Students must finish with a 3.3 or higher overall GPA and a 3.5 or higher GPA in biology courses. Students must also complete a departmental honors thesis resulting from at least 6 credits of research (usually BY 499 but there are other options). Students must complete two additional courses (at the 300 plus level) beyond what is already required for the major but these can be the research credits. Thus, it can be completed with as little as 6 additional credits for anyone interested in research and able to maintain the required GPA.