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The Honors Program in the Department of Economics is designed to allow the superior student’s attention to be focused on an independent investigation for a sustained period of time. Students admitted to this program must have established themselves as outstanding prospects for individualized work in Economics and must also have established themselves as doing work of very high quality in all that they have undertaken at Occidental.

ELIGIBILITY: Economics majors are eligible to apply for admission to the 2008-09 program if they meet all of the following requirements:

  • Expected graduation from the College at the end of spring 2009.

  • 3.5 minimum overall GPA by the end of their junior year.

  • 3.5 minimum Economics GPA by the end of their junior year. Please note that the Economics GPA includes all classes taken in the Economics Department at Occidental. It does not include classes taken in other departments (e.g., Math 146) or economics classes taken at other institutions.

Students interested in the program who do not quite meet the 3.5 overall GPA requirement but come very close may petition the Economics Department faculty for an exception if their Economics GPA is significantly higher than 3.5 (e.g., 3.45 overall GPA and 3.75 Economics GPA). Petitions must reach the Honors Program Coordinator (HPC) by the application deadline (see below). Please contact the HPC for more information.

IMPORTANT: Meeting the GPA requirements does not guarantee admission to the honors program. Selection criteria are explained below.

Please note:

  • The Honors Program is a yearlong program. In order to participate, students must be on the Oxy campus during both the fall semester and the spring semester of their senior year.

  • Students admitted to the honors program are required to complete Economics 495 in partial fulfillment of their comprehensive requirement (they do not have the option of completing Economics 490 instead of 495).

  • Students should make sure that their senior-year schedule allows them to invest a substantial amount of time and effort into this program. Students who plan to double-major should be advised that completing an honors project in addition to two sets of comps is extremely challenging.

  • The core of the honors program is an independent research project. Students who possess initiative and self-reliance are most likely to enjoy and succeed in this program.

APPLICATION: The deadline to apply for the 2008-09 program is 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2008. Students, however, are encouraged to apply before the end of their junior year if they expect to meet the GPA requirements.

A completed application includes the following:

  1. A completed application form (forms are available from the HPC).

  2. A short essay explaining your interest in the honors program (more details are contained in the application form).

  3. A writing sample from one of the economics classes you have taken at Oxy. Please turn in a clean copy identical to the one you turned in to your instructor. The writing sample may be a short paper, a longer research paper, or an econometrics project. Try to choose a piece of writing that you feel best reflects your analytical skills, writing abilities, and mastery of economics.

Admission decisions will be made by the Economics Department faculty and announced by the third week of classes in the fall of the student’s senior year. Because mentoring of honors students is very time intensive and we do it in addition to our regular teaching load, we regret that we cannot accept more than 8-10 students into the program. Selection will be based on four factors: Economics GPA, overall GPA, strength of the essay, and strength of the writing sample.

Honors students will enroll in Economics 498 (Honors Seminar) in the fall of their senior year and in Economics 499 (Honors Thesis) in the spring of their senior year. Econ 498 carries one unit of credit and is graded CR/NC. Econ 499 carries 4 units of credit and students receive a letter grade. Because students will not know if they are admitted to the program when they pre-register for classes in April of their junior year, it is advisable that they register for their senior year as if they were not going to be taking part in the Honors Program. Those who are admitted will have to drop one of their senior-year spring classes in order to make room for Economics 499.

Important: By turning in an application for the honors program, students authorize the Registrar to release their transcripts to the HPC for the purpose of evaluating their application.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM: In Economics 498, taken during the fall, honors students learn about doing research in Economics, develop a proposal for an honors thesis with help from the faculty, and present their research proposal before faculty and other honors students. Students whose proposal has been approved enroll in Economics 499 in the spring. This is an independent study course. Students meet regularly with their assigned faculty mentor, write an honors thesis, present it to the Economics Department faculty and to the campus community, and submit it for evaluation. Students whose thesis is deemed of honors quality are conferred College Honors upon graduation.

THE HONORS THESIS: The thesis must be a substantial research project. The final written version should be about 40 pages in length (double spaced). The thesis cannot be just an extension of a term paper written in another class or in the senior seminar. It needs to be an original project. The topic must be well defined by the end of the fall semester to be approved by the faculty. The HPC and the Economics Department faculty will help students develop a suitable topic.

REQUIREMENTS: In order to remain in good standing in the program, honors students are expected to satisfy all of the following requirements.

During the fall of their senior year:

  • Enroll in Economics 498 and attend all classes scheduled by the HPC.
  • Participate actively in the Honors Seminar and provide feedback to other students on their research ideas.
  • Identify possible faculty mentors and work at developing a research proposal.
  • Observe any deadlines set by the HPC for the completion of the research proposal.
  • Present their research proposal orally before the Economics Department faculty and other honors students by the end of the fall semester (the exact day and time will be announced by the HPC at the beginning of the fall).
  • Maintain a 3.5 GPA, both overall and in Economics.

During the spring of their senior year:

  • Enroll in Economics 499.

  • Complete a substantial, 40-page honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty mentor.

  • Meet weekly with their faculty mentor.

  • Observe all deadlines and requirements set by the faculty mentor.

  • Attend and participate actively in any honors meetings scheduled by the HPC.
  • Successfully defend their thesis before the Economics Department faculty in April.
  • Submit their thesis to the Economics Department faculty by mid-April (the exact deadline will be announced by the HPC).
  • Maintain a 3.5 GPA, both overall and in Economics.

Please note:

  • Students may be dropped from the honors program by the Economics Department faculty at any time during their senior year for failing to meet any of the above requirements.

  • Completion of an honors thesis does not in itself guarantee the conferring of College Honors at graduation. College Honors will be conferred only if the thesis is deemed by the Economics Department faculty to be of honors quality.

We look forward to welcoming another group of outstanding students to the Honors Program!

If you have any questions, please contact:

Professor Sita Slavov, Honors Program Coordinator for 2008-09
E-mail: sslavov@oxy.edu
Phone: x1461
Office: Fowler 217