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.


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:

Fall 2024 Deadlines

These dates are only for students completing degree requirements in December 2024. See below for the dates if completing requirements in May 2025. 

9/24/24, Tues.
Office of the Registrar requests names of potential honors candidates from department chairs/program directors. Due 9/30/24, Mon.
9/30/24, Mon. Names of potential honors candidates due in Office of the Registrar from departments/programs.
10/28/24, Mon. Library submits revised "Requirements for Formatting and Submitting Honors Projects" to the Office of the Registrar.
11/4/24, Mon. "Requirements for Formatting and Submitting Honors Projects" sent to students and departments/programs from the Office of the Registrar.
12/19/24, Thur. Departmental Honors projects must be uploaded and the "Thesis Access and  Embargo form" completed through the Bowdoin Digital Commons by 5:00 pm.
12/20/24, Fri. Project directors complete their online approval through Bowdoin Digital Commons by 2:00 pm. They must review and approve the submitted project and the student's chosen levels of access and embargo by this deadline. Departments/programs asked to submit the level of honors by noon.

Spring 2025 Deadlines

These dates are only for students completing degree requirements in May 2025. See above for dates if completing degree requirements in December 2024.

2/10/25, Mon.
Office of the Registrar requests names of potential honors candidates from department chairs/program directors. Due 2/17/25, Mon.
2/17/25, Mon. Names of potential honors candidates due to Office of the Registrar from departments/programs.
3/3/25, Mon. "Requirements for Formatting and Submitting Honors Projects" sent to students and departments/programs from the Office of the Registrar.
5/15/25, Thur. Departmental Honors projects must be uploaded and the "Thesis Access and  Embargo form" completed through the Bowdoin Digital Commons by 5:00 pm.
5/16/25, Fri. Project directors complete their online approval through Bowdoin Digital Commons by 2:00 pm. They must review and approve the submitted project and the student's chosen levels of access and embargo by this deadline. Departments/programs asked to submit the level of honors by noon.