Phi Betta Kappa

I know that PBK at W&M is relatively secretive, in that there are no posted guidelines and cut-offs on how to be inducted. I also realize that W&M PBK selections are based on more than just high GPAs, such as ECs, research involvement, and faculty letters. However, does anyone know a rough estimate of what GPA a PBK inductee should have, at least in order to be competitive? After my cousin received PBK honors at his institution, it has been a long time goal of mine to achieve this. I just completed my sophomore year (halfway done yay!!), and I have a 3.87 cumulative and 4.0 GPA in neuroscience. I’m also involved in research (publication coming at the end of summer), I tutor and TA orgo labs, peer advise, and also help underprivileged middle schoolers in the Williamsburg area. I do some other things as well, but I just wanted to know if I have a chance at PBK. Thanks!

Start by learning about PBK in general at their web site: https://www.pbk.org/web

I haven’t seen schools publish guidelines and cut-offs to be inducted. It’s not so much that it’s secretive as it is competitive. What makes the cut one year may not the next due to how much the pool of talented students varies from year to year. And it’s more than just grades.

Your accomplishments are impressive, what can often be a problem for people in STEM fields is whether they meet the breadth requirements for PBK of studying across multiple disciplines. It is an honor rewarding accomplishment across the liberal arts, not just within a discipline. It can be difficult for students who are pre-med or engineering or other restrictive majors/programs to fit in the broad range of classes required for election.

The PBK site will tell you their minimum requirements for induction, however every school can add to those as they see fit.

Good luck!

At D’s school, foreign language study was required for PBK selection, for example. Not just about GPA, and I don’t think community service is considered, either.

Ah okay thanks for letting me know about the liberal arts. I’ve certainly taken some classes outside of science, such as English, Linguistics, and Policy, but I’m not majoring/minoring in them, so I doubt they would view that as much breadth. To be fair though, I had a ton of Latin exposure and easily got out of W&M’s language requirement through that, I just haven’t taken any language while at the College.

@jpvn2015 The requirement is not that you major/minor in something outside your cores studies, it’s a matter of how broad your exposure has been outside of your chosen discipline. Some schools have core requirements that fairly well align with PBK requirements. Others don’t require as broad a spectrum and it’s up to the student to ensure they have enough variety.

Look at the base PBK requirements against the classes you’ve taken and that should give you some idea whether you’re competitive.

You need to take a foreign language class as well as some liberal arts classes - either two semesters of a romance language or one advanced semester of Latin would make sense in your case. Based on your major, a class in psychology would make sense, as well as a class in history of science and in women’s studies.

I have already gotten out of the Latin requirement and took about 10 years before coming to college. I don’t really want to waste my time taking a language with my other requirements honestly. I already have to take a lot of psychology, but history class is definitely a good idea! Women’s studies would probably not go well for me haha.

You look like you are in good shape so far. The grade point average you were able to achieve while majoring in neuroscience as well as being highly involved in your study is a good sign.

You should know that relationships with faculty are also considered important in the selection process. I have known quite a couple of Summa Cum Laude students (3.8+ gpa) that did not necessarily make Phi Beta Kappa because they did not have some of the more intangible qualities if being a PBK initiate.
According to W&M this includes, “Intellectual honesty and curiosity, careful scholarship,
creativity, good character, and a commitment to the life of the mind.” When the list of eligible students are created, they email the faculty of the departments that have formerly had the students in question, in which they produce recommendation letters for the following students.

“Then the committee considers, quantity and quality of recommendation letters from faculty, grades achieved, curricular breadth, and scholarly initiative. Basically this is something that you earn or you don’t earn by being known of being a person of good character, strong academic achievement, and intellectual curiosity, and personal involvement outside of the classroom.” Unlike college applications, this is not something you necessarily ask for recommendation letters for or apply for, rather it is is something you are entered for if you are eligible and it is up to the faculty to provide the extra wholesome picture of you if they think you would be a good fit.

As I am sure you know, William & Mary is where Phi Beta Kappa was founded. It seems that here they consider way more than just your GPA as a cutoff, but rather many different qualities. It is definitely a really cool honor, but for many of the people that get into PBK are just the qualities and excellence that they display on a day to day basis. Many are humble and you wouldn’t necessarily know it if William & Mary didn’t publish their names in everyone’s graduation pamphlets.

Best of luck to you!