D is a sophomore. She has been planning her study abroad for ages, and has approval, etc… She is supposed to go next winter. Now, she is considering not going, because she is worried that study abroad will negatively affect her chances of being recommended to do an Honors Thesis. She isn’t sure if a minumim GPA is required to be recommended, and if it’s only her GPA from classes in her major. She unfortunately got a C in one class as a freshman that affected her GPA, and it was in her major. Then, this past smester, she had mono during finals week, which knocked her down a little. She is set to make Dean’s List again this semester.
She has DREAMED of doing study abroad for years. I hate for her to give up the opportuntity. Is Honors thesis that impressive outside of Bates? Is it difficult to get on the honors program? Is it harder to get in the program if you study abroad? Are honors students elected based on total GPA, or their major, or…? Any help appreciated.
@Lindagaf, My son didn’t do study abroad because he didn’t want to miss sailing competition. He also didn’t do an honor thesis. Doing regular thesis was enough of a slog.
Fwiw, I would do the study abroad. This is a special opportunity that comes with a lot of other life benefits. It’s lousy to have to choose, but my bet is that even if it costs her an honors thesis, it’ll be worth it. And there’s always that off chance that she gives up the dream for something that doesn’t come to pass. Or that she can get both. Pursuing dreams is a life skill…
I wouldn’t think that study abroad would be an issue as they claim nearly 60% of students study abroad on the website. One of the reasons my D liked Bates was because study abroad was so prevalent. She will be doing ALL of junior year abroad (eeek!)
The website does say, “Students who wish to be nominated to the Honors Program should consult with their major advisor by the end of their junior year.” Maybe she should touch base with her advisor for some assurance.
This is definitely something she should discuss with her advisor.
IIRC the selection of honors candidates is done by each department, with the nominations limited to something like 10% of students. GPA will matter, but then so will her professors’ estimation of her critical thinking and writing skills. Students who’d like to do an honors thesis should make that known to their current advisor or the person they’d like to be their thesis advisor. A student’s desire to do it is definitely taken into account.
As you probably know the honors thesis spans two semesters. She’ll be able to make a stronger case for the honors thesis if she can show she’s done some background research and has a compelling thesis topic. I don’t believe studying abroad would interfere with the honors thesis but if I were her I’d go away first semester junior year so she’ll be able to start getting organized second semester and will have time to meet with her advisor to make sure her ideas are on track for a strong thesis.
In my opinion the hardest part of the thesis process is coming up with a good topic so the more thinking about this she does in advance the better.
I didn’t attend Bates but in my year abroad I met students from Bates who were also there for the whole year. Because I so enjoyed the experience I encouraged my son to do it, but he was not interested. I did insist he at least investigate, and he was told when asked that double majoring was not an obstacle. He double majored but didn’t end up studying abroad–I think he liked being on campus too much. I tend to agree with @Sue22 --planning and consultation, along with commitment, would be paramount in this situation. I hope she gets what she wants.
My own feeling about Honors status and thesis is that it should be undertaken for personal interest/passion reasons and not post-graduate value. But that’s just my opinion.
Our experience in study abroad includes one daughter doing a semester abroad in high school, hosting two high school students from abroad who came here (northeast of the US) to study, and one daughter who is doing her full undergrad abroad (although she is currently only in her first year). So far, our experience has been extremely positive. It has been a great experience for our daughter, and the two kids that we hosted also seem to have done very well and very much enjoyed the experience. We got a lot of thank you’s from the parents of the two kids, although to be honest we were thrilled to host two really great kids.
I think that there are a lot of positives about the study abroad experience which are hard to fully quantify. It expands the kid’s view of the world, adds confidence, and much more.
To me, the study abroad experience is more important than the difference between an honors thesis versus a regular thesis.
I agree, and will add that as someone who did a thesis at Bates, a semester goes by very quickly and if I were to do it again I might opt to do an honors thesis because of the opportunity it offers to delve more deeply into the thesis topic.