Honors

Students interested in pursuing honors are strongly encouraged to participate in the Undergraduate Research Initiative in Psychology program as early in their studies as possible.

1. To qualify for honors in Psychology, a student must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (B) in the College and a 3.5 average in the major.

2. Students who wish to pursue honors should arrange to carry out a research project with a faculty sponsor from the Psychology Department. The honors thesis is a scientific report of this project. After the paper has been approved by the faculty sponsor, it must be read and approved by a second faculty member.

3. Students who wish to pursue honors are required to take an Honors Seminar (PSYC 29800) in the Winter Quarter of their junior or senior year. It is expected that students will be actively working on the thesis project during the quarter they take the honors research seminar.

4. Students pursuing honors are required to present their findings at an "Honors Day" celebration which will be held late in the spring of the senior year.

Guidelines for honors projects:

1. Students are expected to work closely with their faculty advisers throughout all stages of the project. Students typically have several quarters of experience working in their adviser's lab before they begin on their honors project. The project itself can easily take a year to complete. Thus, it is strongly recommended that students find a faculty member to work with on an honors project by the end of their third year at the very latest. 

2. Students work with their advisers to determine a schedule for their thesis that will allow them to receive feedback on a draft by the end of Winter Quarter, and submit the final thesis for approval by the middle of Spring Quarter.  

3. Students seeking additional guidance in this process should contact either the instructor of the Honors Seminar or Anne Henly, ashenly@uchicago.edu.

4. Students must submit the Special Honors Paper Approval Form to Kristi Schonwald by the deadline in Spring quarter for their year of graduation.

For students pursuing honors in two majors:

1. The student's thesis advisor for Psychology cannot be the same person as his or her thesis advisor for the other majors.

2. The student must complete all the honors requirements for the Psychology Department including the honors seminar in Psychology and presenting his or her findings at the Psychology senior honors day forum.

Honors Deadlines 2024-25
Autumn 2024: 

1. If you are considering graduating with honors, please discuss this option with Anne Henly.  

2. Students who plan to receive a degree with Honors in Psychology at the Spring 2025 convocation and/or who plan to register for Honors Seminar in Winter 2025 must email the Student Affairs Administrator Kristi Schonwald (kschonwa@uchicago.edu) by midway through Autumn quarter.

Winter 2025:

Honors students should register for PSYC 29800 Honors Seminar offered in Winter 2025.

Spring 2025:

1. Student should discuss with their adviser when to submit a complete draft to the honors paper advisor. The final deadline is often in fifth week, but advisers may wish to set an earlier deadline.

2. Deadline of Friday, May 2, 2025 for Department to receive the special honors approval paper form from your advisor and from your second reader if you plan to graduate in Spring. Your advisor and your second reader should each email their approval to Kristi Schonwald or sign the Honors approval form.

3. Present a poster of your research project findings at Honors Day in Spring 2025:
Thursday, May 8, at 3:30 pm.