<p>In my entry year (2008) the honors college requirement for automatic entry was top 10% of class and 30 ACT. As romani said it has gotten more difficult to get in due to the larger #s of students with such stats so now there is a formalized process to apply for consideration in the honors college if you don’t meet the top 5% of class requirement by writing an additional essay (check out [Honors</a> College Admission](<a href=“http://www.honorscollege.msu.edu/admissions/index.html]Honors”>Admissions Overview - MSU Honors College)). I haven’t heard any students get in off this process though (I don’t exactly hang out with honors college freshmen), so I won’t be able to contribute to the discussion there. Don’t expect to get into the HC if you don’t meet the initial requirements though, I don’t think it is very common for appeals to be granted. If you are close in stats you may also get invited to academic scholars (2 year program where you can eventually get into the honors college with good enough grades). </p>
<p>As for ADS, you can definitely be invited to ADS even if you don’t meet the honors college requirements (but still have high stats) but the likelihood of winning an award on that basis is slim. As romani said just make sure to apply before November 1 for full consideration of scholarships.</p>