<p>I just got straight B’s on my transcript…</p>
<p>Maybe my classes have harder grading distributions or something, but I’m quite concerned now…</p>
<p>Are there no gradations between A and B (A-, B+)?</p>
<p>Usually your syllabus or teachers should have told you upfront what it takes to get an A in their class. Normal practice is for about 20-30% to get an A in most schools if there is a curve.</p>
<p><a href=“Office of Institutional Research | Brown University”>Office of Institutional Research | Brown University;
<p>Typically, professors make it pretty clear what their grading distributions are in the syllabus. I’ve only gotten one of my five grades back so far, but I’m about 90% sure what I’ll be receiving in each of the other classes. This really shouldn’t have blindsided you.</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, straight B’s are pretty low for any ivy, especially one as grade-inflated as Brown.</p>
<p>I’m amazed some of you have grades already. My son has two finals today and a CS project that he turned in last night but that isn’t due until tonight. Plus a paper that’s due Friday. So grade just flow in on a real-time basis, rather than appearing all at once when everything is complete, like at most colleges?</p>
<p>I believe that grades are due for each class 24 hours after the scheduled final for the class. I know that I have 3/5 grades in as of today. Sounds like your son just got stuck with later finals than most students.</p>
<p>Given the high frequency of A’s given out, as described in the table linked to above, what sort of GPA is needed to graduate with honors?</p>
<p>Departmental honors is dependent on completing a project and writing a thesis your senior year. Latin honors (magna cum laude) is given to around the top 20% of the graduating class, based on the number of A’s or S’s with distinction obtained, normalized over the standard courseload for the number of semesters one has spent at Brown (so that transfers, study abroads, and folks taking 5 classes/sem are not unduly advantaged/disadvantaged).</p>
<p>OK, aleph, I saw the basic webpage, but what GPA is roughly needed to make that top 20%? 3.75? 3.9?</p>
<p>I also don’t fully understand this normalized standard courseload bit? Does that mean you just divide number of (As + S with distinctions) by total number of classes? If so, isn’t that unfair to those who attempt 5 courses per semester, since it’s harder to ace 5 classes at a time than 4?</p>
<p>^your S should just back off and take 4 like everyone else if he wants get the honors LI!</p>
<p>It sounds like there is a specific number of As you need (lets say 90% or 29 classes for 32 classes over a 4 year period). If someone has been there only 2 years as a transfer, it might require 14 out of 16. If someone finished the entire degree in 3 years, they will still need 29 As (these are my hypothetical numbers and not Brown’s).</p>
<p>The university first determines the number of A’s and S’s with distinctions one has obtained. That number is then divided by the standard course load based on the number of semesters one has spent at Brown. For example, if one finishes in the usual 4 years with no study abroad, then the standard course load is 8 x 4 = 32. For someone who finishes in 3 years, the standard course load is 6 x 4 = 24. The top 20% of students based on this metric will then be conferred magna cum laude.</p>
<p>Taking 5 classes is not a disadvantage because it gives you a chance to earn the extra A without any loss if you don’t get the A, since the final normalization is done based on the standard course load, and not the course load you actually attempted. For this reason, it is meaningless to compare this metric to GPA. Also, B’s and C’s factor into GPA, but not this metric.</p>
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<p>So there is no difference between someone who received 32 A’s out of 32 classes over 8 semesters and someone who received 32 A’s out of 36 (or even 40) classes?</p>
<p>And, historically, how many A’s out of those 32 would you need to make the 20% cutoff in most years? 26? 28? 30?</p>
<p>If I’m correct, there is factoring in the honors equation that some percentage of your courses in your concentration must be A’s? That would fit with Brown’s philosophy of exploration so that the person who goes out of their comfort zone to take a “risky” challenge in a different area as a 5th course would not be so “penalized” if they perhaps got a C for trying Sanskrit as a Chem concentrator.</p>
