Senior Project FAQs

There are two general approaches

• Student sells project to professor: you get an idea, write a 3-page prospectus that describes the scope of the project and includes a list of deliverables, and find a faculty member willing to supervise the work (which may require changes in the prospectus)
• Professor sells project to student; a faculty member has a list of possible projects, and you select one (which may involve changes in the nature of the project)

and a host of possibilities in between.

The project should be more than just an extended homework assignment or final course project and should require that you learn more about some area of computer science or economics. A CSEC senior project must explicitly combine both techniques and subject matter from computer science and economics.

Regular courses meet 2 1/2 hours per week and require 2 to 3 additional hours per week for each hour of class. Using this as a guideline for what it takes to earn a course credit at Yale, the project should be something that you can complete in one semester (i.e., 14 weeks) working approximately 7 to 10 hours per week (i.e., in a total of 100-140 hours).

Note: You cannot be paid for your work on the project. Moreover, to allow others to build on your results, you should make an effort to make all code and data available to the Yale community.

The official adviser (and thus the person who evaluates the work and assigns the grade) must be a faculty member with an appointment in Computer Science, Economics or a related department. However, the de facto adviser need not be, as long as the student meets with the official adviser at least once a month.

Most students take the course during their final year. However, students applying to graduate school should take it in the fall (or, with permission of the DUS, in the spring of their junior year) so that they can get letters of recommendation from their advisers.

Ideally, planning for the project should begin the preceding term (at least to the extent of finding an adviser).

Taking CSEC491 before your senior year requires special permission from the DUS, which will be granted only under exceptional circumstances.

No. CSEC491 only gives you credit toward your 36-credit graduation requirement, and toward the senior project requirement in the major.

Yes. However, each member of the group must work on a different part of the project, and your description, electronic abstract, final written report, and web pages must focus on your own contributions.

Whatever you and your adviser decide you must complete by the end of the project. Possibilities include (but are not limited to) code, theorems, simulation studies, data analysis, a written report, poster, and oral presentations. Every project must include a written report that documents the question, methodology and approach and goes beyond a poster.

CSEC491 is graded using the usual letter grade system. Your official adviser is responsible for submitting your grade to the DUS.

Yes. If you take CSEC491 for your senior project, you will need a grade of at least A- to qualify for Distinction in Major. CSEC491 also counts toward both the numerator and denominator when calculating whether three-quarters of your credits in the major are A- or higher. In addition, to earn Distinction in the Major, your senior-project adviser must formally determine that your senior project is worthy of distinction.

You should start contacting potential advisors in the semester before you want to write the senior thesis, as it often takes some time to find an advisor and agree on a topic.