Arts Sciences mathematics majors who wish to be candidates for Latin Honors should complete an offer for Admittance to Candidacy for Latin Honors form and send it in to Dr. Blake Thornton two full semesters prior to the suggested graduation date –for instance through the finish from the junior year for May graduates. The Department may grant short extensions for this deadline (ask ahead of time!) but no extensions are guaranteed.

Writing an honors thesis involves a great deal of independent work, studying and creating mathematics, writing a paper that fits acceptable professional standards, and making an dental presentation of results. It ought to not be considered a project pulled together and performed rapidly (therefore, the deadlines, above). Students make use of a department faculty member about this project.

Student who aren’t qualified for Latin Honors but who would like to write an honors thesis to generate the High or Greatest Distinction in Mathematics awards, should fill our the Non-Latin Honors Thesis Proposal Form and send it in to Dr. Blake Thornton utilizing the same timetable. Thesis guidelines and deadlines overlap with for individuals students writing a thesis for Latin Honors

Among the purpose of an honors thesis would be to deal with a W.U. faculty member throughout the final couple of semesters of study, exploring new material and tying together skills acquired throughout the major. Therefore work done earlier inside a student’s study (for instance, throughout a summer time REU) is not appropriate, alone, like a honors thesis. But work done earlier could be ongoing in to the final two semesters at W.U. to get an honors thesis with significant additional work. It is not only in regards to a product (the thesis) but the process.

This project may be one of three types:

A) A thesis that presents significant work through the student on a number of nontrivial mathematics problems.

B) A task in mathematical or applied statistics which involves an in-depth analysis of a big data set. To complete an honors thesis involving data analysis, it is almost always essential to have finished 3200-493-494 through the finish from the junior year, and with an ability to utilize record software for example SAS (as trained in Math 475) or R.

C) A considerable expository paper that follows independent study a sophisticated subject underneath the guidance of the department faculty member. This type of report would involve careful presentation of ideas and synthesis of materials from the 3 sources.

In every situation, project completion needs a correctly written paper, conforming to professional coventions and standards for any mathematics paper, and written using TeX (the present standard for mathematical publications). The thesis will include

an abstract on page one from the paper, following a title and preceding your body from the paper. See, for instance, Assistance with abstracts in the MAA

an effective bibliography

A student should also create a acceptable dental presentation from the project before a crowd which includes a minimum of two designated department faculty people.

Developing suggestions for an Honors Project

We’ve published a summary of honors projects performed by math majors in the last many years. Their email list also shows the school consultant so that you can see who’s been associated with honors projects, as well as in what regions of mathematics.

Additionally, a lot of our faculty people have published ideas which are appropriate for honors projects (along with other less demanding projects). If something connected to these appears to appeal to you, contact the school member. Their list also provides you with a concept of the types of things some faculty are curious about. Obviously, you can approach other faculty with ideas too. You may also find out more about faculty research interests by going to the school webpages .

Through the second semester from the junior year, students planning honors usually start to develop a desire for some broad area (for example analysis or algebra), and have found a college member whom they have particularly enjoyed and can like to utilize. At that point, a student approaches a college member for recommendations in regards to a project consultant (if the faculty member is not the correct one), information on possible projects, and a few studying to obtain began.

A different way to begin a project is to use to some “Research Encounters for Undergraduates” (REU) program for that summer time following the junior year. Work done at this type of program can frequently be ongoing at WU in to the senior year to create an honors project. (A task or paper completed in an REU isn’t, alone, sufficient for any Latin Honors project. A suggestion for Latin Honors will need a lot of additional focus on the work being carried out at Washington College and among our faculty.) Here are a few links for locating an REU site. Applications deadlines for REU’s vary but they are usually early early in the year semester.

Strong majors may also thinking about affect the Department’s ARTU Program the most recent possible application with this program is extremely at the start of the junior year (see information on the ARTU Program website).

Recommended Calendar Guidelines for Honors Projects (for May graduates)

The only real solid deadlines are individuals for declaring candidacy and also the date set through the College for finishing all honors work this varies slightly from year upon year but is generally over the past week of March. However, following a “schedule” below will allow the whole process flow more easily with less last-minute stress. Honors candidates planning for a graduation in August or December should talk to Dr. about deadlines. Generally speaking, a student should simply intend on shifting the calendar guidelines accordingly to permit similar intervals for planning, writing, etc.

A) If you are intending to do honors work, you need to talk to a college consultant about possible projects throughout the spring semester from the junior year. This allows time for you to collect information and possibly perform some summer time studying so that you can “hit the floor running” within the fall semester. You could also make use of the summer time to understand and exercise using TeX .

C) Through the finish of The month of january, you will be able to provide your consultant a draft abstract and description from the paper.

D) The paper ought to be written during Feb. A tough draft, including an abstract, ought to be provided to the consultant through the finish of Feb. The prospective ought to be to have all the feaures performed by mid-March.

E) Both you and your consultant should agree with whenever you will complete your writing, as well as on to start dating ?Orhere we are at the dental presentation in mid-March. After saying yes, give these details to Dr. Blake Thornton who’ll obtain an available room and generate a committee to listen to the presentation. An almost-perfect draft ought to be provided to Dr. Thornton a minimum of 2 days prior to the dental presentation to ensure that copies could be distributed in advance to the faculty who definitely are attending the dental presentation. When the presentation is scheduled, you need to you can invite any buddies who may be interested. If scheduled enough ahead of time, the talk may also be on the Department’s Occasions List for just about any interested faculty or graduated pupils.

F) (Optional) Each spring work of Undergraduate Research publishes Washington College Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA). Any major writing an honors thesis is thanks for visiting submit an abstract for inclusion. These should be posted via the department: send to Dr. Blake Thornton. This abstract ought to be written like a MS Word documents–so fancy symbols can not be incorporated–and really should stick to the format to have an abstract indicated around the WUSHTA web site. The deadline for submission is April 1. Honors theses written for graduation in August or December from the preceding year will also be welcome.

Academic Credits

With faculty permission, students can earn credit for focus on the honors project by subscribing to L24-499 (Study for Honors), but enrollment in 499 isn’t needed. Observe that for the most part one (3-unit) independent study for example Study for Honors can count toward the fulfillment of major needs.

Hardly ever, the department may waive the conclusion of the honors thesis in thinking about candidates for top or Greatest Distinction. This can be considered limited to the discretion from the Undergraduate Committee and just for college students getting an very distinguished record which goes well past coursework requirement of the excellence awards. Such students, additionally, will often have printed original mathematical work or completed other comparable creative mathematical projects.