Each year Muir College invites the most academically successful students in its incoming freshman class to participate in the Muir Freshman Honors Seminar led by Provost Susan Smith. Students enroll in the one-unit seminar Muir90H Undergraduate Education and the Modern Research University which meets weekly with a different member of the UC San Diego faculty during Fall quarter to discuss his or her current research. The seminar offers academically gifted students the opportunity to meet faculty from a wide range of disciplines in a small group setting. Students also appreciate the chance to get to know other high achieving students in the freshman class – many long-term friendships have been made in the seminar. Criteria for admission to the seminar change yearly. For information, please contact Muir Honors Advisor Terri Cain.
In Winter quarter, Freshman Honors Students are invited to participate in a series of informal brown bag lunches with a new, interdisciplinary group of faculty.
The Caledonian Society is Muir College's Senior Honors Society. The Society celebrates Muir students from all majors who have attained an exceptional level of academic achievement. All students who entered UC San Diego as freshmen who achieve Senior standing (135 graded units) with a grade point average of 3.8 or above are invited to membership. Students who transferred to UC San Diego from a community college or other four-year college qualify for membership based on their cumulative academic record at the
college from which they transferred and at UC San Diego.
The Caledonian Society was established by Muir's founding provost John Stewart. Its name, taken from the ancient Romans’ name for Scotland, Caledonia, commemorates the birthplace of the College’s namesake John Muir, who was born in Dunbar, Scotland. New members who qualify for Caledonian Society membership by the end of Fall quarter are inducted at an annual banquet held on the Friday closest to the birthday of Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, on January 25. Caledonian traditions include a first course of haggis, a Scottish national dish traditionally eaten on Burns’ birthday and presented to guests to the accompaniment of bagpipes, and a reading of Burns' poem Ode to the Haggis. Students' family members and favorite faculty members are also invited to this spirited event.
All members of the Caledonian Society are invited to participate in Winter quarter brown bag lunch series to meet with UC San Diego faculty in an informal, small group setting.
Meet the new Caledonians inducted into membership in 2009.
Each Spring, the provost designates between three and five graduating seniors as Muir Scholars – the highest academic honor that the College bestows. The Muir Scholar award represents academic accomplishment of a truly extraordinary order. Students are selected on the basis of grade point average, number of A+ grades earned, breadth of academic achievement in fields outside the student's major, and the extent to which the student has taken advantage of academic opportunities such as departmental honors programs, undergraduate research, education abroad, internships, and the like. Students who transferred to UC San Diego from a community college or other four-year college qualify for membership based on their cumulative academic record at the college from which they transferred and at UC San Diego. The Muir Scholar awards are presented at the College’s Commencement ceremony. Meet the Muir Scholars for 2009.
Academic honors awarded by UC San Diego include Provost's Honors for students who, in any given quarter, earn a grade point average of 3.5 or above; Latin Honors (Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Cum Laude) for graduating seniors at the top of their class; and the national honors society, Phi Beta Kappa.
