<p>How hard is it to get into PBK at Wustl?</p>
<p>As a society recognizing achievement in the liberal arts, Phi Beta Kappa selects new undergraduate members from among students seeking a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences. Students in other undergraduate schools (for example, engineering or business) are eligible only if they are in a combined degree program, that is, also earning a second degree (not just a second major) from Arts & Sciences. </p>
<p>Students do not “apply” for membership. Nominees are selected once a year early in the spring semester by a Selection Committee consisting of six Phi Beta Kappa faculty members representing the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. The Selection Committee classifies a student in the College as a “senior” if he or she has completed 98 credits by the end of the fall semester (whether or not the student plans to graduate in May) and as a “junior” if the student has completed at least 75 credits but fewer than 98. (For both junior and senior candidates, at least 45 of these credits must have been earned at Washington University.) The committee collects the internal records of seniors with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.60 and juniors with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.85. Records for qualified students who graduated in August or December of the preceding year are also included in the annual selection. Together, the committee examines these records and votes on each nomination. Usually the committee nominates about 70-80 students. The list of nominees is submitted by the committee to the annual meeting of the local chapter which actually elects the new members. The newly elected members are then notified by mail, usually in late February or early March. Almost all the students elected each year are “seniors.” There is a formal late-afternoon initiation ceremony, usually in late March or early April. In recent years, the date has coincided with the Phi Beta Kappa/Sigma Xi lecture in the Assembly Series.
In making its nominations, the Selection Committee reviews a student record looking for evidence of both breadth and depth of interest in the liberal arts, as demonstrated in a student’s record of work at Washington University. One student’s record, for example, might indicate a 4.0 science major but show few interests beyond the sciences–just the minimal set of distribution requirements. While such a student is clearly outstanding and merits some kind of recognition, he or she probably would not be nominated: this is not the sort of broad interest that Phi Beta Kappa seeks to honor. Another 4.0 student’s record might indicate diverse interests but not show evidence of great depth in any area–for example, a “minimal” set of courses in the major and “dabbling” in a number of other areas. This student would probably also not be nominated. Sometimes a course of study touches base with many different departments but still, on closer examination, seems to be focused in a narrow window rather than the wider perspective that the Selection Committee seeks. For example, a course of study might consist of courses from many departments but all focused on, say, Southeast Asia: history, culture , languages, and business. Such a record might also not show the breadth of interest in the liberal arts that the committee looks for.</p>
<p>In looking at a student’s record, the Selection Committee must make some other judgments about the breadth of a student’s choices. For example, a psychology or anthropology major could fulfill most of his/her science and social science requirements all within the major department; a student could fulfill the College’s science requirement completely with mathematics courses while never studying an “empirical” science. Such things on a student’s record would not be a disqualifier to election, but would probably be viewed as a “minus” factor in the total process.
Clearly, the nomination decisions involve judgment calls by the Selection Committee. This is why the Chapter tries to keep the committee fairly large and representative of the different parts of the College. Because the Committee sets a goal of around 70-80 nominees, the lowest GPA’s elected are usually in the 3.75-3.85 range, although there is no rule about this.</p>