Senior Year, Planning
Students are often encouraged to “explore their options” early in their academic careers in order to capitalize on their opportunities for engagement with course work in areas perhaps entirely unfamiliar to them prior to coming to Duke. Unfortunately, new students often feel limited in their freedom to explore their options by the need to fulfill various curricular requirements.
By the time you reach your senior year, however, you may find you have some flexibility in your schedule so you can plan a final year that’s uniquely productive and pleasurable academically. Moreover, by your senior year you should possess, among other things, a reasonably sophisticated knowledge of at least one field of concentration (major), well-developed academic skills (research, analytical, writing, oral presentation, etc.), and a subtle capacity to communicate effectively in historically, culturally, and ethically informed ways.
Among the many avenues for academic exploration and engagement in the senior year and for employing your acquired academic skills are the following:
- Taking one or more courses you’ve always wanted to take;
- Undertaking a serious research project/independent study with a mentor;
- Offering to serve as a research or teaching assistant in the area of your major;
- Involving yourself in a conference and/or attending lectures sponsored by the department of your major; and
- Involving yourself actively in your department’s majors union.
There are many ways to distinguish yourself academically in the senior year, starting with a commitment on your part to challenge yourself to produce your best work. In addition, you may wish to consider the following special options and forms of academic recognition:
- Senior Capstone Experience (SCE) – Many seniors choose to incorporate a senior capstone experience into their program of study. The SCE can take many forms but typically will engage you in advanced, often independent study that challenges you to draw upon what you have learned in college, including the research skills that you’ve acquired, to explore a topic of particular interest to you.
- Graduation with Distinction (GwD) – Senior honors project.
- Latin Honors – Duke recognizes the overall outstanding academic achievement of its undergraduates through the Latin Honors program.
- National Academic Honor Societies – Duke officially recognizes the national academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa, as well as Sigma Xi, the national scientific research society, and Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. Each recognizes outstanding academic achievement by undergraduates.
- International Postgraduate Scholarships – if you are interested in applying for any of the various prestigious fellowships for international graduate study (for example, the Fulbright, Luce, Marshall, Rhodes, and Winston Churchill), you can find information about individual scholarships and their application deadlines here.
One of the primary goals of all students in the senior year is to complete any remaining requirements for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree so that they can graduate on time. To this end, be careful to monitor your Advisement Report on ACES to make sure that you are on target to graduate, having fulfilled all general studies requirements. As for fulfilling the requirements of your major, be sure to work closely with your departmental advisor and/or the director of undergraduate studies (DUS). It is the DUS who will certify that you have completed all the requirements of the major at the end of your last semester.
Occasionally, the pattern of a senior’s course work permits him or her to complete the 34 course credits and all other requirements for graduation without having to take 4 courses (4.0 cc) in both semesters of the senior year. When this is the case, you can request permission from your academic dean to underload (i.e., enroll in only 3 courses) or possibly even to enroll part-time (i.e., 1 or 2 courses) in your last semester of study (see, however, disadvantages of underload and part-time status).
Note: Students may underload or enroll part-time only in their last semester of study at Duke.
