Honors Program
The honors program offers an outstanding opportunity for independent research, creativity, and achievement. It is designed to encourage a more intensive study of economics than is required for the normal major, with course and research work of exceptional quality. Honors students participate in an Honors Research Symposium during Spring quarter, with those nominated for prizes making oral presentations.
A. Requirements
1. Complete all requirements for the major, plus 5 units, 85 total units for BAH.
2. Achieve a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 for the 80 units required of the Economics major. The GPA will be calculated at the end of the quarter in which the student graduates. If the GPA is below 3.5, the student will have to drop honors in order to graduate.
3. Complete Economics 102B and at least two lecture courses most relevant for the proposed topic of the honors thesis by the end of the junior year. (These can be included in the basic 80 units.)
4. Candidates must write an honors thesis in their senior year for one to ten units of credit (Econ 199D). The thesis must be of very high quality and written under the direction of a member of the department or its affiliated faculty. Units of 199D or 139D do not count in the computation of the GPA requirement for honors. However, the requirement for Economics 101 may be replaced by five units of credit for the honors thesis to leave honors students with a total of at least 85 units overall.
Juniors interested in the honors program are urged to attend an informational meeting scheduled by the department's Honors Program Director at the beginning of Autumn quarter- this date is sent out via the econ-majors email list. At this meeting, students receive information on organizing an honors project and are given details on the Honor's College and summer research assistantship opportunities.
By November 1st of the senior year, prospective candidates for the honors program must submit an application signed by the thesis advisor and a one page description of proposed thesis topic to the Undergraduate Administrator in the Academic Office. Also by that date the honors student should submit a three page overview and bibliography to the thesis advisor. Some funds are available on a competitive basis for financing research expenses for Honors theses (see Section IX) and must be applied for in advance of the academic year in which the research is undertaken.
B. Grade Point Average and Unit Information
In counting the GPA requirement for honors programs, students are informed of the following rules:
1. The Honors Program counts GPA only on Stanford Economics courses that are applicable to the major (excluding units for Econ 139D and Econ 199D). Stanford Economics courses are only those courses that have been listed in the Stanford University Bulletin during the years of the student's undergraduate residency. Non-Stanford courses are not counted towards the honors GPA.
2. Undergraduate Administrator in the Academic Office will compute the student's GPA when the student applies to enter the Honors Program. The following weights are used in computing GPA:
A+ |
4.3 |
C+ |
2.3 |
NP |
0 |
A |
4.0 |
C |
2.0 |
|
|
A- |
3.7 |
C- |
1.7 |
|
|
B+ |
3.3 |
D+ |
1.3 |
|
|
B |
3.0 |
D |
1.0 |
|
|
B- |
2.7 |
D- |
0.7
|
|
|
A notation "With Honors" is inscribed on the diploma and noted in the commencement program.
Forms:
Honors Program Application form
Honors Program Requirements and Deadlines