{"id":2253,"date":"2025-11-10T15:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/?page_id=2253"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:16:44","slug":"senior-year","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/majorsminors\/senior-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Year for a Geology Major"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Senior Year Timeline:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>SEPTEMBER<\/strong>: Early September of your senior year all majors will <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/obUvu5YM4x7azD1LA\">submit a form<\/a> to either provide information about your proposed capstone project, or apply to do an honors project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>NOVEMBER\/DECEMBER<\/strong>: By the end of fall term, you will have met with your capstone advisor or honors committee to go over your project and make sure that you are on track.&nbsp; You are also encouraged to sign up for the spring Capstones Research Methods course (appropriate for both Capstone and Honors students).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MARCH<\/strong>: You will submit a completed draft of your talk (or thesis for honors students) before Spring Break.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>APRIL<\/strong>: All majors are required to participate in the Geology Senior Night event in April of their senior year.&nbsp; Each student gives a 10\u201312-minute talk, followed by a few minutes of audience questions, to department faculty, staff, and any friends or family they choose to invite.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline-1024x576.jpg 1024w,  https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline-300x169.jpg 300w,  https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline-768x432.jpg 768w,  https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline-1536x864.jpg 1536w,  https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/597\/2025\/11\/Capstone-Timeline.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Capstone vs Honors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior Geology Majors choose between two paths in their senior year: <br>A) Completing a Capstone Talk, or <br>B) Meeting the college\u2019s Capstone requirement through completion of an&nbsp;Honors Thesis. <br>Both paths result in the same degree, and students are encouraged to follow the path that best suits their interests, goals, and skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-regular\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>CAPSTONE<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>BOTH<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><strong>HONORS<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">No application required<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Prepare you for employment and\/or graduate school in the field<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Application and department approval required (approval revoked if deadlines missed)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">May use research\/projects from any time during your four years, including in-class projects or Study Away research experiences&nbsp;<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Allow you to apply your knowledge and demonstrate your skills in relation to a question of geological significance<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Planning begins junior year; research typically starts before start of senior year<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Independent research optional;  <br>may be independent research- or literature-based&nbsp;<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Fulfill Macalester\u2019s capstone requirement for graduation<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Independent research required<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Flexible timing; smaller time commitment (one or two semesters)<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Should participate in Capstones Research Methods course<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Significant time commitment; minimum of one full year (one or two semester-long Honors Independent Study strongly recommended)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">No formal written component required<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Required formal written thesis that contributes meaningfully to the field<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Required oral presentation at Geology Senior Night<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Required oral presentation at Geology Senior Night and oral thesis defense with Honors Committee<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Broad range of topics; tailored to student interests<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\"><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Thesis topic must align with department faculty research area or, in rare cases, be guided by an approved external mentor<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senior Year Timeline: Capstone vs Honors Senior Geology Majors choose between two paths in their senior year: A) Completing a Capstone Talk, or B) Meeting the college\u2019s Capstone requirement through completion of an&nbsp;Honors Thesis. Both paths result in the same degree, and students are encouraged to follow the path that best suits their interests, goals, [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1011,"featured_media":0,"parent":145,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2253","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2253"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2253\/revisions\/2425"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/geology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}