How difficult is it to write an honors thesis?

[plumhill]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I ask because my honors major adviser wants me to start research for my honors thesis this summer or next fall (I'm currently a sophomore). I'm a little surprised that she wants me to start this early. Is it really necessary to start that early??

Also, I'm a double major (microbiology and philosophy/ethics), and I have the opportunity to do an honors thesis for both majors, since I'll probably be taking five years to graduate (transfer student + double major requirements). Which major should I do a thesis for? And would it be ridiculous to do one for both?

 

[generator]

I ask because my honors major adviser wants me to start research for my honors thesis this summer or next fall (I'm currently a sophomore). I'm a little surprised that she wants me to start this early. Is it really necessary to start that early??

Also, I'm a double major (microbiology and philosophy/ethics), and I have the opportunity to do an honors thesis for both majors, since I'll probably be taking five years to graduate (transfer student + double major requirements). Which major should I do a thesis for? And would it be ridiculous to do one for both?

how difficult is honors thesis? at my school its not bad at all - then again i haven't done the 2nd semester where at the end we write a lengthy paper... maybe i'll change my mind, i don't know.

as far as i know, a thesis your junior year is not uncommon. you should just go ahead and do it. why not there's no harm. if anything start looking for a mentor/professor/specialperson now. my professor required 3 semesters in total so i had to start in the summer semester to learn the ways of the lab. i also got some upper level credit for it which was niiice.

i would choose a microbiology thesis. because research is fun. you get to pipette things and plate bacteria... and who knows what else. and some say research looks good to med schools so why not. i don't think its crazy to do a thesis for both majors but it seems unnecessary to me.

best of luck!

 

[235788]

The paper blows. But if your lucky you can sort of use a handful of papers as a "template" to get a good story told correctly.

 

[varsityblue]

1) Most people don't start thinking about their senior honors thesis until well into their junior year. That said, research you do up to the start of the second semester of junior year can definitely help you ascertain what you want to research and with whom you want to work under when the time to write your thesis comes.
2) Writing any 75+ page paper isn't an easy task.

 

[plumhill]

I've already got a position in a lab that I'll be able to do my honors thesis in (not in the micro dept, but doing related research), and for philosophy we can also write 3 smaller papers and have that count as an honors "thesis"...would that be better?

 

[Barcu]

Bio honors thesis are started early in many cases because it takes some time to get comfortable in a lab and start experiments that lead to a thesis. Since you already have a lab, you don't really have to stress too much. Your project will materialize.

Do your thesis in whatever you want. I don't think having two theses or a bio one over philosophy (or vice versa) really matters. It's the process itself. Do whichever one you want and do what you can reasonably handle. It can be a lot of work.

 

[varsityblue]

I've already got a position in a lab that I'll be able to do my honors thesis in (not in the micro dept, but doing related research), and for philosophy we can also write 3 smaller papers and have that count as an honors "thesis"...would that be better?

I don't know what the thesis requirements are at your particular university, unfortunately. If you're allowed to write smaller papers that can be joined into a larger thesis, I don't see why you shouldn't pursue that route. Kill a few birds with the same stone, eh?

 

[Infarction]

I would recommend doing your honors thesis in your lab. I am currently working on my honors thesis right now (4 out of 5 chapters written) in micro/molecular and after I finish, I'm planning on condensing my research into a first-author publication. With that said, getting a head start on your thesis is great (I will be defending my thesis as a junior) in that you will basically have an article written way before you graduate. As far as writing multiple theses, don't. Instead, write up one thesis and simply focus on dishing out publications in research afterward. Also, yes writing up a long enormous paper is a tedious process, but if you do what I suggest, you will basically have all of your references and your core sections (Methods/Mat, Results, Discussion) set for a pending article. Hope this helps

 

[IMSingular]

I ask because my honors major adviser wants me to start research for my honors thesis this summer or next fall (I'm currently a sophomore). I'm a little surprised that she wants me to start this early. Is it really necessary to start that early??

Also, I'm a double major (microbiology and philosophy/ethics), and I have the opportunity to do an honors thesis for both majors, since I'll probably be taking five years to graduate (transfer student + double major requirements). Which major should I do a thesis for? And would it be ridiculous to do one for both?

It's best to start experimental work as early as possible. Unknown problems cropping up is not uncommon, and many times solutions to unknown problems will be the best result of research as it it happened to those guys at AT&T who discovered cosmic background radiation while getting rid of the noise in radar antenna.

 

[plumhill]

Thanks everyone!! 🙂

 

[schwabejr]

Start that research as soon as you can! Writing a thesis is nothing to scoff at and having a significant base of data to work from is a godsend when it comes time to write. Starting now also gives you an opportunity to spend ALOT more time "in the literature" than most people get.
I worked on a different project sophomore year than I did junior year. I planned to finish the project I started my junior year and write my thesis on it but my lab was funded for a different project so I got to start from scratch in August and Im scrambling to pull everything together for my defense in March. Believe me, its difficult to spend the amount of time you want to writing/doing experiments at the height of interview season.

Good luck! This is an experience you wont soon forget!

 

[TXKnight]

It's not hard but it takes a LOT of time. Start your research/reading early.