Hurray! Latin honors were released yesterday!
Now, if only we knew what they meant.
We’ve been doing a little research at DOS and here’s the bottom line: Each school breaks the top 30% of their graduating class down into three categories: Summa-cum-laude, Magna-cum-laude, and Cum-laude. The GPA breakdowns are as follows:
| School or College | Cum-Laude | Magna-Cum-Laude | Summa-Cum-Laude |
| CAS | 3.40-3.58 | 3.59-3.78 | 3.79-4.0 |
| COM | 3.39-3.53 | 3.54-3.70 | 3.71-4.0 |
| ENG | 3.34-3.60 | 3.61-3.82 | 3.82-4.0 |
| SAR | 3.40-2.58 | 3.59-3.78 | 3.79-4.0 |
| SED | 3.43-3.63 | 3.64-3.85 | 3.86-4.0 |
| CFA | 3.53-3.65 | 3.66-3.73 | 3.74-4.0 |
| SHA | 3.23-3.43 | 3.44-3.60 | 3.60-4.0 |
| SMG | 3.36-3.51 | 3.52-3.66 | 3.67-4.0 |
Alternatively, you can find out if you have Latin honors on your student link. Just click the Academics tab, then click “Diploma and Graduation Information.” Your honor should be listed directly under your degree.
A few things to note:
- The percentages: Essentially, the top five percent of your class gets summa-cum-laude, the next ten percent gets magna-cum-laude, and the next fifteen percent gets cum-laude.
- You’re set: If you have Latin honors as of last semester, there’s nothing to worry about—you can’t lose them now. Enjoy your senior spring!
- There’s nowhere to go but up: If you can improve your GPA this semester to the extent that you fall into a new category for Latin Honors, you will be awarded that honor.
Here’s the Registrar’s way of explaining it:
Among graduating seniors in each School or College, the top five percent will be awarded degrees summa cum laude, the next ten percent will be awarded degrees magna cum laude, and the next fifteen percent will be awarded degrees cum laude. “Break points,” which are the grade point averages (GPA) corresponding to each of these categories, will be determined for each graduating class in each School or College at the end of the seventh (penultimate) semester by applying these percentile ranges to the list of eligible graduates arranged in order of GPA. Students falling in the designated percentile ranges on the basis of their GPAs after seven semesters will be certified for degrees with the corresponding Latin honors. Students who, by virtue of strong academic performances during their final semester, advance their GPA’s beyond a break point, will be awarded degrees with the correspondingly higher Latin honor. Students whose academic performances during the final semester cause their GPA’s to fall below a break point will retain the Latin honors as originally determined after seven semesters. In no case will students be awarded Latin honors for grade point averages below 3.0.
Source: http://www.bu.edu/reg/graduation/lhgrad.html
Congratulations to all you overachieving terriers! You deserve it.
Terrier Love,
Celie
