Honors
Director of Honors: Roisin O'Sullivan
The honors program offers qualified and highly motivated students an opportunity to work independently and on a more intensive basis with a faculty member.
Applying for Honors
The GPA requirement for admission to the honors program is 3.50 or higher in the economics major at the beginning of the senior year.
The Department of Economics considers honors proposals for the following academic year two times each year: at its last meeting of the current academic year in early May and at its first meeting of the next academic year in early September. Students are encouraged to talk to faculty members about potential thesis topics throughout their junior year and submit a proposal during the second semester of their junior year. New proposals, however, will also be considered at the start of the applicant's senior year. Students should submit their proposals to the honors director before the department meeting at which their proposal is considered.
Applications for admission to the honors program are available in the office of the director of honors and in College Hall 23.
Requirements
- Basis: ECO 150 and 153
- ECO 220 (formerly 190), 250 and 253
- 430d or 431 Thesis (8 credits)*
It is highly recommended that honors students take Economics 220 (formerly 190), 250 and 253 before the fall semester of their junior year. Students planning to undertake statistical analyses in their thesis should also take econometrics (ECO 240) before their senior year.
*Students may elect either a yearlong thesis course (430d) or a fall semester course (431). The thesis for the yearlong course must be submitted to the director by April 15. The thesis for the one-semester course must be submitted by the first day of classes of the following semester.
Thesis
The honors thesis is credited as a two-semester course receiving a total of 8 credits. The normal course load is six additional 4-credit courses taken during the senior year. The honors student normally takes this reduced load of course offerings so that she will have ample time for her thesis research. Financial support for student research is available.
Evaluation
Honors students must take an oral examination in economic theory, with emphasis on application to the field of the thesis.
Successful honors candidates will be graduated with honors in economics, high honors in economics or highest honors in economics. The level of honors is determined by the student's average grade in courses of her major, by the grade received on her oral honors examination and by the grade received on her written thesis. The grade received on the written thesis is by far the most important indication of the student's probable level of honors award. Most honors students receive honors in economics. Should the honors candidate's performance in the honors program be deemed unworthy of honors but still worthy of course credit, the student will receive a grade determined by her thesis adviser and will simply receive her degree without an honors designation.
