Latin Honors and Phi Beta Kappa

[obgyny]

Are these worth mentioning in the AMCAS work/activities section? I wasn't planning on mentioning the Latin Honors since it's on my transcripts, but I just realized adcomms won't see the transcripts (just the courses you entered into the primary application).

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[LizzyM]

I have heard adcom members favorably note Phi Beta Kappa. Latin honors? not so much. The adcom can see every grade you earned as well as your gpa for science & non science and total for every year of schooling Unless your school has grade deflation such that a 3.3 is magna cum laude you might want to skip it.

 

[ItzYaYa]

As Lizzy said, to be a member of PBK is definitely eye-catching. LH isn't really worth mentioning unless you feel it a necessity. G'luck.

 

[obgyny]

I have heard adcom members favorably note Phi Beta Kappa. Latin honors? not so much. The adcom can see every grade you earned as well as your gpa for science & non science and total for every year of schooling Unless your school has grade deflation such that a 3.3 is magna cum laude you might want to skip it.

Wow, I would've thought Latin Honors would be more impressive than Phi Beta Kappa, since at my school, summa cum laude (which is what I got) is given to the top 1% of the graduating class and Phi Beta Kappa is given to the top 5%, I believe.

 

[BrainBuff]

Wow, I would've thought Latin Honors would be more impressive than Phi Beta Kappa, since at my school, summa cum laude (which is what I got) is given to the top 1% of the graduating class and Phi Beta Kappa is given to the top 5%, I believe.

The percentages, as they apply to Latin Honors, vary with the school. Some schools give all three (Summa, Magna and Cum ) while some other ones only give Magna Cum Laude.

Latin Honors are important because not everyone with the same GPA and within the same school graduating class will get them. Phi Beta Kappa is the equivalent to Alpha Omega Alpha, (the honor society for med schools) as far as prestige is concerned. Few juniors are inducted, but if you get tapped as a senior, you can always send an update!

 

[cfx]

The percentages, as they apply to Latin Honors, vary with the school. Some schools give all three (Summa, Magna and Cum ) while some other ones only give Magna Cum Laude.

Yes. At my school, summa cum laude is 3.9+, but I've seen it lower (~3.8) at other schools. Each uni sets their own cutoff, I think, and so the percentages will differ accordingly. My brother graduated from an ivy, and said literally everyone gets some sort of latin honor.

PBK % differs by chapter, as well, though. So at my school, it was something like the top 1-2%, but I would guess it's larger at smaller schools. Either way, it's probably always at or below 5% or so. I don't think there's anything wrong with mentioning LH if you have the space (I would go w/what LizzyM says, though), but PBK shows your relative performance, which I think is probably more impressive.

 

[searun]

PBK also demonstrates that you excelled across a wide spectrum of the liberal arts curriculum rather in excelling in a narrow specialty.

 

[BrainBuff]

PBK also demonstrates that you excelled across a wide spectrum of the liberal arts curriculum rather in excelling in a narrow specialty.

This is true and the reason why more non-science than science majors, are PBK.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Include all honors. I don't understand why some people are inclined to omit things like latin honors and PBK. If you know your school's selection criteria for your honors, include those as well to put the honor in context.

 

[wanderer]

PBK also demonstrates that you excelled across a wide spectrum of the liberal arts curriculum rather in excelling in a narrow specialty.

This. I know at my school, there is a committee that carefully looks over your transcript to see the breadth (and possibly depth) of courses taken in different disciplines, so even if you're say, a non-science major, a science minor and have a 4.0 there are no guarantees that you will be inducted , though it is very likely.

Plus, PBK is as old as this country.

 

[cfx]

Include all honors. I don't understand why some people are inclined to omit things like latin honors and PBK. If you know your school's selection criteria for your honors, include those as well to put the honor in context.

I think it's mostly a space issue. Something like "magna cum laude" just says "I got good grades," which anyone can see on your application, anyway. If there are empty spaces after ECs are entered, I don't see any reason not to include them all, but I'd have a hard time bumping an EC just to repeat info that already evident. I think something like PBK is definitely worth making room for, though.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I've never seen an application with so many meaningful ECs that all the slots were filled...

 

[cfx]

I've never seen an application with so many meaningful ECs that all the slots were filled...

I don't, that's for sure. This is just a concern that I've seen brought up in similar threads.

Just curious, have you ever served on an admissions committee? How do you feel about things like Dean's List being included?

 

[searun]

I included Phi Beta Kappa on my med school application - as a science major, I wanted to highlight that I also excelled in the humanities and the social sciences. I also mentioned that I graduated Magna Cum Laude. Why not? I did not see any downside and possibly some upside.

 

[obgyny]

I think it's mostly a space issue. Something like "magna cum laude" just says "I got good grades," which anyone can see on your application, anyway. If there are empty spaces after ECs are entered, I don't see any reason not to include them all, but I'd have a hard time bumping an EC just to repeat info that already evident. I think something like PBK is definitely worth making room for, though.

