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here are specific requirements, beyond those of the standard English major, for those who wish to be considered for a degree with honors in English. Such students must complete a two-semester thesis project (ENGL 491 —a six hour, year long course) and take two additional 400-level seminars in the department of English. If you have a GPA of 3.6 in major courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.4, you may apply in the spring of your third year for entry into the honors program in the fall of your fourth year. Applications to the program—submitted to its Director—must include a letter of recommendation from a faculty member other than the proposed thesis director and an outline of your research plans for the year of independent study (which will culminate in the submission of an essay of 40-50 pages). The Director of the Distinguished Majors Program will review these applications before the course enrollment period in the spring.

Once in the program, you should direct your fourth-year studies toward the completion of the year-long ENGL 491 project. You must be prepared to submit your honors essay in mid-April. Using the evidence of this essay, the recommendations of faculty readers, reports on your work from the instructors of other 400-level seminars, and your GPA in major courses, the Undergraduate Committee will decide whether your qualify for honors and, if so, what level of honors (Distinction, High Distinction, Highest Distinction) should be awarded. The honors thesis is a serious project and students interested in writing one should start to develop a research topic earlier rather than later in their third year—ideally, in consultation with their major advisor and with the Director of the Distinguished Majors Program.

Please note that students in the Area Program for Poetry Writing who wish to enter the Distinguished Majors Program have to fulfill slightly different requirements, although their preliminary applications should be submitted in the ordinary way. For more information on this and for application materials for the Distinguished Majors Program, refer to this page.