Senior Thesis

Senior Thesis

The Senior Thesis is your final general education requirement and the capstone of your undergraduate career. It is a serious exercise in the organization and presentation of written material related to your major. You select a topic for your thesis in consultation with your faculty reader(s). If you are pursuing honors in your major, consult the appropriate department chair for any special requirements or guidelines related to honors.

Getting Started on your Thesis Project

To learn about all of the administrative requirements for registration, production, submission, and upload of your thesis, along with information about resources to assist with each step of the process. Please review the Senior Thesis FAQ.

• Senior Thesis Topic Form – You must submit a topic form in order to register for thesis.
• Senior Thesis Syllabus 2024-2025
• Senior Thesis Topic Exception Request Form – Use this form to request permission to write a thesis outside your major.
• Claremont Colleges Library Research Guides – Helpful guides curated by subject librarians to assist you with your research.
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) – Information for students engaging in research involving human subjects.
• Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences (KDIS) Thesis Information - Science majors in the Class of 2028 will follow the KDIS guidelines for the entire science thesis project. More information to follow.
• Keck Science Thesis Information – Science majors in the Classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027 (including transfer students) will follow the Keck Science Department guidelines for the entire science thesis project. *

* Science majors in the Classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027 (including transfer students) must complete a science thesis (Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Analysis, Neuroscience, or Physics 188L and 190L; or Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Analysis, Neuroscience, or Physics 191). All two-semester science theses include labs and lab fees. Science majors make all thesis arrangements through the Keck Science Department and must register for the appropriate course.

Writing and Formatting Guidelines

Formatting and style expectations depend on the discipline in which you’re writing. Check with your reader to settle on a style guide and stick with it throughout your entire project. Be sure to visit The Center for Writing and Public Discourse (CWPD) for help with everything from developing your thesis topic to final formatting.

Students wishing to view previously submitted theses for formatting ideas and examples can visit the online repository at Scholarship@Claremont and browse or search for any CMC thesis. Searching for “Best Senior Thesis” (including the quotation marks) will pull up the highest quality theses.

• The Center for Writing and Public Discourse (CWPD)
• CWPD Online Resources – Look here for style guides, documentation guides, and other useful tools.
• CWPD Thesis Session FAQ
• Sample Title Page – Your title page should look like this.
• Copyright & Fair Use Resources – Look here for resources and information about determining whether your use of any content that you do not hold the copyright could qualify as Fair Use, copyright information including templates for getting permission from copyright holders, using Creative Commons licenses, and more.
• Citation Managers

Submitting your Completed Thesis

Submit to Scholarship@Claremont.

• Formatting Your Thesis
• Connection at Honnold/Mudd Library – Printing, copying, and binding services in easy walking distance.

Submitting your Thesis to Scholarship@Claremont

CMC maintains its senior thesis collection in the Claremont Colleges Library’s online scholarly repository, Scholarship@Claremont. Students will submit electronic versions of their Senior Theses to Scholarship@Claremont. The upload is a mandatory part of the senior thesis process for all CMC students, including science majors and students with off-campus majors. Students requesting an exemption will have their thesis removed from the Library's repository. CMC will retain a copy of the thesis in the student's records.

• Preparing Your Thesis for Upload
• Assembling Your Thesis into a Single PDF for Upload
• Uploading Theses & Dissertations to Scholarship@Claremont – Library resources related to uploading your senior thesis to Scholarship@Claremont.
• Scholarship@Claremont
• Exemption Request – Use this form to request an embargo (delay before your uploaded thesis is available to others) or an upload exemption.