<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I was just wondering if anybody knew the 2011 or 2010 cut-off gpa for Phi Beta Kappa?</p>
<p>Also, how/if theses are graded (I have two theses credits that are listed as "IP)? And does honors have anything to do with Phi Beta Kappa or my gpa.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Are you asking about Honors majors and whether they are intertwined with PBK or your GPA in some manner? If that’s the question, the answer is no. I know people who have graduated with High Honors and not been inducted into PBK. Doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, but they are not interrelated as I’ve been led to believe.</p>
<p>As far as I know, PBK at Swarthmore is primarily related to GPA. It is generally something like the top 15% of the graduating class. It is completely different from honors, which are awarded by the honors examiners based on the honors exams. So it might be theoretically possible for someone to graduate with Highest Honors but not inducted into PBK (but probably highly unlikely). Similarly, there are usually some Honors grads who get in to PBK (and a significant number of course graduates). I think in 2007 the GPA cut off was something like 3.7 or 3.75. I don’t know for sure, but would not expect the dividing line changes much from year to year.</p>
<p>I believe they take your graded classes GPA, then after Honors are awarded, factor in some number depending on which level of Honors is achieved. One can get Honors and into PBK or not, depending on earlier performance.</p>
<p>Further numbers from the class of 2011: There were 55 inductees into Phi Beta Kappa, out of 366 degrees awarded = 15% of the graduating class. Out of 18 Highest Honors graduates, 11 were PBK, out of 74 High Honors graduates, 27 were PBK, out of 44 Honors graduates, 1 was PBK, and there were an additional 16 graduates in course elected to PBK. So approximately 7% of course graduates achieved Phi Beta Kappa, 61% of Highest Honors, 36% of High Honors and 2% of Honors graduates.</p>
<p>I have been lead to believe that the GPA necessary for PBK is somewhat dependent on your major. There are some majors which are notorious for giving higher grades than others, so whereas one would think that a larger percentage of graduates who have been in the Honors program and have achieved Highest Honors or High Honors would be members of PBK, dadx3’s numbers show otherwise.</p>
<p>Honors/High Honors/Highest Honors isn’t at all dependent on GPA, just your performance on the honors exams, and it seems pretty possible to have a GPA that doesn’t reflect your understanding of the four honors preps that you’re tested on. I don’t know anything about PBK, but if it’s based on GPA (which seems likely), then I wouldn’t be too surprised that the correlation between it and honors isn’t very tight.</p>
<p>To answer your question about thesis credits graded as “IP” – this happens when you are in Honors. The Honors examiner who examines your thesis will assign it a grade.</p>