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Guidelines for pursuing Honors in the Mathematics & Statistics Department

Pursuing honors in the Mathematics & Statistics Department is an excellent way to enhance your academic experience, gain valuable research skills, and receive formal recognition for your hard work. The department offers two pathways for earning honors: a thesis or a portfolio. 

• An honors thesis typically requires two semesters of effort for independent research and writing.
• An honors portfolio involves assembling a body of work showcasing your dedication to the mathematical sciences.

Detailed criteria for Academic Year 2025-2026 are listed in the Departmental Honors Policies, Procedures, and Deadlines document.

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Suggested Timeline

• If you’re considering a thesis, start exploring research ideas and identifying faculty whose work interests you. Schedule informal conversations with faculty to learn about their work and share your interests. You don’t need to have a research idea prepared – just be curious! Discuss relevant coursework with your advisor so that you’re prepared for upcoming research work.
• If you’re considering a portfolio, think about applying for and completing one or more summer research projects before your senior year. Note that funding deadlines for these opportunities are typically early in the spring semester, so you should begin planning with faculty in the fall.
• If you’re considering either the thesis or portfolio option, confirm with your advisor that you’re on track to meet GPA requirements, including an overall GPA of 3.0 in all course work completed at Skidmore and a GPA of 3.75 and 3.5 for all courses completed in the Department for the portfolio and thesis options, respectively.

Senior Year:

Guidelines for students writing a thesis: 

The usual route to writing an honors thesis in mathematics is to sign up for MA 381 in the fall semester of your senior year and MA 382 in the spring semester. Writing a senior thesis, especially one that merits departmental honors, will require an extended concentrated effort on your part and will require you to plan in advance. To help you to do this, we strongly advise that you pay attention to the following guidelines: 

1. You should identify a thesis advisor and discuss some tentative topics no later than the beginning of your senior year. Ideally, this should be done by the end of the spring semester of your junior year. 
2. You should choose a topic by the end of September in your senior year.
3. You should begin your literature search immediately.
4. You should have an outline and/or a progress report for your thesis advisor before the end of classes in December of your senior year.
5. You should submit your first draft to your thesis advisor early enough (roughly by the first week in March of your senior year) so that several revisions and/or corrections can be made before submitting your final version to the Thesis Review Committee. 

Guidelines for students submitting a portfolio: 

A successful portfolio will provide the department with evidence that you have gone above and beyond your course work and taken initiative to expand your mathematical toolkit. You can exhibit dedication to the discipline in many ways, for example, through independent research projects or enrollment in problem solving courses and/or mathematical competitions. 

The following are required elements of the portfolio: 

1. CV or resume. This document should contain a list of: 
   1. Skidmore mathematics and statistics courses completed. Include course names and numbers along with grades earned in each course and the semester taken.
   2. Mathematics and statistics courses completed while abroad. In addition to course name and number, grade earned, and semester taken, also include the institution and a brief course description.
   3. Additional courses that include content adjacent to mathematics and statistics.  In addition to course name and number, grade earned, and semester taken, also include a course description and briefly outline the mathematics and/or statistics employed in the course.
   4. Contributions to the Department and College that highlight your commitment to mathematics and/or statistics, for example, peer academic coach, grader, Pi Mu Epsilon officer, Math Club member, etc.
   5. Additional supplementary activities that demonstrate your commitment to the mathematical sciences, for example, research projects, independent studies, problem-solving courses, mathematical competitions, internships, etc.
   6. Any academic memberships.
2. Personal statement/reflection. Your personal statement should make a compelling case for why your extracurricular experiences merit departmental honors. This statement should describe your recent mathematical and/or statistical experiences, explain how you have changed or grown as a result of these experiences, and demonstrate your commitment to the discipline. The personal statement should be 2-3 single-spaced pages.
3. Evidence of your commitment to and growth in the mathematical sciences.  The evidence that you include will be specific to your personal experiences but should clearly demonstrate the depth of the mathematical and/or statistical topics explored and showcase your role in the work. Some possible activities and associated evidence follow:
   
   1. Research and/or independent studies: Write an executive summary of each project that includes a short description of the project and its goals, your role in the project, the mathematics or statistics employed, and duration of the project. Include copies of any written reports, papers, posters, or slides/videos from oral presentations that were associated with the work.
   2. Internships: Write an executive summary that includes a short description of the internship and its goals, your role, the mathematics or statistics employed, and duration of the internship. Include any tangibles associated with the experience, for example, written reports, papers, posters, slides/videos, etc.
   3. Problem solving courses:  Describe the mathematics or statistics explored, your role in developing problem solutions, and the duration of your involvement and reflect on what you learned from the experience. If you contributed to problem solutions that were submitted for publication, include the problem, the solution, and if your work was published, citations.
   4. Mathematical or statistical competitions: Describe the competition, your preparation, the mathematics and/or statistics explored, and reflect on what you learned from the experience. Include any tangibles associated with the experience, for example, written reports, papers, posters, slides/video presentations, etc.

For internships or research projects completed outside the Department (or outside the fields of mathematics or statistics), you are strongly encouraged to solicit letters of reference from advisors, mentors, and/or supervisors that describe the project, the mathematics or statistics involved in the work, and your specific role and contributions.

You should meet with your portfolio advisor early in the semester to discuss key deadlines and to assess the quality of your portfolio. The first draft of the portfolio should be submitted to your advisor for review no later than the seventh Friday of the semester of graduation.