ECON 472Senior Honours Essay
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Arts
- Subject
- Economics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Students are required to identify a research topic, conduct research independently, write a research paper, and attend class meetings. Each student is supervised by a member of the Economics faculty. Class meetings cover topics such as a general overview of research methods in economics, research ethics, finding reference material, citing practices, and effective writing and presentation.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Economics, H-Mathematical Economics (BA), or H-Mathematical Economics (BMath)
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESS 001 | 3173 | 11 / 20 | F 11:30–14:20 |
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESS 001 | 3111 | 0 / 10 | F 11:30–14:20 |
| ESS 701 | 1188 | 12 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
0% easy100% useful
From 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Not sure if I liked this course yet. Definitely helpful if you're looking to apply to graduate school and has an interesting learning process. It is a lot of work though so careful on how you manage it. You really get out of it what you put in. I personally learned a lot about my subject and found it good writing practice. Just a heavy work load.
Aug 2017On UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
15 posts and comments in 12 threads mention ECON 472, December 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2023
ECON 472 1 point, 1 comment
u/DullEducator7831: “if ur in math econ(math fac) is it possible to not take the senior honors essay if ur not planning on grad skul… is there a way to override the course credit?”
Fall 2022
Core courses time conflicts 4 points, 9 comments
u/Beautiful-Carpet-536: “I am a mathematical economics student in the faculty of math, for the upcoming W2023, Amath350 is conflicting with Econ472, and the tutorial of Amath350 is conflicting with Econ496. …”
Spring 2020
What are your top 5 courses at Waterloo? 29 points, 43 comments
“After 3 years of this place, these were my favourite courses that I found (no particular order): CS 341 CS 251 MATH 135 MATH 239 ENGL 332 (Comics) I liked CS 341, MATH 135, and MATH 239 because they …”
u/Level126: “1. CO456 2. ECON 496 3. STAT 333 4. ECON 472 5. ECON 423 or STAT 443”
Spring 2019
Econ - Honours Essay vs RA job 5 points, 3 comments
“Which is better for improving your profile for a masters degree? I have the opportunity to take the senior thesis course, but I'm hesitating because the reviews for the teacher are awful (Lori …”
u/twofactorial: “… GRE scores are not that important for Canadian masters programs, and I would consider ECON 472 a GPA booster because usually people get 80+ if they don't completely botch their paper. I literally wrote a paper where I ran OLS 53 times and I got a 85+. …”
Winter 2018
MA - Economics questions 4 points, 4 comments
“Is anyone here in the MA economics program in Waterloo? If you are, can you please share your thoughts on this program? …”
u/G_Wen: “Econ 301 - 95 Econ 302 - 86 Econ 401 - 60 Econ 402 - 61 Econ 421 - 60 Econ 472 - 93 Econ 483 (Game Theory) - 86 Stat 443 - 85 Stat 444 - 78 Undergrad average: 74% (with a huge variance) Probably got accepted because of strong references / doing research with professors outside …”
Fall 2017
What's your proudest mark? 20 points, 59 comments
“not necessarily your highest but the one you worked hardest to get”
u/twofactorial: “ECON 472 - honors thesis; it was nice to actually use the stuff i learned and applied it to real data”
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”
u/Jackhofmann: “… ECON 351 ECON 361 ECON 371 ECON 391 ECON 393 ECON 401 ECON 407 ECON 421 ECON 451 ECON 456 ECON 472 ECON 484 ECON 487 ECON 491 ECON 600 ECON 601 ECON 606 ECON 621 ECON 655 ECON 673 EFAS 32 EFAS 34 EFAS 36 EFAS 42 EFAS 44 EFAS 46 ELPE 100 EMLS 101R EMLS 102R EMLS 103R EMLS 104R …”
Spring 2017
Post your most recently finished semester and what you thought was the hardest / most annoying course 4 points, 26 comments
“(CS) 2B - CS240”
u/twofactorial: “(ECON) 4A - ECON 472 For context, its the Honours thesis. Good thing I took it during a part-time term, because I don't think I could have handled the workload if it was on a full courseload.”
What courses are you taking this fall? 28 points, 129 comments
“With course selection and add/drop happening this week I figured this would be a cool discussion post. …”
u/trindte: “ECON 323, 407, 472, 491 AMATH 250”
Term is coming to an end, any class/prof you're going to miss having? 7 points, 27 comments
u/snowkittensama: “Corey Van de Waal ECON 472”
Winter 2017
4th ECON courses 1 point, 3 comments
u/cookies0123: “… I'm in the new ECON program where ECON 472 isn't required but can anyone comment on if it is worth taking it even when it is not required? Was it a good learning experience? How was the workload? …”
u/btcMike: “I did ECON472 about 8 years ago to full fill the Honours Economics double major. 472 wasn't too bad if you like writing papers. I didn't like writing paper. The good thing is that there's no classes. …”
u/tellmeyoursowon: “Did ECON 472 in 2015 - best choice of my undergrad degree. It made everything else in economics "click" for me, and I ended up in grad school. There are classes each week, where the course instructor guides you on how to write the paper. …”
u/qsfroot: “I agree with the previous comment, ECON 472 was one of the most useful courses in the entire Econ curriculum. …”
Fall 2015
Best marks 7 points, 74 comments
“Given all these posts about everyone failing courses this term, switch it up and post your best grades from this term or in the past, or grades which far exceeded your expectations in a course. …”
u/hippiechan: “I got a 97 this term in game theory, but I admit it's because I rode the bell curve. Best mark ever (without bell curve) was 96 in ECON 472 (senior honours thesis).”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them