Right now I aspire to do an Honors Thesis about the effects of class distribution over various times on changes in majors for different departments at Cornell. I have already discussed doing it with a few professors and it sounds pretty certain I can do the Honors Thesis. It's a two-semester long stint and requires intensive background research and thinking before submitting an application with a faculty supervisor.
There are alternatives such as an independent study which provides assisted research over one semester with a faculty member. But an Honors Thesis takes much longer, includes a thesis defense, and allows me to pursue a research topic from start to finish! Unfortunately, not anyone can do an Honors Thesis. It requires an academic standing in the 20th percentile.
Admittedly, I am a nerd, but I am not the brightest crayon in the box. But it means I have a goal to work towards. Although having a higher GPA increases my chance of entering grad school, having a higher GPA pretty much guarantees getting to do an Honors Thesis because of a definite cut-off level. It is unlike high school when I was applying to college because I was not guaranteed admission based solely on my class rank or GPA.
Fortunately, now I have a greater incentive to do better. I have not been giving it my all recently and I have prelims coming up. I recently had a nightmare I had completely forgotten a class and did not realize it until the final had already passed. But here is the motivation!
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