Plan II page's "why the interdisciplinary nature of the Plan II honors program appeals to you." UT's other honors programs are in UT Austin honors essays.
• The résumé. Plan II's expanded résumé can be the résumé you upload for UT. Make it the expanded version.

Questions about Plan II Honors essays

Does choosing Plan II as my major count as applying?

No. "Listing Plan II as a major selection is not considered applying for Plan II Honors." You need the five sentences, the short answer and the expanded résumé, plus Liberal Arts as one of your two college choices.

Is the Plan II deadline December 1 or December 10?

The Plan II page says December 1. UT's general honors page says December 10. Submit by December 1, 2026.

Can I apply to Plan II through early action?

No. "The honors programs do not participate in early action." Plan II decisions come "on or before March1st, 2027" [sic].

Does Plan II need recommendation letters?

No. "Plan II does not require a teacher or counselor recommendation."

Can I use ApplyTexas for Plan II?

The Plan II page names only the Common App and the MyStatus honors application. It does not mention ApplyTexas.

Do I need SAT or ACT scores for Plan II?

Yes. The checklist lists "SAT/ACT (required for Fall 2027 application review)."

Get a free review of your supplemental essay

Get a free Quick Review of your supplemental essay against GradPilot's personal short-answer and supplemental rubric. Paste the Plan II prompt and its limit with your five sentences; it checks that you answer the exact task, in a format the prompt allows, with specific details. For the 250-word humanities answer, the why-major supplemental rubric reads whether you name an academic direction, explain why it fits, and answer every part of the question.

More honors and short-answer guides:

• Honors college essays 2026-27: prompts and deadlines at 15 honors colleges.
• College short answer examples: how to make one fact count in a small box.
• Schreyer Honors College essays: Penn State's 800-word issue essay and eight short answers.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026, except where noted.

• UT Austin College of Liberal Arts, Plan II application ("Fall 2027"): requirements, December 1 deadline, no early action, both prompts, résumé, no letters, March 1, 2027.
• UT Austin College of Liberal Arts, Plan II résumé tips (no year stated): length, hours, leadership detail, example.
• UT Austin Admissions, Applying for Honors: December 10 honors deadline; five-sentence wording; Liberal Arts Honors prompt.
• UT Austin Admissions, Freshman application: December 1 regular deadline to apply; December 10 supplemental materials.