<p>What are the range of GPA for summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude for school of engineering at Vandy? </p>
<p>Here is for A&S: Frequently</a> Asked Questions | College of Arts and Science | Vanderbilt University</p>
<p>I think the ranges are the same for the School of Engineering as for CAS. The Engineering catalog states, </p>
<p>“Latin Honors Designation
Honors noted on diplomas and published in the Commencement
Program are earned as follows:
Summa Cum Laude. Students whose grade point average
equals or exceeds that of the top 5 percent of the previous
years Vanderbilt graduating seniors.
Magna Cum Laude. Students whose grade point average
equals or exceeds that of the next 8 percent of the previous
years Vanderbilt graduating seniors.
Cum Laude. Students whose grade point average equals
or exceeds that of the next 12 percent of the previous years
Vanderbilt graduating seniors.”</p>
<p>The same language is used in the CAS catalog description of Latin Honors. The reference GPA’s appear to be those of graduating seniors of Vanderbilt University as a whole, rather than those of graduating seniors in the individual schools. If I read the catalog correctly, then, the thresholds stated in your link apply to both schools, not just to CAS.</p>
<p>Perhaps something the engineering registrar could answer-- I’m curious as well. Can’t find it posted online anywhere. Ask and let us know?</p>
<p>I do believe it is separate for Engineering ans A&S… I could be wrong here but it would seem unfair to engineers otherwise…</p>
<p>Don’t departments have different cutoffs? And in addition, many science/tech departments probably have thesis requirements that ultimately decide honors level. It would be kind of stupid if you did a significant piece of academic work and then have your level of honors determined by GPA, something that can be manipulated by your course rigor and level of instruction. Makes more sense to have the cut-off and then allow for the thesis research and then judge that because it is generally a more intellectually rigorous undertaking than scoring B+ or higher in many courses. GPA determinants is more like a “thank you for caring about your grades so much, here is an award”. </p>
<p>Here is chemistry: [The</a> Chemistry Major<em>|</em>Department of Chemistry<em>|</em>Vanderbilt University](<a href=“Department of Chemistry | Vanderbilt University”>Major and Minor | Department of Chemistry | Vanderbilt University)</p>
<p>Or does Vanderbilt separate Latin Honors from departmental honors (many elite schools do not)? Seems confusing in light of the link babyboom posted. A person in chemistry w/a 3.4 (I really doubt their non-chem GPA will be lower) that does a significant piece of intellectual isn’t going to get any latin honors from the college beyond the departmental level, but a person no such undertaking will automatically receive it from the University for paying attention to their grades.</p>
<p>Good question. Definitely post the answer in here when you find out – I’ve wondered about this myself. It would seem pretty insanely unfair for engineers to have to do so well compared to students from other schools.</p>
<p>When '06 S graduated the cutoffs were based on a particular GPA, published in the black book, and it seemed that more people graduated with honors than not. Between then and '09 D’s graduation, faculty voted to recraft these distinctions to a percentage of the class for each distinction. I think the percentages for the '09 class were based on the '08 class; i.e., if summa is meant to be top 5% (just making up a %), they took the gpa cutoff for that from '08 results. Because it’s a moving target and caused bad feelings as it was implemented, it was not published anywhere at the time. I can’t remember if there were different cutoffs for the different colleges. I believe you could call the registrar’s office to get specifics.</p>
<p>According to that link the OP posted, they’re basically giving Latin honors to the top 25% of the class in the college (that’s pretty lax, yet better than places like Harvard and some Ivies I guess).</p>
<p>25% is very respectable… It’s the standard across many schools, and it blows other top schools out of the water. It’s something like 50% at Harvard, and that’s AFTER they totally changed their system. Was as high as 90% in the early 2000s. 40% at Princeton.</p>
<p>Yeah I know, those schools are ridiculous. It’s basically, “thank you for coming to the Ivy League, on top of your degree and promising future, here are nice door prizes for surviving the environment”. Outside of the sciences, it doesn’t seem particularly difficult to do well at those schools just as it isn’t at any other selective institutions (minus engineering oriented institutions and some LACs). Princeton may be an exception with its grading policy which has affected the humanities, but I don’t see how it does much if they still give 40% honors. It basically just shifts the GPA cutoffs downward. I know we only give Latin honors via departmental work, so only like 10% of the college will get it(Because you have to hold the GPA of 3.5 which isn’t hard, especially if outside of chem, physics, or math, but then you have to fit in the grad. courses, and get enough data for a reasonable thesis. Many can’t hack fitting in the additional courses or drop the thesis). Guess our system may be a little harsh in comparison, but it makes sense to me, especially in light of what I see people do to maintain high gpas beyond simply working hard in their courses.</p>
<p>I’m curious about this too, but the OP is over a year old so s/he probably won’t be calling.</p>
<p>Dang, didn’t even notice after it was bumped.</p>
I just spoke with the Vanderbilt Dean’s office (June 11. 2015) and learned the following:
1.) Latin honors are calculated for the entire student body each year, regardless of which college or major the student is in.
2.) The thresholds required to receive honors for the graduating classes of 2015 and 2016 are as follows:
Cum Laude - 3.724
Magna Sum Laude - 3.826
Summa Cum Laude - 3.915
They really tightened this up between S’s graduation in '06 and D’s graduation in '09. Used to be that summa was 3.75, magna was 3.5, and cum laude was 3.25. The majority of students in S’s class received honors.