Honors Deadlines & Requirements
IT Deadlines
During your final semester, you should fill out a Final Graduation with Honors form with your completed Honors experiences Also, you need to fill out a thesis approval form with signatures of your research adviser and the DUDHP.The Final Graduation with Honors form should be turned in to the IT honors office by the 7th week of the term of graduation. This occurs typically early March for spring graduation and mid-October for fall graduation. Check with the IT honors office for exact deadline.
The Thesis Approval form and the Thesis must be turned in to the IT honors office by the end of the last week of classes of the term of graduation. This occurs typically early May for spring graduation and mid-December for fall graduation. Check with the IT honors office for exact deadline.
CLA Deadlines
Sometime after you have completed 75 credits, you should file appropriate forms so that you can graduate with honors in a timely manner.I.Apply to graduate at the beginning of the term in which they expect to complete all degree requirements. The deadline is typically January for spring graduation, September for fall graduation and late June for summer graduation. For exact date, check here.
II. When you are completing an Honors thesis or project, you must also verify completion of that project before you graduate.
- A. If you are finishing your project during your final term,
- i. Turn in an "Honors in Progress" form, signed by your faculty advisor, to the Honors office by the degree application deadlines noted above. Then
- ii. When the project is completed (ideally by the end of the term), submit a "Graduation with Honors" form (new window), signed by your faculty advisor (and faculty readers, if required), and turn it in to the Honors office.
B. If you have completed your project by the beginning of your graduation term, you need only submit the signed "Graduation with Honors" form and the thesis (if required).
III. If you want to apply for honor thesis/project grant, you may be able to get up to $500.
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A. You must be a Senior completing an honor thesis or honor project.
B. Application should be submitted before you start your research. If you have already started the research, the priority will be lower.
C. Deadline is the Friday of the second week of class (fall and spring only)
D. For details, see Thesis Grant Application.
Honors Requirements
| Cum Laude | Magna Cum Laude | Summa Cum Laude | |
| GPAI | 3.500 | 3.667 | 3.750 |
| Thesis | Yes | Yes | YesII |
| Honors Experiences (IT)III | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Honors Opportunities (CLA)IV | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Honors seminar | 2 semesters | 2 semesters | 2 semesters |
I. GPA is calculated from credits you received in the upper division. More precisely, it is calculated from your "final 60 credits" you obtained before you graduate including liberal education courses but excluding S/N credits. Credits must be earned at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus (transfer credits are not included). All of the credits earned in the semester in which the 60th upper division credit is obtained (counting from the end of the transcript) are included in calculating the UD GPA, so the total is often more than 60.
II. If you are aiming at Summa Cum Laude in CLA, you must have three faculty members approve your thesis/project, two from inside your major and one from outside.
III. Completing the following experiences while you are accumulating the “final 60 credits” satisfies this IT requirement. To be able to write an Honors thesis, everyone will have to do research (Group B below). All honors candidates should enroll for two semesters of the Honors Seminar (Phys 4940H or 4960H), preferably in the junior year (Group A below). Summa candidates will need to choose an additional honors experience from Group C.
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Group A. Honors seminar: 2 semesters of Phys 4940H or 4960H, 1 credit per semester. Honors seminar allows you to get to know other Honors students, plan your research, and learn how to construct a thesis.
Group B. Research experience: the research should be done in the upper division under the supervision of a faculty member and encompass at least a semester of work. A report of the results of this research, in appropriate scientific format, serves as the basis for the honors thesis. This thesis research may be carried out while holding a UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) or other research award as long as it is conducted in the upper division (i.e., after the spring of the sophomore year).
Group C. This includes the following options:
- i. Taking a 5xxx- and 8xxx-level class (usually in physics but it could be any in IT, CLA or CBS) which is not usually taken by undergraduates.
ii. Taking an upper division honors class in IT, CLA or CBS (3xxx and above).
iii. Tutoring in Lind Hall
iv. Serving as an undergraduate TA.
v. Honors contract: Elective upper division physics course for which you submit a plan for additional work beyond the course requirements, subject to approval by the course instructor and the DUDHP. Contract forms are available from the DUDHP.
vi. An upper division UROP or other research experience NOT directly connected with thesis research.
vii. Approved learning abroad experiences.
Note: No lower division honors courses are counted as honors experiences except for Chem 2312, Honors Organic Laboratory, which counts whether taken in lower or upper division.
IV. Completing the following "opportunities" satisfies this CLA honors requirement.
- A. Honors thesis or project: the project should be done under the supervision of a faculty member, and encompasses about a semester of work, which should result in a paper, which will satisfy the "Thesis" requirement.
B. Honors seminars
C. Honors classes
D. Honors contracts allow students to receive honors credit by doing work that is qualitatively above and beyond the regular requirements in non-honors courses.
- - One of the opportunities is your thesis
- One must be outside of your major field
- At least two must be honors classroom experiences.