Honors Thesis as Undergrad

[CommPhD20]

Hey everyone --

 

I am currently attending a well-regarded liberal arts school as an undergraduate and my intention is to pursue a Ph.D in Cinema and Media Studies upon graduating.  Heading into my senior year, I'm working on a proposal for an Honors Thesis in the Political Science Department (for reference, there will only be 2 of these done in the entire department and less than 20 in the entire college).  I spend a 1 credit directed inquiry in my second semester of junior year (now) working on research to narrow my thesis, then two 6 credit semesters working on the thesis as a senior.  Upon arriving to classes of my senior year, I submit a written proposal to a panel of readers consisting of my supervisor, another POLS professor, and an outside reader (my Film advisor).  If you're wondering, this will be work on television studies that engages with both political theory and theory from the film or cultural studies tradition -- in other words, it will be work that translates to my intended graduate work...small liberal arts schools just don't "Film and Media Studies" departments.  

 

The final thesis will be 40-70 pages in length, will be defended orally to the aforementioned 3-person panel, and will not be distinguished as "Honors" unless an A is received.  Much of the work will be independent and research-based with cursory oversight by my advisor giving me help with late-stage revisions and of course corresponding with me to make sure my research is fruitful.  

 

My question is this:  Given the scope and intensity of this project, can I market this as effectively giving me the experience of a MA grad?  Will it otherwise be particularly useful beyond the fact that grad school won't be as much of a shock?

[Katzenmusik]

My question is this:  Given the scope and intensity of this project, can I market this as effectively giving me the experience of a MA grad?  Will it otherwise be particularly useful beyond the fact that grad school won't be as much of a shock?

 

The thesis shows you can successfully complete an independent research project, and attending a small liberal arts college is good preparation for the seminar discussion format of graduate school.  

 

However, I wouldn't try to explicitly market yourself as having the experience of an MA.  Graduate school is just a whole different ballgame -- it's somehow a lot less forgiving and cozy-seeming, even if you attended a very rigorous SLAC.  

 

If I were you, I'd let the quality of my research speak for itself as a writing sample.  I'd briefly mention the circumstances of its creation in my statement of purpose and have one of my recommendation-writers discuss the rarity of a student taking on this challenge.  Then I'd let the admissions committee come to its own conclusions about what it all means.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Katzenmusik

[CommPhD20]

The thesis shows you can successfully complete an independent research project, and attending a small liberal arts college is good preparation for the seminar discussion format of graduate school.  

 

However, I wouldn't try to explicitly market yourself as having the experience of an MA.  Graduate school is just a whole different ballgame -- it's somehow a lot less forgiving and cozy-seeming, even if you attended a very rigorous SLAC.  

 

If I were you, I'd let the quality of my research speak for itself as a writing sample.  I'd briefly mention the circumstances of its creation in my statement of purpose and have one of my recommendation-writers discuss the rarity of a student taking on this challenge.  Then I'd let the admissions committee come to its own conclusions about what it all means.

 

That sounds great, I appreciate the advice.  I often find my school to be exceedingly cozy, by the way, so I guess I can look forward to losing that in my post-grad life

[Sadie_Bea]

I  did an undergrad honors thesis with a similar degree of intensity (although the length was more in the 25+ page range), but the committee set-up and evaluation was effectively the same as what you have described.   I used my thesis as my writing sample, and described the research process in my SOP (explaining how I felt the experience prepared me for more advanced research in the field).  I think this was one of the strongest points of my application, because--as you know--few undergrads have the opportunity to do that level of research, defend before a commitee, and make use of an outside reader.    

 

As another poster mentioned, the research will speak for itself.   Doing something like that in undergrad is unusual and it will stand out positively.  Just use your thesis (or an excerpt of it) as your writing sample and/or mention the process in your SOP.  I'll chime in with the other posters here in saying that you should not compare it to an MA thesis, as that may come across presumptuous.  Keep the tone of your SOP humble but confident--articulating what you have done to prepare for graduate school while recognizing what you have left to learn/accomplish in the field.

[Eigen]

Mine was an undergraduate thesis of similar rigor, although in the sciences. I didn't market it as such, but combined with a good deal of graduate level coursework, it was quite impressive to committees as a protracted, individually driven, stand-alone research project. 

[CommPhD20]

I appreciate all the comments -- I certainly didn't intend to say "you should just consider me an MA grad because I did this," but I understand to just lay out what I did.  Good tip on the writing sample, I'm hoping it can really come in handy for that.  

 

It sounds like, as I hoped, that it will be a very useful part of my overall package.

 

EDIT: Just realized that I'll be applying while this is in progress.  I'll certainly have enough material to submit a sample, but the process won't have finished.  Is this a problem?  I suppose this is a frequent type of consideration when applying straight out of undergrad.

[juilletmercredi]

No, you can't market yourself as equivalent MA grad.  Plenty of BA graduates do honors master's thesis: I did one too.  The process was similar (although I began my senior year, I had to submit a proposal, get IRB approval, collect my own data, analyze it myself, and write up the results). Some schools require all of their grads to do one, like Princeton.

 

It will be useful in showing that you can complete an independent research project on your own and useful in that you will have a writing sample to show.

 

And no, it being in progress is not a problem.  This happens very often.  By the time you apply, you should have a proposal completed; you can show that.  I did not use my senior honors thesis as my writing sample (I used another paper) but I did make reference to it.