<p>My daughter and I are a bit puzzled. To graduate from the College of Arts & Sciences students need 112 credits which Oberlin suggests is 14 credits per semester. As most classes are 3 credits (the First Year Seminars are 4 but this seems to be unusual) how many classes do students typically take per semester? In other colleges, the standard is 4 classes per semester. But four classes at Oberlin would only be on average 12 credits. How do students make up the additional 1 or 2 credits per semester? Exco? Winter Term? How does this affect students who want to travel abroad junior year? Lastly, how do the very specific distribution requirements affect completing the requirements of one's major?</p>
<p>Yes, the normal load is 4 courses per semester, plus whatever you need to bring the total up to at least 14 credits. Many classes are 4 credits (all courses in the English Department, for instance, and lab sciences). Intro language courses are 5 credits. And there are lots of ways to add an additional credit or two: Exco classes, PE classes, special modular classes, etc. </p>
<p>Winter Term does not count the same way. You need to complete 3 WT projects, but this does not figure in the 112 credits.</p>
<p>I don’t understand your question about study abroad. Semesters abroad normally transfer back as at least 14 credits.</p>
<p>Students have to complete the specific requirements for a major and the general distribution requirements, but they have plenty of room to do both. The distribution requirements are pretty minimal–students have lots of room for major requirements and electives.</p>
<p>Thanks you for the clarification. The credits and distribution requirements now make more sense. We also read that students are invited to do an honor’s thesis or project. What percentage of students do this? My daughter is interested in completing an honor’s project in theater directing (although her interests may certainly change). Can students who complete an honor’s project graduate with departmental honors or high honors?</p>
<p>I’d have to guess about the percentage of students doing honors–maybe 10%?–but it varies by department. Each department sets its own expectations for its honors program. Students successfully completing honors projects are awarded honors, high honors, or highest honors at graduation.</p>
<p>Here’s this year’s list:
[Oberlin</a> - Newsletter](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/newsletters/the_source/detail_page.dot?id=1136355&issueUrl=/newsletters/the_source/2008/05/issue_69.dot&pageTitle=May%2027,%202009]Oberlin”>http://new.oberlin.edu/newsletters/the_source/detail_page.dot?id=1136355&issueUrl=/newsletters/the_source/2008/05/issue_69.dot&pageTitle=May%2027,%202009)</p>
<p>What an impressive list of scholars and artists! Thank you.</p>
<p>While the list doesn’t point out how many people did honors projects, it shows that 29 students were awarded honors. That’s approximately 1% of the school.</p>
<p>It’s very time-consuming, requiring a lot of work. That said, one of my closest friends did a very similar project as your daughter plans : directing a show (Aunt Dan and Lemon) and writing a paper on the process/implications of the work. He was awarded High Honors. </p>
<p>While honors papers are not required, most majors institute a final “capstone project” to wrap up 4 years of study. Most seniors work on a gigantic finish for their college careers, whether the project ends with Honors or not.</p>
<p>re: academic recs
As classes get more difficult, the number of credit hours they require rises. Advisers recommend that incoming first-year students take a light course load for their first semester (say, 12 credits). It’s important to get a feel for how to schedule your time in college, which is less complex when one’s work takes less time to finish. Once you learn that, taking more intense classes and a higher credit semester (14-16) becomes easier.</p>
<p>Um, quibbler, I don’t know where you were looking, but there are 120 people on the honors list. Which is roughly 20% of the senior class.</p>
<p>And actually, it’s not really true that the number of honors reflects the difficulty of a class. The number of hours reflects the amount of <em>time</em> a class is meant to take, both in and out of class. Not difficulty. (That’s why, as I said, all classes in the English Department are 4 hours.)</p>
<p>Ya, I was also wondering about quibbler’s math. In any event, can you clear something up, Dave?</p>
<p>I still don’t understand this honor’s thing. It sounded from a previous post that to graduate with “honors” all you have to do is work on an honor’s project. What about GPA? Back in my day, honors like cum laude, magna, summa, were determined soley by GPA. </p>
<p>I don’t understand exactly what 20% of Oberlin students graduating with honors means. Is “honors” cum laude? “high honors” magna cum laude, and “highest honors” summa cum laude? Is honors determined by a cumulative GPA, by a combination of cumulative GPA + honors writing project, or soley by honors writing project?</p>
<p>As I understand from the [url=<a href=“The College of Arts and Sciences - Oberlin College - Modern Campus Catalog™”>The College of Arts and Sciences - Oberlin College - Modern Campus Catalog™]catalog[/url</a>], the degree of honors is based solely on your honors project. Getting accepted to do an honors project in the first place depends on your honors proposal as well as your academic record within your major - but that’s the only way that GPA comes into play. (Please correct me if I’m wrong!)</p>
