Students can join the Schreyer Honors College (SHC) as beginning second or third year (third or fifth semester in residence) if they apply through the Honors College “Gateway” admissions process and are approved by the honors adviser.

The SHC requires a minimum grade-point average of 3.7. For students applying to Sociology Honors, the following apply: complete SOC 1 and STAT 200; have a cumulative GPA of 3.67 or higher. For students applying to Sociology Honors, the following apply: complete CRIM 012 or CRIM 100, as well as STAT 200; have a cumulative GPA of 3.67 or higher.

Students must be committed to academic goals and have a confirmed interest in conducting research to meet the thesis requirement. Excellent writing skills are required as well. The honors adviser may sometimes ask beginning second-year students to wait a year before applying through the gateway admissions process again if they have not completed enough challenging coursework, or demonstrated strong writing skills.

As an honors scholar, you are offered a number of privileges not available to other students. These include priority registration, library privileges, access to the honors study lounge, and an Honors Medal at graduation.Honors Scholars also receive special recognition at the regular graduation ceremony, and their diplomas state that they graduated with Honors in sociology or criminology.

These and other benefits are described more fully in the Honors Handbook.

Once admitted, Honors Scholars must maintain a 3.40 grade-point average every semester. If you drop below that, you will be placed on warning status with the Schreyer Honors College. If you fail to maintain the required grade-point average over two semesters, you may be dismissed from the Schreyer Honors College.

First- and second-year Honors students are required to take three different honors courses for a minimum of nine credits in each of the two years. Courses can roll-over to from the first to the second year, if a student takes more than nine honors credits in the first year. Students often take even more Honors Courses in order to fill general education requirements. Honors Courses typically have a small number of students and are taught by senior faculty. These courses are listed on the Schreyer Honors College website.

Third and fourth year Honors Scholars must take a minimum of 14 credits of Honors Courses over that two-year period. Some of these credits may be earned taking additional honors courses to meet General Education requirements. Upper-level courses in the student’s major may be taken as an Honors Option. Most third- and fourth-year sociology honors students take Sociology or Criminology Honors Option courses to fulfill these requirements.

A final requirement of all Scholars is the completion of a thesis. Your thesis is the capstone of your experience as an Honors Scholar. 

You can fill them by taking honors courses, by taking honors options, or by studying abroad. Note that SOC 381H/CRIM 480H, SOC/CRIM 481H, and your thesis credits count toward your 14 total honors credits during your third- and fourth-years.  As a first- and second-year student, 400 level courses can count as honors credits.  As a third-year and fourth-year student, 500 (graduate) level courses can count as honors credits.

Visit the Schreyer website to learn about which faculty members can oversee an honors option and what an honors option should look like: Honors Courses & Options – Academics – Schreyer Honors College (SHC) at Penn State University

The following schedule illustrates what a typical schedule looks like for third and fourth year Honors scholars in Sociology or Criminology. (The Honors advisor and departmental staff will help with registering for all thesis-related courses).

In the fall semester of your third year, you typically take:

SOC 381H/CRIM 480H Research Topics in Sociology (1 credit):

This is a very practical course, taught by the Honors Adviser, designed to give you an idea of what an honors thesis is, how you actually can manage to write one, and how to decide on a thesis topic and a thesis supervisor. In the course, you will meet and spend some time with tenure-line sociology faculty members, who will discuss their areas of specialization and the projects on which they are currently working. You also will read a number of past Honors Theses by sociology honor students. In addition, you may attend one or both of the two theses workshops offered by the Schreyer Honors College, one for quantitative theses and the other for qualitative theses. By the end of the semester, you will have a thesis topic and a faculty thesis supervisor.

Honors Course or Honors Option Course (3 credits):

In consultation with the Honors Adviser, you may select an Honors Course offered by another department to fulfill a General Education requirement. Schedule of Honors Courses and Sections from the Schreyer Honors College lists about eighty honors courses that fulfill general education requirements. For example, you might need an arts or humanities or natural sciences course to fulfill your general education requirements. As an honors student, you could sign up for an honors section to fulfill this requirement instead of taking a regularly scheduled class. Alternately, you could work with a sociology or criminology faculty member to take a 400-level course as an Honors Option. This course then would fulfill one of your 400-level course requirements.

In the spring semester of your third year you typically take:

SOC/CRIM 481H (1 credit):

The Honors Adviser teaches this course, which helps alongside your work with your thesis supervisor. This course will be organized around the writing of a formal thesis proposal. In the context of the particular topics chosen by the students, the course will cover information organization and retrieval, research project development, development of knowledge and the structure of scholarly communication, and the evolving information environment. In consultation with your thesis supervisor, you will use this course to develop and expand your knowledge about your particular thesis topic and to write a thesis proposal that contains a review of the literature review, a methodology section, and a schedule for completing the thesis during the fourth year.

Honors Course or Honors Option Course (3 credits):

As in the fall semester, you would select this course in consultation with the honors adviser. It would either be offered by another department and fulfill a General Education requirement, or would be an 400-level course offered by a faculty member, where you arrange to take the course as an Honors Option. You may also consult with your thesis supervisor in selecting this course, since the significant work that you do for the Honors Option in this course could be chosen so that it advances the work of your Honors Thesis.

In the fall semester of your fourth year, you typically take:

Sociology 494H or Criminology 494H Honors Independent Study (3 Credits):

You are registered for Sociology 494H or Criminology 494H (corresponding to your area of honors) with your thesis supervisor as the course instructor. Then you file a honors option form with the Schreyer Honors College to have the course listed as Honors work. Working with your thesis supervisor, you will use these credit hours to complete research associated with your thesis. These credits count as 400-level courses for the purposes of fulfilling the requirements of the major for graduation. Since you have already completed some of the literature review as part of your research proposal the preceding spring semester, you should be able to complete about sixty percent of your thesis during this fall semester.

In the spring semester of your fourth year, you typically take:

Sociology 494H or Criminology 494H Honors Independent Study (3 Credits):

You follow the same procedure as in fall semester. You are registered for Sociology 494H or Criminology 494H (corresponding to your area of honors) course listing your thesis supervisor as the course instructor. Then you file an honors option form with the Schreyer Honors College to have the course listed as Honors work.

Working with your thesis supervisor, you will complete your thesis during the spring semester. Around April 1, you will submit your thesis to the Honors advisor. You then make necessary revisions to the thesis before delivering a final copy to the Schreyer Honors College, around mid-April.

This is a typical schedule, but individual students have many different needs so that changes in this typical schedule are quite common. The Honors Adviser is always available for consultation as you plan your academic schedule, think about choosing a thesis topic and thesis supervisor, and work on your thesis itself.