{"id":43429,"date":"2020-12-10T01:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T06:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=43429"},"modified":"2020-12-09T09:02:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T14:02:46","slug":"my-experience-writing-an-undergraduate-thesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2020\/12\/10\/my-experience-writing-an-undergraduate-thesis\/","title":{"rendered":"My Experience Writing an Undergraduate Thesis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year, I\u2019ve been working on a really exciting project\u2026 my undergraduate thesis! It's my fourth year of university, and I decided to write an undergraduate thesis in Political Science under the supervision of a professor. This week, I wanted to write about why I decided to take a thesis, how I enrolled, and how it\u2019s been going so far! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creds: giphy.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is an undergraduate thesis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An undergraduate thesis is usually a 40-60 page paper written under the supervision of a professor, allowing you to explore a topic of your interest in-depth. I primarily decided to write an undergraduate thesis to prepare me for graduate school - it's allowed me to get started on work I might continue in graduate school, hone my research skills, and test out whether academic research is for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I write an undergraduate thesis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To write my undergraduate thesis, I had two options (this may vary depending on what department you're in!). First, I could join the Senior Thesis Seminar offered by department. These seminars group students together who are interested in doing a thesis and teach them research skills and background information. Students then simultaneously complete a thesis under the supervision of a professor. Senior Thesis Seminars often require applications to register in, so if you\u2019re interested in this option, make sure you look into this in your third year of study! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out your department website for info on thesis seminars!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Because I already had a close working relationship with a professor, I opted to instead do the second option, an Independent Study. An Independent Study allows you to work one-on-one with a professor and design whatever course you\u2019re interested in. For either option, you\u2019ll need to know what topic you're interested in writing your thesis on and ask a professor to work with you, so make sure you've figured this out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How's it going?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, I\u2019m about half-way through my thesis and I\u2019m having lots of fun. It\u2019s a great way to get super involved in a topic I care about, and it's preparing me for graduate research much more than any course I\u2019ve taken in my undergraduate degree. I\u2019ve also been enjoying working one-on-one with a professor and learning a lot from them about the field of study I\u2019m interested in, what being an academic researcher is like, and what my position in the field is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reading for my thesis! <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I will say that an undergraduate thesis is a considerable amount of work! It definitely requires more work than all my other classes, and because I\u2019m working so closely with a professor, there\u2019s no way I can slack on it or procrastinate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shoutout to my kitty for supporting me through the stress!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Still, if you\u2019re interested in a topic and want to pursue it after your undergraduate studies, I think writing an undergraduate thesis is an incredible opportunity. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\nThis year, I\u2019ve been working on a really exciting project\u2026 my undergraduate thesis! It's my fourth year of university, and I decided to write an undergraduate thesis in Political Science under the supervision of a professor. This week, I wanted…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “My Experience Writing an Undergraduate Thesis”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
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