honors vs double major

[psychmath924]

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Hello, I am a sophomore at a liberal arts school and I was wondering what the difference is in regards to graduate school applications for applicants who have honors research vs a double major and a minor. I have a double major in psychology and math with a minor in music. I hope to do a research project incorporating psychology and mathematics. So I would have research experience. My question is how much weight does honors have in front of my research compared to just normal research and how much weight does a double major have. Thank you!

 

[cara susanna]

I had two minors with no honors research and still got interviews, so yeah.

 

[KillerDiller]

I really don't think that having the official credential of honors work or that of a double major is weighted very heavily in admissions. What matters most is your experience and what you can add to the lab you are applying to. Math experience would be great for a lab that focuses on psychometrics, but it probably doesn't matter that much whether you have a full math major or just a lot of classes. Likewise, the part of honors research that matters most is the research, not the honors.

 

[alleycatpsych]

Since graduating with honors requires you to delve into your major (presumably Psychology) more deeply and to conduct your own research project in that area, I would think that admissions would look on that more favorably than a double major. But like the others have said, I don't think you need either to be admitted. You can do independent research without being an honors student.

 

[futureapppsy2]

never mind.

 

[krisrox]

I'd say go with whichever will give you more QUALITY research, and whichever correlates with your overall research interests. I doubt schools will really pick apart your app saying: " Well this one did an HONORS research project and this one just did research... " As for the double major, it's pretty far down on the list of things that look impressive to grad schools, but it still matters in the long run. I'd say do something you like to do and could see yourself doing in grad school.