Advanced Placement
A student with a score of 5 on the American Politics, Comparative Politics, or General Politics AP exam will earn one full course (within the maximum limit of five full courses of work accepted before matriculation) toward the Politics major and toward graduation requirements.
Honors
The honors program in Politics has three components: an honors thesis that involves a substantial piece of original research conducted over the course of the senior year; an oral thesis defense administered at the end of the senior year; enrollment in the Politics honors seminar in both the fall and spring of the senior year.
Students who are interested in the honors program submit a formal application to the department by the end of the spring semester of their junior year. The application includes a writing sample and statement of interest in honors In deciding which applicants to accept into the honors program, the department considers the performance and number of courses taken in the Politics Major, as well as in broader College work, the quality of the writing sample, the coherence and thoughtfulness of the statement of interest, and the availability of faculty to serve as advisers for the proposed research projects in any given year. All senior honors students will work closely with a thesis advisor and will take POLT 403 in the fall and POLT 404 in the spring.
