who is my admissions officer?

etondad
Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:25:11 +0000

@WCU–Yeah, I still am–but now non resident, at Lev…the summa notation is usually written on the front of the folder by a reader/Ad Com so it isn’t an “official” designation per se (although they have the top score out of Nine academically…)
PBK is a bit of a joke–it has far to many humanities and too few science/math folks because of the different grading habits. The grad schools know this, of course, although some of the more famous fellowships don’t–sad. Also, just as a student from local high school who transfers to Exeter as an Upper will have a higher Exeter GPA compared to someone who has been there since prep year, the same is true for many transfers.

The designation of potential summas, as i have seen them is based not only on raw candle power (although that has to be a given…) but also, as you correctly point out, the tenacity-- still, still some burn out, but surprisingly few of those that the Ad Com thought would make it to summa (or if math/science – highest honors in the department/Hoopes Prize).