Honors Courses

Honors courses at the University of Colorado are courses which are designed for maximum involvement and intellectual fulfillment by the students. Class size is limited to 15, students are expected to participate in active discussion, and many of the courses include a research component. Graduation with General Honors requires completion of 12 hours of Honors courses in addition to the Honors Thesis (see below). The list of Course Descriptions includes biology-related courses offered by several different departments. EBIO offers honors recitations along with EPOB (EBIO) 1210 and 1220, and honors sections of the 2000 level majors core classes. Please speak with your Academic Advisor about current offerings.

EBIO 4980: To be taken during the final academic year prior to graduation and required for graduation. Prerequisites: GPA of 3.30 or better, declared EBIO major, and approval by departmental honors committee. Consists of a lecture component on honors thesis writing and defense as well as a seminar component where honors candidates present their thesis research in a practice defense talk. EBIO 4990: To be taken during the final academic year prior to graduation and required for graduation. Prerequisites: GPA of 3.30 or better, declared EBIO major, and approval by departmental honors committee. Consists of the final phase of honors research and thesis preparation under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

We would like to encourage all of you who are hoping to graduate with a GPA of 3.3 or above to consider doing a departmental Honors thesis. A successfully completed Honors thesis is a most valuable asset in your future applications. This research experience will allow the professor with whom you work to get to know you better than from a classroom setting, enabling the professor to provide a very personal and insightful letter of recommendation to any future employer or program. Such a letter is often the decisive factor in successful applications. Furthermore, graduate programs, medical school, and many other programs or agencies frequently consider a research experience like this as an indicator of future success that is more significant than high grades. Lastly, getting involved in research will allow you to gain extremely valuable hands-on experience and enhance your critical thinking ability in ways the classroom experience cannot. For more information on doing an Honors Thesis, see the information on our Special Research Opportunities page.