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone!! I guess I never looked at PBK that way. Since it's a national thing, it makes sense. Well I have 11 slots for the activities section filled without PBK and the summa cum laude honors. Should I just add them both?

I also got on the Dean's List several quarters, but I feel like that's overkill (especially with the PBK and Summa cum laude) lol. I graduated last year, so I already have the PBK under my belt. I was hesitant to add PBK and summa cum laude because I wasn't sure if adcomms would see that as me just filling out spaces and/or overkill since they can see my transcripts.

The summa cum laude honors was given to people with a GPA of 3.982 or above... so out of about 1000 graduating bio seniors, only 7 people got summa at my school.

 

[NickNaylor]

I wouldn't add the Latin honors. As others noted, it's simply a reflection of your GPA, and the adcoms will clearly see that you have a strong GPA in your app. Latin honors to me are similar to adding Dean's List to your achievements. It doesn't say much.

I would add PBK.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I don't, that's for sure. This is just a concern that I've seen brought up in similar threads.

Just curious, have you ever served on an admissions committee? How do you feel about things like Dean's List being included?

Yes, I have. I would make one "honors" section with all your honors listed - list them in order of prestige, eg:

Medal of Honor
Rhodes Scholar
XXX University Prize for best graduate honors thesis
XXX University Dean's Scholarship (1/2 tuition merit scholarship)
Phi Beta Kappa
Magna Cum Laude (top 20% of graudates)
Golden Key Honor Society
Dean's list 2008, 2009, 2010
Best Pygmy Goat, 2008 County Fair
2nd Prize in a Beauty Contest ($10)
Who's Who

 

[metalmethod741]

Yes, I have. I would make one "honors" section with all your honors listed - list them in order of prestige, eg:

Medal of Honor
Rhodes Scholar
XXX University Prize for best graduate honors thesis
XXX University Dean's Scholarship (1/2 tuition merit scholarship)
Phi Beta Kappa
Magna Cum Laude (top 20% of graudates)
Golden Key Honor Society
Dean's list 2008, 2009, 2010
Best Pygmy Goat, 2008 County Fair
2nd Prize in a Beauty Contest ($10)
Who's Who

Yeah, more generally:
List international awards,
then national ones,
then state,
then school

And do them by selectivity within the school

 

[cfx]

Yes, I have. I would make one "honors" section with all your honors listed - list them in order of prestige, eg:

Medal of Honor
Rhodes Scholar
XXX University Prize for best graduate honors thesis
XXX University Dean's Scholarship (1/2 tuition merit scholarship)
Phi Beta Kappa
Magna Cum Laude (top 20% of graudates)
Golden Key Honor Society
Dean's list 2008, 2009, 2010
Best Pygmy Goat, 2008 County Fair
2nd Prize in a Beauty Contest ($10)
Who's Who

Good idea, thanks. Do you feel that nominations for awards are worth including (e.g., "Nominated, Department of Physics Outstanding Senior Award"), or is this worthless and just highlight that someone else was better qualified for something?

 

[lord_jeebus]

Good idea, thanks. Do you feel that nominations for awards are worth including (e.g., "Nominated, Department of Physics Outstanding Senior Award"), or is this worthless and just highlight that someone else was better qualified for something?

I wouldn't bother with nominations.

 

[searun]

I wouldn't bother with nominations.

Yeah, nominations are meaningless.

 

[BrainBuff]

I wouldn't add the Latin honors. As others noted, it's simply a reflection of your GPA, and the adcoms will clearly see that you have a strong GPA in your app.

It is not simply a reflection of your GPA. It is a reflection of how high you are ranked at your specific undergrad compared to your classmates. And yes it should be added.

You are thinking Dean's List and President 's Honor Roll (for those schools that have them). Those honors are automatic and based on GPA per semester.

 

[BrainBuff]

Yes, I have. I would make one "honors" section with all your honors listed - list them in order of prestige, eg:

Medal of Honor
Rhodes Scholar
XXX University Prize for best graduate honors thesis
XXX University Dean's Scholarship (1/2 tuition merit scholarship)
Phi Beta Kappa
Magna Cum Laude (top 20% of graudates)
Golden Key Honor Society
Dean's list 2008, 2009, 2010
Best Pygmy Goat, 2008 County Fair
2nd Prize in a Beauty Contest ($10)
Who's Who

Don't bother listing Dean's List. That is a direct reflection of your GPA and I bet most premeds have several semesters where they made the list. Who's Who is total BS also.
The Goat Award sounds catchy though.

 

[wanderer]

I'm surprised Golden Key is up there as well.

 

[MisterVeil]

I will not relegate my pygmy goat award to the bottom of the list 😡

 

[lord_jeebus]

I'm surprised Golden Key is up there as well.

To be honest, you don't need to list anything at or below the Golden Key level.

 

[snitchseeker88]

I am definitely adding Phi Beta Kappa on my application, and I understand that Dean's List/Latin Honors don't say much that your transcript doesn't say, but would it look bad if I added the last two if I have room?

 

[BrainBuff]

Go ahead. Just use one activity for all of that and describe the Honors in the Description Box. Use bullets.