Honors Program
UConn offers an honors track for students majoring in statistics, mathematics-statistics, or statistical data science.
Administered through the Honors Program, these tracks provide highly-motivated and mathematically-talented students with opportunities like advanced course work, in-depth research opportunities, and professional development experiences. These programs enable students to obtain an undergraduate statistics, mathematics-statistics, or data science education of the highest level, preparing them for graduate study or a career in industry, education, or government.
The Department of Statistics offers honors conversions of courses at various levels of sophistication for honors students interested in statistics and/or data science.
Honors Thesis
Students in the honors program in statistics must complete an honors thesis under the supervision of statistics faculty through STAT 4389.
Students in the honors program in mathematics-statistics must also complete an honors thesis, but may do so under the supervision of statistics faculty through STAT 4389 or mathematics faculty through an appropriate MATH thesis course.
Students in the honors program in statistical data science must complete an honors thesis under the supervision of statistics faculty through STAT 4915 and STAT 4916W. Specifically, both honors and non-honors students will enroll in the same STAT 4915 course section(s), but honors students will enroll in the co-requisite STAT 4916W section offered by their honors thesis advisor. Honors students will convert both STAT 4915 and STAT 4916W to honors credit, thereby receiving 4 honors thesis credits.
Statistical data science honors students pursuing the biological data science domain may alternatively complete an honors thesis under the supervision of MCB or EEB faculty through MCB 4897W or EEB 4896W, respectively.
Planning a Thesis
A senior thesis in statistics or data science can be either a research project or a deeper study of an important topic that goes beyond what is covered in undergraduate courses. Some faculty who advise a senior thesis will expect the student to begin work on the thesis at the start of the senior year, or during the summer before the senior year, and thereby spend two semesters plus perhaps the preceding summer on the thesis. Other faculty who advise a senior thesis only require one semester of work.
We strongly urge students to finalize their thesis advisor and topic by the spring of junior year. The student and thesis advisor will determine the scope of the thesis and how much work needs to be done in the summer and fall, subject to the approval of the student’s honors advisor.
Courses and Credits
If a statistics or mathematics-statistics honors student spends more than one semester working on a thesis, then each semester of thesis work before the last semester should be taken as a section of either STAT 4299 or STAT 4389. Both courses can be repeated for credit and converted to an honors course. STAT 4299 is typically more appropriate than STAT4389 if the student is learning a new topic related to their research, rather than conducting the research itself. The final semester of thesis work should be taken as STAT 4389 with honors conversion.
Statistical data science students are also eligible to take STAT 4299 and/or STAT 4389 for honors credit, but only STAT 4915/STAT 4916W, MCB 4897W, or EEB 4896W can qualify as the honors thesis course with honors conversion.
Note: A maximum of three credits of STAT 4299 and a maximum of three credits of STAT 4389 can be counted toward the requirement of at least 15 honors credits in or related to the major.
Registration for STAT 4299, STAT 4389, or STAT 4916W may be accomplished through the Student Administration System with a permission number from the supervising faculty during open enrollment periods or can be added using the Student Enrollment Request form. If the section number of the course is not set up yet in Student Admin, contact the statistics undergraduate program director, who will work with the Department’s administration and the Registrar to assign you an appropriate section number for the course. Registration for STAT 4915 may be accomplished through the Student Administration System with a permission number from the statistics staff advisor.