Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

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Honors Program in Economics: Eligibility & Requirements

The honors program in economics serves highly motivated students interested in doing independent research.

To be eligible for consideration students should have (items are listed in rough chronology of when they are satisfied):
1. completed two semesters of calculus;

2. completed all 15 hours of courses in the required major core (100, 101, 150, 231, and 232) by the end of the fall semester of the
junior year;

3. written an honors proposal under the supervision of a faculty advisor by the end of the spring semester of their junior year.
4. have earned an average grade of at least A- in Econ 150, 231, and 232;

5. a minimum GPA of 3.0 overall and in economics;

Requirements of the Honors Program are:
1. 36 hours of work in economics (3 more than the standard major)

2. all 15 hours of required courses for the major (same as the major)

3. 6 hours of regular electives (3 less than the major)

4. 15 hours in Econ above 250 level (6 more than the major) consisting of the following:

- Econ 291 A or B Indpendent study with thesis advisor for proposal development (1 hour)
- Econ 253 Introduction to Econometrics (3 hours)
- Econ 292 A/B Independent study with thesis advisor (6 hours, 3 in each of the fall and spring semesters)
- Econ 295 A/B Honors Seminar with Honors Director (2 hours, 1 in each of the fall and spring semesters)
- Eco 256 or 257 Policy seminar in microeconomics or macroeconomics (3 hours)

5. write a senior thesis, and defend it in an oral examination

On satisfactory completion of this program, a student will graduate with Honors or with High Honors in economics.

Typical time-line for an Honors student

By the end of the Junior year, students will usually have completed:

1. Econ 253 (Econometrics),
2. one of the policy seminars,
3. two upper-level economics electives in subjects related to the prospective topic of the student's senior thesis, and
4. one hour of Independent Study (Econ 291A) in which the student writes a detailed prospectus for the thesis under the supervision of an economics faculty member.

During the Senior year, the student's work will include:

1. six-credit hours of Senior Thesis Econ 292 A & B (A is fall, B is spring),
2. three credit hours in a final economics elective;
3. two credit hours of Honors Seminar, one hour in each term, Econ 295 A&B, (A is fall, B is spring),
4. and the oral defense of the completed dissertation (toward the end of spring semester).

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