I think we can all agree that crafting the perfect résumé is becoming a bit of an obsession in our modern, hypercompetitive culture. Greatly exaggerating the extent of job responsibilities and selectively choosing extracurriculars that will generate employer interest rather than one’s own interest are certainly problems. Achieving the college ideal is now less about making some friends and learning about Kant than starting several philanthropic organizations your second year and becoming the leader of five clubs. However, we could always derive comfort knowing that a 4.0 was the limit to anyone’s academic endeavors. Despite how many hours one locks onself in Clemons, or how carefully one crafts his schedule, a perfect transcript is will continue to be the upper limit.
There is some security in that, similar to the security of a playground fence. It bounds us all in. We can’t get to a better jungle gym or a cooler seesaw than the ones right here. However, some might be surprised, and aggrieved, to learn that the University allows students to potentially jump that fence: the University’s honors programs and distinguished majors programs confer additional honors. These programs, in departments spanning from Economics to English, entail writing an undergraduate thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Some, such as the Philosophy and Politics honors programs, are composed of seminars and honors examinations in addition to a thesis. At the end of it all the exemplary student gets honors added to their degree: “with highest distinction” or “with highest honors.” And with that, they communicate to employers or graduate schools one more thing they did that their peers didn’t.
Except that writing a thesis is the sort of résumé padding that I can get behind. Besides the fact that spending fourth year writing 40 or more pages of deep academic discourse is not something that one does merely on a whim, writing a thesis confers, in addition to the honors, a deeper and more pointed understanding of the major than only coursework can provide. Spending months researching, writing and finally producing a unique thesis about one single topic instills and inspires the sort of hard work and creativity that is truly distinctive. The achievement of producing unique academic research, in addition, also smoothly transitions the graduate school-bound student into the trials of higher level research or grants him an area of expertise that can lead to a doctoral thesis. I don’t begrudge anyone their honors. Unlike hoarding club memberships, the undergraduate thesis, if it becomes the next fad in inflating résumés, will actually lead to some good. Excessive extracurricular involvement stretches students out; writing a thesis brings them back in.
I would go so far as to say that the thesis is so valuable, the only reason the University doesn’t require it of every student is that we simply do not have the resources to provide that many advisors who can intimately evaluate every thesis with the attention it deserves. Princeton University uniquely among American universities requires a senior thesis, in addition to a junior paper, from every one of its students. The school contends that writing a thesis allows “students to enhance skills that are the foundation of future success, including creativity, intellectual engagement, mental discipline and the ability to meet new challenges.” I would tend to agree. Although Princeton’s thesis requirement has met opposition for many years, with many arguing that the thesis is an unnecessary obstacle to graduation rather than a boon, for many it is the defining effort of their experience. Among other successes, Wendy Kopp proposed Teach for America in her undergraduate thesis, which she then founded. Rather than seeing thesis writing as an unfortunate symptom of college-level competitiveness, we should actually be encouraging more students to write one by more openly advertising distinguished major programs.
Most are quietly listed on department websites. There should be more hubbub about these things. Academic advisors should be informing their students of the option of writing a thesis. Departments should be more forthright about the opportunity by pursuing capable students and holding information sessions. Writing an undergraduate thesis takes more than a year of planning — if students don’t know about it early, they can’t do it.
The University already exempts — or robs, depending on your point of view — students from a first year academic writing requirement if they meet certain criteria, a choice that is made more with expenses in mind than charity (Duke, for instance, requires first year writing classes for all undergraduates). If administrators are removing academic writing on the front end, then they should at least be adding it on the back end by encouraging qualified students to write theses. The undergraduate thesis is the capstone of a rigorous and rewarding undergraduate experience. The only problem with undergraduate theses is that everyone can’t write one.
Brennan Edel is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at b.edel@cavalierdaily.com.
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