Honors Thesis

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undertoad

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Hi everyone. I'm currently completing a B.S. in psychology, and my advisor and I are kicking around the idea that I might apply to the honors program and complete the thesis. This is my second undergraduate degree (my first was a double B.A., literature and creative writing). Without enrolling in the honors program, I'm on track to graduate the Spring of 2017 (and, in a perfect world, start a clinical PhD program that fall). Completing the honors thesis will add two more semesters to my undergraduate timeline, which means I would start my PhD program the Fall of 2018, assuming I was accepted during my first cycle.

Our reasoning is that taking the extra two semesters and completing the honors thesis will give me more time and opportunity to develop myself as a researcher. On an intellectual level, I totally agree. This is really the only weak part of my application. First undergraduate degree was a 3.85, and I'm currently maintaining a 4.0 in my B.S. I have six years of military experience (relevant because I want to work with veterans of OIF/OEF) and currently work part time in a related field. So, my application is pretty solid, aside from the scanty research experience.

My hang up is that I'm 32 years old. I'm in a good financial position to extend undergraduate studies, but I'm vacillating on the age issue. On a good day, I think about how all my life experiences will help me in the long run. On a bad day, I think about how other people my age already have houses and kids (I've pretty much given up on kids; I'll settle for dogs), and adding an extra year to the process seems crazy.

So, the question is: will it be worth it to take the extra year, do the honors thesis, and start graduate school at the age of 35?

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I'm just starting to volunteer in a research setting, which would give me about a year and a half of experience by the time I applied to doctoral programs. I'm looking mainly at programs that are balanced between clinical practice and research, but I know that 1.5 years is still on the low end. I'm also going at a break-neck speed right now, trying to cram everything into a year and a half. The extra year would probably be beneficial on more than one level, I guess.
 
An honors thesis may or may not be worth an additional year. Do you have any options for looking at data with your current lab? Can you do even a small independent study without calling it an honors thesis? It's not the honors thesis itself that matters, it's the experience of designing a study (note: not all honors theses involve this, but its "the best" in terms of grad school prep), running a study, analyzing it, and writing it up. Some or part of those steps can be done without slapping an honors thesis label on it, depending on your opportunities.
 
An honors thesis may or may not be worth an additional year. Do you have any options for looking at data with your current lab? Can you do even a small independent study without calling it an honors thesis? It's not the honors thesis itself that matters, it's the experience of designing a study (note: not all honors theses involve this, but its "the best" in terms of grad school prep), running a study, analyzing it, and writing it up. Some or part of those steps can be done without slapping an honors thesis label on it, depending on your opportunities.
Thanks. Those are all good suggestions, and I'll discuss them with the faculty. Yes, in my case the thesis would involve designing/running a study, and that would be the primary purpose for doing it (I'm totally unconcerned with the "honors" label). A lot of it will just depend on how things work out, schedule-wise. Between my paid job and volunteer work in the lab and community, I'm pretty much working full time in addition to going to school full time. It's a little crazy.
 
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