How to Apply for Honors
If you’re interested in pursuing honors, start talking to faculty early in your academic career to ask them about the possibility of doing research under their direction. Some faculty, depending on their research projects, may require other courses as prerequisites for working with them.
Most students begin honors work in the second semester of their junior year, or in the first semester of their senior year, although you may apply earlier.
To apply, contact the department chair via email or in writing. Your email or letter should include:
- A statement asking to be admitted
- An unofficial transcript
- A brief description of the research you propose to do.
Requirements
Honors students are required to conduct research in at least their senior year under the supervision of a faculty member in the Gustaf H. Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Other requirements include:
- Research: As an honors students, you must enroll for a minimum of one semester of research. Usually, two semesters are required. A detailed progress report must be submitted to your research supervisor to complete each credit.
- Seminars: You are expected to participate in the faculty/student seminars held weekly each semester. In addition, you will have to present a seminar about your research during your final year.
- Exams: You must attain a satisfactory standard in four of five American Chemical Society comprehensive exams, which are administered in your senior year in the areas of analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry.
Honors Awards
Honors are awarded after consultation of the entire chemistry faculty.
There are three levels of Honors — Honors, High Honors, and Highest Honors — awarded on the basis of a student’s overall grade point average in chemistry and the standards attained in research, seminars, and comprehensive exams.
Admission to the Honors Program does not necessarily guarantee that Honors will be awarded.