CumLaude/MagnaCumLaude/SummaCumLaude

eric_123456 · 07-02-2008, 12:34 AM

CumLaude/MagnaCumLaude/SummaCumLaude

How hard is it to achieve such honors at UCSD?

I've always had to work extremely hard to maintain straight A's in high school. I was never like my classmates who seemed to be geniuses. With that said, is my goal feasible? Can I become Cum L, Magna Cum L, or Sum Cum L out of pure hard work? If so, how hard do you think I would have to work.

By the way, I'll be majoring in Electrical Engineering.

I know it's a pretty stupid question, but I just want to know from other's experience how hard is it to achieve such a goal.

astrina · 07-02-2008, 09:52 AM

Uh, the point of college is that you attend to learn something that interests and excites you, not to obsess over your grades just for the sake of obsessing. It's not even a matter of 'showing off' for prospective graduate or professional schools; honors are awarded at graduation, and if you apply for postgraduate study during your senior year, your grades and research will say plenty about your academic achievements.

So "how hard" is a really open and awkward question. EE is a challenging major like all of its engineering relatives, and you'll be surrounded by lots of really smart and hard-working people who might not care so much about their grades, but are there to learn as much as they can.

If you're really desparate to get honors, the path is to work super-hard to the point of lacking a social life, cheat whenever possible, bribe professors and TAs, and pad your GPA with easy-A classes. I wouldn't recommend that approach.

Cutoffs are found from Google:

GRADUATING SENIOR UNIVERSITY HONORS

Qualified students graduate with a degree awarded cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. Eligibility to receive University Honors at graduation is determined according to campus policy. A maximum of fourteen percent of graduating seniors may be so honored. Ranking is based on the GPA for at least eighty quarter-units of graded course work at the University of California. This generally means that the top two percent will graduate summa cum laude; the next four percent, magna cum laude, and the next eight percent, cum laude.

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# 2008 Honors Criteria (Effective Fall 2007 through Summer 2008):

Summa Cum Laude: 3.908 - 4.000
Magna Cum Laude: 3.786 – 3.907
Cum Laude: 3.633 – 3.785

In addition, to be eligible for honors, a student must receive letter grades for at least eighty quarter-units of course work at the University of California.

drsarah · 07-07-2008, 07:42 PM

"If you're really desparate to get honors, the path is to work super-hard to the point of lacking a social life, cheat whenever possible, bribe professors and TAs, and pad your GPA with easy-A classes. I wouldn't recommend that approach."

***?

it's an honest question, i'm sure lots of people are wondering the same thing. I know I am. It's a huge honor to get one of these "honors" and I'd love to be a recipient of one when I graduate.

astrina · 07-07-2008, 09:59 PM

honest question, yes.

important question, i don't agree.

knowing that cum laude honors are GPA-based, you might as well reword the question to be "how can i get good grades?"

you should know how to do that already. there are extremes, and there are healthy intermediates. i've seen both, and will conclude that the extremes scare me just a bit.

drsarah · 07-08-2008, 01:45 PM

yes, it could be rephrased to that, however i'm sure getting good grades in college is much different than in high school. achieving valedictorian in high school is a lot less tougher than honors in college...so how do you achieve a balance in life while still managing to get honors?

astrina · 07-08-2008, 03:04 PM

getting good grades in college isn't that much different than high school. why should it be? you're competing against the same pool of people you did in high school, though perhaps the less-academically-inclined have been weeded out.

as for balancing life vs studies, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. you'll learn through trial and error what works best for you.

(personally, i lump grade obsessers in the same pool as the crazy premeds ... not very nice people to be around, though i've met my share of them.)

drsarah · 07-09-2008, 01:32 AM

haha, "(personally, i lump grade obsessers in the same pool as the crazy premeds"

idk, i think getting good grades seems a lot tougher in college...when you include all the factors? i'm premed, and hope to do well. i guess everyone thinks the same thing.

LifeTranscends · 07-09-2008, 02:15 AM

drsarah:

Hmm... I don't think that getting good grades is particularly harder in college than it was in high school. For one thing, even though each class you take may be more difficult or require more work than high school classes, you take fewer classes in college so it all evens out to be similar amounts of work. And as a premed (and I am assuming you are a bio major of some sort) remember that your classes are usually curved, so even if you are in a class that seems to be impossibly difficult, chances are that mostly everyone else probably thinks the same thing, so you are all in the same boat.

To the OP:
I think it is difficult to attain those honors, ESPECIALLY if you are trying to get good grades for the purpose of the awards. It'll require quite a bit of grade obsession, which I did for a while and it was extremely not fun. I would not recommend it. I became extremely irritable, I was constantly tired, I had essentially no free time and everyone easily got annoyed with me. Soo... Yeah. And I agree with everything astrina said... Although grades are important, the experiences you have outside the classroom (internships, research, etc) will be leaps and bounds more important.

And a last thing about grades... If you are really interested in what you are studying, and I mean REALLY interested, then getting good grades becomes significantly easier just due to the fact that you are more curious about it and studying no longer really feels like work. That's how I feel anyway. I just notice that some of the people that I know that don't do particularly well in school really hate what they are studying, and it becomes VERY hard to study for something that you don't like.

eric_123456 · 07-09-2008, 06:10 AM

Thanks guys/girls.
I appreciate the input.
I guess I just have to hope that I can earn such honors without having to be an anti-social/no life grade obsesser.

collegemom16 · 07-09-2008, 01:46 PM

eric I think some of Astrina's excellent advice didn't register. Instead of wasting time stressing about excellent grades and honors, focus on learning. Absorb yourself in what you are studying and do applicable research. When you love, and engage yourself in what you are doing the rewards will follow.

Slorg · 07-09-2008, 02:14 PM

You don't need to be a workaholic or grade-obsessed to get high honors. Being smart (especially in math/sci majors) can be enough.

But what's the point of adding a few words to your degree and wearing a rope at graduation? You can still do great work in your life without these awards. Focus more on being the person you want to be, not obsessing over GPA minutae.

I know a number of students with GPAs in the summa cum laude range, and I'll let you in on a little secret: they're no happier for it.