Honors in Your Major
Students who do outstanding work in their Weinberg major may pursue graduation with department or program honors in that major.
There are several requirements for graduating with honors in your major, and details vary among departments and programs; be sure to consult with your major adviser or the director of undergraduate studies.
Common requirements
- An honors project: Completion of a substantial research project or other integrative type of work is always required. The project must culminate in a written report or some other tangible record. Working on an honors project lets you learn more about some area within your major that you find especially intriguing and, in many cases, gain first-hand experience that resembles that of practitioners in your field. Often, you are not just learning what has come before; you are creating or discovering something new.
- Excellent grades in your major courses: Complete with distinction the standard courses required for the major and at least two quarters of 398 or 399 or a combination thereof. (There are limits on counting 398 and 399 credits toward graduation requirements.)
Departments may add other criteria to this list. Departments and programs offering an option to pursue honors in the major have a written honors policy that meets standards set up by the Weinberg Committee on Undergraduate Academic Excellence to preserve uniformity throughout the college.
You must be formally nominated for honors by your department or program in spring of the year you complete your honors project and then approved by the Weinberg College Committee on Undergraduate Academic Excellence. Nomination to this committee does not guarantee the award of honors; the committee makes the final determination.
If you are working on a thesis in a Weinberg major during your senior year and hope to be considered for nomination for honors, you should not plan to graduate in Fall or Winter Quarter of that year. Decisions about honors are made in the spring, and students who have graduated are not considered. You do not need to register for classes during Spring Quarter, but should indicate a Spring Quarter graduation term on your Petition to Graduate. It is also fine to graduate in a term later than Spring Quarter of the year you pursue honors.
Plan ahead to pursue honors
If you are considering pursuing honors in your major, you should speak with your College Adviser and your major adviser as soon as possible, even if you don’t have a particular project in mind. There are several reasons to plan ahead. First, completing an honors thesis can influence a number of other decisions, such as whether to study abroad or complete a second major. Second, departments have different timetables and methods for selecting students for their honors program and for when students begin work on their project, and you’ll need to know the protocol in your major. For example, some select potential honors candidates in spring of the junior year. Finally, since your overall record plays an important role in determining whether you can pursue honors, the more you can prepare and strategize with your advisers, the better.
Honors in two departments
A student with two Weinberg majors who is interested in pursuing honors in both subjects should indicate that intent to each department or program in initial discussions about honors and should mention it in department or program honors applications. If the projects are distinct, the student may pursue honors in each department. If, however, the projects overlap and inform each other, the student may do a single, synthetic project designed to lead to honors in interdisciplinary studies. See our webpage on Pursuing Honors in Two Departments or Programs if you are interested in either of these options.
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