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Independent Study and Thesis
- Thread starter ImaJerseyGirl
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I did research honors my senior year.
The most important things to know imho:
what exactly is expected in terms of the thesis and defence? will you need to present at conferences? are there outside examiners? how many? when will you need to defend? can you conduct research over the summer prior? how will grades be determined? how is completion determined?
what support/guidance/assistance will you have? who will you work with? is your advisor someone you can work with professionally? are you comfortable with the facilities where you will conduct your work? are the resources available to conduct your study? is your advisor a good judge of time requirements?
I started one honors project, and was advised the level of sophistication and time would actually make it a PhD level project. We learned this from the potential outside examiner. Instead, I ended up doing a physiological/populations study on a living bio indicator system that another professor had been trying to get his master's students to do.
Other concerns: are you good at time management? how do you handle stress from unexpected problems? Can you prioritize?
I ended up with a C in a course that I should have had an A in because my research took a lot of time in the final write up (more than I expected.)
Also, I had to learn some high level mathematics just to complete my research. I was fortunate that our math dept was willing to assist me, and that I had calc based stats already, which helped convince the head of the math dept to help me.
I am personally delighted with the doors my honors research opened.
best wishes.
The most important things to know imho:
what exactly is expected in terms of the thesis and defence? will you need to present at conferences? are there outside examiners? how many? when will you need to defend? can you conduct research over the summer prior? how will grades be determined? how is completion determined?
what support/guidance/assistance will you have? who will you work with? is your advisor someone you can work with professionally? are you comfortable with the facilities where you will conduct your work? are the resources available to conduct your study? is your advisor a good judge of time requirements?
I started one honors project, and was advised the level of sophistication and time would actually make it a PhD level project. We learned this from the potential outside examiner. Instead, I ended up doing a physiological/populations study on a living bio indicator system that another professor had been trying to get his master's students to do.
Other concerns: are you good at time management? how do you handle stress from unexpected problems? Can you prioritize?
I ended up with a C in a course that I should have had an A in because my research took a lot of time in the final write up (more than I expected.)
Also, I had to learn some high level mathematics just to complete my research. I was fortunate that our math dept was willing to assist me, and that I had calc based stats already, which helped convince the head of the math dept to help me.
I am personally delighted with the doors my honors research opened.
best wishes.
