I received cum laude in 11th grade and am not sure whether the highest level of recognition (as asked on the honors section of the common app) is school (because it’s based on my peers’ grades and how I compare), or national/international (because the cum laude society has member schools across the world) and my school counselors and principal said it’s international, but that seems rly big.
i already submitted apps for 2 schools on the common app and put “international” bc that’s what my college counselor said, but now am worried it’s a mistake.
& for the UC App, it also asks for level of recognition, so I’m hoping I can get it right this time.
Thanks
Who awarded this “cum laude” recognition? Was it your school or some other organization. If some other organization, what is it?
Usually these sorts of designations are school based.
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From the Cum Laude Society:
“The definition of what constitutes an academic honor record and the determination of how to select members are left to the discretion of the individual chapter.”
You are not being ranked or measured against students outside of your school, or against any objective standard, so it is a school level award.
Moreover the “international” is over-hyped. There are exactly 7 schools (of the ~380 CLS member schools) that are outside the US: one each in Puerto Rico, Canada, Switzerland, the Philippines, France, England and Spain. So no, it is not an international level award, and fwiw I am not impressed with your college counselor pushing you to over-egg the custard.
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