An honors project can be the most rewarding experience you have at Smith. It is a chance to engage in genuine scholarship, and a chance to explore depths not generally open to undergraduates. It is not reserved for future graduate students; in fact, most honors majors do not go on to graduate school. For most, it is the last opportunity (before you join the real world) to study what excites you most.
To be eligible, you must have a 3.0 average overall and a 3.3 average in mathematics. If you are interested, you should start thinking about the project in your junior year. Talk to professors about topics. You should be able to find someone whose interests match yours and who can supervise the project. Ideally, your program should be approved by the department in the spring before your senior year.
Honors projects in the math department are worth 8 or, more usually, 12 course credits of your senior year. You might also consider applying for a summer research grant from Smith so you can spend the summer before your senior year in Northampton beginning the work on your project.
Typically, you meet with your project adviser several times a week. Usually the project focuses on one area and involves reading mathematics papers and books at an advanced level. The honors paper you write will be an assimilation and exposition of the area. Very occasionally, a project will include new contributions by the student herself. By early spring, most of your research should be complete, and you will begin writing. The paper is due in the middle of April. It is read by a panel of faculty members, and in early May you present a talk to the department on your work.
Your grade for the project (pass, distinction, high distinction, highest distinction) is determined by a combination of your grades on the paper, the presentation, and your mathematics courses. The presentation has the least weight in your grade, but it gives us all a chance to hear about what you have done. We also invite you to give a talk to your fellow majors, though this is not part of the official process.