<p>Our son just graduated with honors in two different majors. Attaining a high GPA is expected but not enough for honors in any individual major. Each department sets the standard for the honors projects. Students who do exceptional work in their junior year are invited to submit a proposal for an honors project to be completed during their senior year. Students who are not invited are also able to submit a proposal for an honors project and may be accepted. Not all students who submit a proposal are accepted for honors. If not accepted, they may still complete a senior capstone project with a member of the faculty. The honors project ends with a thesis or presentation. The student is then required to defend their project. Following the defense in a meeting of the major faculty, the student’s project receives a designation of no honors, honors, high honors, or highest honors. The student does not find out the degree of honor until it appears in the program for commencement. The advising professor usually lets the student know if the project passed following the defense. This is the only way to graduate with “honors” at Oberlin.</p>
<p>Plainsman, From what I understand Phi Beta Kappa (etc) is awarded based on the cumulative GPA at the end of four years. Honors is determined by the department itself. Students are invited or apply during their junior year to do an honors project/thesis within their departmental major and based on their thesis or senior project, they are awarded honors, high honors or highest honors.</p>
<p>Does Oberlin recognize cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude?</p>
<p>No. Oberlin does not award Latin honors, just departmental honors. And a slight correction to pianomom and studiomom (who are otherwise correct): the degree of honors depends, not just on the honors project itself, but also on the student’s cumulative work in the major–the GPA in the major is also taken into account.</p>
<p>No Latin honors? I didn’t know that. I just assumed they did. I don’t know why that bothers me, but it does. At least they offer Phi Beta Kappa.</p>
<p>I appreciate the clarification.</p>
<p>No Latin Honors, but yes, honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa. Plenty of brass rings to reach for. A word about the honor’s projects: It’s serious stuff that takes a lot of work, but what a fabulous learning experience. I don’t know what role parents can play in encouraging seniors to take advantage of this, but those who can should do so. If I had encouraged it, that might have been a dis-incentive for my kid. :)</p>
<p>There was a proposal to award Latin honors, but students objected and the idea was tabled; the concern was that it would lead to a negative kind of competitiveness. Take a look early on at the requirements for Phi Beta Kappa and departmental honors because both have demanding requirements that require some planning. As described in the catelog, Phi Beta Kappa limits the use of APs to fulfill the breadth requirements (no more than 4 of the 9 units in the 3 division); it seems that you could have a 4.0 average and fulfill the 9-9-9 requirements for graduation but still not be elected to Phi Beta Kappa if you used APs to fulfill more than 4 of the units in any division. For the particular majors, there are requirements for what courses must be completed by end of junior year to qualify for honors.</p>
<p>As a PBK member, I have to say that it seems to me an almost completely irrelevant distinction. I suppose it probably meant something to me at the time to be elected, but I honestly can’t say it has made an iota of difference to my life. I certainly can’t imagine choosing which courses to take in college just to be sure I would be eligible for PBK.</p>
<p>Perhaps. But you could say the same thing about departmental honors. And it’s one of those things that show up on resumes forever - Sotomayor, most recently. And the kind of things that give parents “naches.”</p>
<p>Actually, I feel exactly the same way about departmental honors. I always tell students that if they’re contemplating applying for the honors program because they think the HHH on their diploma will have any practical benefit later in life, they shouldn’t apply. (I don’t see that it has any measurable benefit in getting into grad programs, for instance.) The point of doing honors work is for the inherent value of the work itself.</p>
<p>Certainly students should pursue honors programs for their inherent value, including the experience of working closely with faculty on a project and researching and writing a substantial paper or other project; but there is also life after college and the fact of having done so, showing focus, dedication, and ambition may well result in a stronger recommendation and resume value for students applying for fellowships (Fulbright, etc.) and competitive programs in graduate schools, law schools, medical schools. Some of these awards, such as phi beta kappa and departmental honors may be conferred after applications for fellowships or graduate/professional programs have been submitted, but a student on track for those honors would probably make a stronger candidate.</p>