with Latin Honors
For students in Arts & Sciences, Latin Honors are awarded by the College on the recommendation of a student's major department. The department's recommendation is usually followed by the College, provided the student has a sufficiently high GPA (see below).
The other undergraduate schools at Washington University (Architecture, Art, Business, Engineering) will have their own requirements for attaching honors to the degrees they award. It would be very unusual (if even possible) for students from those schools with a second major in mathematics to use their work in mathematics as the basis for Latin honors: a second major in another school is, almost by definition, not the student's main interest. In the event this issue comes up, a major should consult with Professor Freiwald and advisors in the other school before planning on work for Latin Honors.
Students not eligible for Latin Honors, or who do not wish to do an honors thesis, might be eligible instead to graduate with Distinction in Mathematics.
Beyond the normal requirements for a mathematics major, students seeking a Latin Honors degree must satisfy the requirements listed in I) and II) below.
I. A high overall GPA and a superior record in mathematics. Specifically,
A) For honors degrees, the College of Arts & Sciences requires the following GPA's:3.50 - 3.64 cum laude(Grades from the semester of graduation are included in calculating the GPA for Latin Honors eligibility.)
3.65 - 3.79 magna cum laude
3.80 - 4.00 summa cum laude
These GPA guidelines are necessary but not necessarily sufficient for a given level of Latin Honors. The College sets the floor with the GPA cutoffs listed above. For example, if a student has a 3.70 GPA, the College will not
award Latin Honors summa cum laude, even if the Department recommends it. However, if the Department recommends only "cum laude" honors for the same student (perhaps because of a weak honors project), the College will go along with the Department and not boost the award to “magna cum laude” just because of the GPA.
B) Students must complete with grades of B or better (not B-) in each:1) at least one of the 4 sequences Math 4111-4121, 429-430, 493-494 or 449-450.2) at least 3 additional regularly scheduled 400-level mathematics courses (not independent studies). These must be L24 courses, home-based in mathematics (not cross-listed with a different home department). Mathematics courses taken abroad in WU-approved overseas programs can count if the Department agrees to transfer the credit to WU as 400-level work when the student returns from abroad.
a) in the case of probability/statistics track majors, at least 2 of these courses must be on the probability/statistics list for electives in that major track. The ability to use SAS is also strongly recommended.
b) in the case of applied track majors, at least 2 of these 3 courses must be in the applied list (see Applied Track requirements).
II. Successful completion of an honors project in mathematics.One of the purposes of an honors thesis is to work together with a W.U. faculty member during the final two semesters of study, exploring new material and tying together skills acquired during the major. Work done earlier in a student's study (for example, during a summer REU) is usually not appropriate, by itself, as a senior honors project. But work done earlier can be an excellent starting point for a senior honors project.
An honors project may follow one of several formats:
A) An honors thesis describing significant work by the student on one or more nontrivial mathematics problemsB) An honors thesis in mathematical statistics involving an in-depth analysis of a large data set
C) A written expository paper following independent study on an advanced topic under the guidance of a department faculty member. Such a report would involve careful presentation of ideas and synthesis of materials from several sources.
In each of A), B), and C), completion of a project requires a properly written paper, conforming to professional standards. For the finished product:Students should consult with their honors advisor about the proper conventions for writing a mathematical paper.
There should be a title page.
There should be an abstract on the first page of the paper, following the title and preceding
the body of the paper. Advice about abstracts from the MAA
There should be a proper bibliography.
The paper should be prepared using TeX which is the current standard for mathematical publication.D) The student must also make a satisfactory oral presentation on the project before an audience which includes at least two designated department faculty members.III. Calendar Guidelines for Honors Projects (for May graduates)
A) Students planning to do honors should talk with a faculty advisor about possible projects during the spring semester of the junior year. This will allow time to collect information and perhaps do some summer reading to "hit the ground running" in the fall semester.
B) By September of the senior year students should complete an Honors Proposal Form and submit it to the Chair of the Undergraduate Committee, Professor Ron Freiwald
C) By the end of January, the student should be able to give his/her advisor a tentative abstract and outline of the paper.
D) During February, the paper should be written and a rough draft, including an abstract, given to the advisor by the end of February.
The student and the advisor should agree on a date for completing the final draft and making the oral presentation by March 15. After agreeing on a date and time, give the information to Professor Freiwald who will probably be able to find a room and set up a committee to hear the presentation. (Once the presentation is scheduled, you should feel free to invite any friends who might be interested. If scheduled enough in advance, the talk will also be listed on the Department's Talk List for any interested faculty or graduate students.)
A near-finished draft should be given to Professor Freiwald at least two days before the oral presentation so that copies can be distributed ahead of time to any faculty who will be attending the oral presentation.
E) The deadline for completing the work (written and oral) varies slightly each year, but it is always near mid-March. The deadline is sent out from the College Office, usually by early February, and the Department has to mee the College's deadlline in submitting the names of students recommended for Latin Honors. Students can check the exact date each year with Professor Freiwald.
This calendar is meant as a guideline. The only hard and fast deadline is the March deadline mentioned
in E). However, meeting the deadlines will probably make the whole process flow more smoothly and with less last-minute stress.
Honors candidates planning a graduation in August or December should talk with Professor Freiwald about deadlines. Broadly speaking, the student should simply plan on shifting the calendar guidelines accordingly to allow the same amount of time for planning, writing, ...
IV. Ideas
By the second semester of the junior year, students planning honors usually begin to develop an interest in some broad area (analysis, say, or combinatorics), or have found a faculty member whom they've particularly enjoyed and might like to work with. At that stage, the student approaches a faculty member for recommendations about an advisor (if this faculty member isn't the right one), or suggestions about possible projects and some reading to get started on.
Sometimes another way to get a project started is to apply to a "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (REU) program for the summer after the junior year. Work done at such a program can often be continued at WU into the senior year to form an honors project. (A project or paper completed at an REU is not, by itself, sufficient for a Latin Honors project. A recommendation for Latin Honors would require a significant amount of additional work on the project being done at Washington University with one of our faculty.) There are links online for finding an REU site. Applications deadlines vary but are usually early in the spring semester.
Some faculty members have listed ideas suitable for honors projects (and other less demanding projects). If any of these, or something related, seems to interest you, please contact the faculty member listed. involved. This list also gives you an idea of the sorts of things some faculty are interested in. Of course, feel free to approach other faculty with ideas as well.
Here is a list of honors projects completed by math majors over the past several years. This list also mentions the faculty advisor if that person is still at Washington University.
V. Credit With faculty permission, a student can earn credit for work on the honors project by registering for L24-499 (Study for Honors), but enrollment in 499 is not required. Note that at most one (3-unit) independent study such as Study for Honors can count toward the fulfillment of major requirements.
Very rarely, the department may waive the completion of an honors project in considering honors candidates. This may be considered only at the discretion of the Undergraduate Committee and only for students having an extremely distinguished record going well beyond requirement I) above. Such students usually have published original mathematical work or completed other comparable creative mathematical projects.