Departmental Honors

Departmental Honors is an advanced scholarship track of Commonwealth Honors College. Students may complete Departmental Honors as part of the full Commonwealth Honors College curriculum, which includes Honors General Studies, or they may complete Departmental Honors alone.

Students who are not already members of Commonwealth Honors College must apply to Departmental Honors via the online application. Admission to Departmental Honors will be at the discretion of the honors program director. Minimally, to be eligible to apply for Departmental Honors, students must have:

  • an overall GPA of 3.40 or higher earned after one full-time semester of UMass Amherst coursework
  • the ability to complete the Departmental Honors–Track requirements
  • the ability to complete the Commonwealth Honors College residency requirement of 45 graded credits (not pass/fail) earned at UMass Amherst (not transferred)

The astronomy requirements for the completion of Departmental Honors are the following:

  • One honors course chosen from ASTRON 224, 225, 335 or 337
  • One additional astronomy honors course 300-level or higher
  • Honors Thesis or Project (students will need to sign up for ASTRON 499Y and 499T and submit a proposal to the Honors College ). A thesis proposal should be submitted to the department Honors Program Director for approval at least one week in advance of the Honors College deadline.

For more information about Departmental Honors in Astronomy, contact our Honors Program Director Min Yun.

Recent Honors Theses

Department of Astronomy
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710 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003-9305
 
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