Honors Program
The Psychology honors program features:
1) a faculty mentor and
2) collaborative research with faculty that results in a senior thesis.
Students who are interested in doing an honors project should first identify a faculty sponsor who agrees to oversee their development of an independent project. The primary means by which students obtain advanced mentorship is by establishing a strong track record of research with a psychology professor. Accordingly, if you think you might want to apply to do an honors project, you are encouraged strongly to begin no later than your sophomore year to get involved with research, through mechanisms such as PSY 273, as described online at: https://you.stonybrook.edu/psychologyresearch/research-courses/, with specific laboratory opportunities listed online at: https://you.stonybrook.edu/psychologyresearch/research-opportunity-listing/
Students are encouraged to apply for acceptance to the honors program by the middle of April during their junior year at Stony Brook. The honors program application is available online at https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/undergraduate/advising/forms. The latest point at which students may enroll in the honors program is two semesters prior to graduation.
To be eligible to apply for the honors program, a student must have a cumulative g.p.a. of 3.20 or higher and a g.p.a. of 3.50 or higher in courses required for the Psychology major (a student whose cumulative grade point average falls below 3.00 may be dropped from the honors program), and a student must have stablished a working relationship with one of the participating faculty and settled on a research question that you will be able to answer in a one-year project. (For a full list of application criteria, see the application at https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psychology/undergraduate/advising/forms).
Conferral of honors in Psychology requires the following:
A cumulative g.p.a. of 3.00 and a 3.50 g.p.a. in psychology.
Successful completion of a senior thesis while enrolled in PSY 495 and PSY 496
Timeline: The Psychology honors program is followed for two semesters. During the spring of their junior year, students apply to carry out a proposed independent honors project with a mentor who has approved that project. During the senior year, students carry out the project as they enroll in PSY 495 (fall semester) and 496 (spring semester).