<p>@LI: That’s basically right. No one knows for sure what is the cut-off, it is not information that is publicly available.</p>
<p>This site explains the system best: [Office</a> of the Registrar: Undergraduate Programs](<a href=“Welcome | Office of the Registrar”>Welcome | Office of the Registrar)</p>
<p>@BAP: That is probably true for departmental honors, where they only care about grades in your concentration (and a thesis), but not for magna.</p>
<p>In any case, it’s pointless to obssess over such things. Treat it as a bonus if you get it and don’t worry too much if you don’t. I doubt it counts for much for anything that matters anyway.</p>
<p>Coming out of hiding/retirement to give a little information.</p>
<p>Based on some insider knowledge that I have, most of even the very top students (and I’m referring to the top 5% or so) will have had a couple non-A/non-S* grades by the end of the 5th semester, and the average student does take 4 courses a semester. Based on that, 30 is almost definitely above the cutoff. As aleph0 said, the actual cut-off is not publically available, but I’d hazard a guess that it’s closer to the 26-28 range. In my year, we found out the day of graduation whether we had made it, though they certainly knew far enough in advance to print it on our diplomas and the programs.</p>
<p>Thank you, Uroogla, it’s good to hear from you again; you were a great help to us the last two years!</p>
<p>So could you clarify this? Regardless of how many classes you take – between 32 and 40 total over 8 semesters – 30 A’s/S* are almost certainly enough? There is no penalty to taking a 5th class regularly and perhaps missing the A on it, as opposed to choosing the safety of just 4 classes?</p>
<p>And, given printing deadlines, is it likely that only the first 7 semesters are considered? (like with high school vals)</p>
<p>From the website I posted:</p>
<p>" -Each student is assigned a normal load based on the number of tuition/enrollment units a student has in residence at Brown. For most students this normal load is 32.0 (4 courses x 8 semesters) if they are enrolled for 8 semesters in residence at Brown and do not take summer courses or study elsewhere, etc.</p>
<p>-Likewise, if a student did enroll in Brown summer courses these are added on a 1:1 basis to his/her normal load. So in the case of a student who enrolled for 8 semesters and also enrolled in two Brown summer courses the normal load would be 34.0 ((4.0 X 8) + 2). For students who came in as transfer students and/or took a semester abroad their normal load would be decreased by the number of semesters that were credited as a result of transfer credits (ex. 6 semesters in residence fulltime the normal load would be 24.0 (4 courses x 6)).</p>
<p>-The second part of the calculation is to take all graduating students who are actually completing their requirements for commencement in May and take their total number of magna-eligible grades (grades of A or S with distinction [Note: S* on transcript means mandatory S/NC grade option not S with distinction. Distinction marks are not released outside the University as they are used strictly for magna calculation purposes]) and divide based on specific student’s normal load to come up with a magna percentage."</p>
<p>So basically, magna percentage = (number of A’s + S’s with distinctions) / expected normal load. Since taking 5 classes/sem has a chance to improve the numerator, but leaves the denominator untouched, there is no “penalty” to doing so. In other words, for any given semester, 4A’s + 1B is exactly as good as 4A’s for purposes of magna.</p>
<p>All 8 semesters are considered. All final semester senior grades strictly have to be in by a certain deadline to prepare for stuff related to commencement. Also keep in mind that commencement is 1+ week after the last day of exams.</p>
<p>Uroogla,</p>
<p>Magna is on the diploma when you graduate? I had departmental honors and I remember that everyone in my department got a certificate instead of an actual diploma because in order to print them with the “with honors” designation they weren’t ready at commencement. I imagined magna was the same deal.</p>
<p>Me jumping in again. (Sorry, Uroogla!) I graduated this past May, and I received my actual diploma on commencement day with both honors and magna printed. I’m not sure if this was true for everyone, because Registrar did say that if you made honors and/or magna, you’ll receive a temporary thing during commencement, and your actual diploma will be mailed to you later.</p>