Honors Projects

To register for an honors project, students should:

1. Discuss their plans with the potential project director, a faculty member; 
2. Complete the online Independent Study/Honors Project Request Form;
3. Confirm their schedule is correct in Polaris before the end of the second week of classes during the term in which the project is being conducted.

Approval: all requests for honors projects must be approved by the project director before the end of the second week of classes during the term in which the project is being conducted.

• Please submit the request form well in advance of the deadline so the faculty member has time to review and respond.
• Beyond the second week of the term, students will have to petition the Recording Committee to add any class.

Registration: if the faculty member, designated in the form by the student, agrees to serve as the project director, the Office of the Registrar will create the class and directly register the student into it.

• Students may submit request forms earlier, but honors projects are not added to a student's schedule until the Add/Drop I round of registration at the earliest.  
• During Add/Drop I and Add/Drop II, please allow 2-3 business days from the time the faculty member agrees to serve as the project director for the registration to be complete.

Check Schedule: students should check Polaris and Degree Progress to confirm their registration is correct before the end of the second week of classes, the end of the Add/Drop II registration period. 

• If the request was not approved until the final day of the Add/Drop II registration period, students should check Polaris and Degree Progress in 2-3 business days to confirm their schedule.

Additional Information:

• Students must submit a new request form for each semester of an honors projects even if it is a continuation of the same project. 
• Independent studies, collaborative studies, and honors projects may not be taken on a Credit/D/Fail basis.
• For more information, see "The Award of Honors" section of the Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook under "Academic Standards and Regulations."

Fall 2023 Deadlines

These dates are only for students completing degree requirements in December 2023. See below for the dates if completing requirements in May 2024. 

Spring 2024 Deadlines

These dates are only for students completing degree requirements in May 2024. See above for dates if completing degree requirements in December 2023.