The first step towards graduating with honors in the mathematical sciences is to take the appropriate number of (non-thesis) honors courses while maintaining an excellent GPA in your mathematical sciences courses. The specific requirements are listed below.
- You must have credit for at least two non-thesis mathematical sciences honors courses, one of which must be a Junior Honors Seminar (MAT 3510) course.
- You must have a GPA of at least 3.45 in your mathematical sciences courses.
The final step towards graduating with honors in mathematics is completing a senior honors thesis. In order to register for the senior honors thesis course (3 credit hours) you must have already completed at least one Junior honors seminar and your mathematical sciences GPA must be at least 3.45. In addition, you need to decide upon a research topic and find a member of the mathematical sciences department who agrees to act as your thesis advisor. If you would like to write a thesis but want some help choosing a topic and a thesis advisor, please stop by the departmental honors director's office (Dr. Cook) and he will gladly direct you to faculty who have projects ready and waiting for talented undergraduates to tackle. After you inform the departmental honors director of your proposed topic and advisor he will ask you to fill out some paperwork that he will use to register you for the senior honors thesis course. When you have successfully completed your senior honors thesis earning a grade of B or better and have met the previous list of requirements you will be qualified to graduate with honors in mathematics. This honor will be indicated on your official university transcript.
If you plan on graduating with university honors as well, additional requirements apply. You can read about the requirements for university honors at the following website: http://honors.appstate.edu.