A candidate for honors should consult his or her academic adviser or department chairperson during the spring term of the junior year. The student must have completed at least 75 credits of course work with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 and demonstrated an aptitude for original research.

Once admitted, the candidate must enroll in 50:120:495,496 Honor Thesis courses, where he or she will carry out a research project under guidance of a biology faculty member and write an honors paper which must be accepted by three faculty members of the biology department who constitute an Honors Committee.

The candidate must maintain the requisite grade-point average until the end of the senior year and take a comprehensive examination (oral and/or written, prepared by the Honors Committee) during the last week of classes of the final term. The Honors Committee will determine whether the student’s work merits honors, high honors, or no honors.