Additional Information & Forms
Forms
Senior Thesis
Brief guide to writing a senior thesis in Engineering Sciences
Overview
A.B. degree candidates who anticipate being recommended for Highest Honors typically will
be considered for a recommendation of Highest Honors only if they have a superior performance in an ambitious set of advanced courses or an excellent thesis. If you anticipate the possibility of a Highest Honors recommendation and will be writing a thesis, follow the instructions below.
1) Notify the Office of Student Affairs by e-mail by March 5, if you are ...
writing a thesis, and if you are, the name, campus or business address, telephone number, and e-mail address for your thesis adviser and readers.
Choosing Readers: Three readers are required. One is ordinarily the thesis adviser. You and your adviser select at least two other faculty members from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to be readers. You or your thesis adviser should secure the agreement of the individual concerned to serve in this capacity. Exceptions can only be approved by Prof. Todd Zickler, Director of Undergraduate Studies.
This same rule applied to joint concentrators, so if you are a joint concentrator and your “other” field has a similar rule you may need more than three readers.
2) Number of Thesis Copies Needed
You will need FOUR copies of your thesis. Give one to your advisor, one to each of your readers, and one to the Office of Student Affairs (Pierce 110) on or before March 29, 4pm.
3) Formatting and Length
We don’t have any formal formatting guidelines. A thesis usually begin with a title page, followed by an abstract, body, and references. You may also include acknowledgements (which are fun to write!), a table of contents, and/or appendices. Your thesis should be double-spaced and use an 11 or 12 point serif font. A good reference is the Chicago Manual of Style.
The length of the thesis should be as long as it needs to be to make the necessary arguments, but no longer.
4) Other Information
Please inform your adviser and readers that they will receive a rating/instruction sheet from me in the mail by March 29. They will be required to return the thesis along with the rating sheet to the Office of Student Affairs by April 20. After the degree meeting in May, you will be notified that you may pick up the reader copies along with the comments in the Office of Student Affairs.
