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Bacteriology

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Microbiology

Honors in the Major in Microbiology is an undergraduate program designed for students who desire a more challenging academic program leading to a degree with the designation “With Honors”. The program has a prescribed 20 credit requirement of Honors or equivalent courses in addition to a Senior Honors Thesis involving at least 4 credits of Bacteriology 681/682 (Senior Honors Thesis). Students are obligated to submit their senior thesis to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and to present their work orally at the Spring CALS Research Forum.

Note that an excellent thesis project is central to this Honors degree and involvement in research during one's senior year should be seen as the minimum requirement. Optimally, students should become involved in research as early as possible, and significant progress in one's project would typically require involvement during one's junior year as well as the senior-year requirement.

To participate in the Honors in the Major Program, a student must be admitted to the CALS Honors Degree Program. This can be achieved by being in the upper 10% of their high school graduating class, by receiving an ACT score of 28 or an SAT score of 1240; students who have completed one or more semesters of college will need GPA in college courses of 3.25.

Of the required 20 credits, at least three credits must be taken from among the courses listed in paragraph 2 below.

  1. The following courses can be taken for honors (with credits in parentheses):
    • Bacteriology 303 (3), 304 (2), 330 (2), 370 (2), 425 (3), 526 (3), 528 (3), and 550 (2)
    • Biochemistry 507 (4), 508 (4)
  2. The following courses need not be taken “as honors”, but are considered by the department to be the equivalent of honors courses for the purposes of the degree of Honors in the Major in Bacteriology.
    • Bacteriology 568 (3), 612 (3), 607 (3), 622 (2-3), 632 (2), 636 (2?3), 640 (3), 650 (3), 725 (3)
    • Biochemistry 601 (2), 602 (2), 603 (2), 665 (4)
    • Chemistry 561 (3), 562 (3), 565 (4)

Students desiring to have other courses not on this list count toward the Honors in the Major requirements should petition the Bacteriology Curriculum Committee.

Progress toward the “Honors in the Major” degree in Microbiology will be monitored by the Honors advisors in the department, who will also answer any questions about the program. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.25 through graduation and satisfy the requirement listed above. The student's thesis advisor is responsible for approving the Senior Honors Thesis.