Magna vs Summa

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Legend

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Does anyone know the difference?
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Summa Cum Laude > Magna Cum Laude > Cum Laude

At my school it was:

3.4-3.59 - Cum Laude
3.60-3.79 - Magna
3.80 or greater - Summa
 
Magna cum laude refers to an overall GPA between 3.65-3.79, and summa cum laude a GPA from 3.80-4.0. :wink:
 
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•Summa Cum Laude > Magna Cum Laude > Cum Laude

At my school it was:

3.4-3.59 - Cum Laude
3.60-3.79 - Magna
3.80 or greater - Summa•••••The Fly,

I keep running into your posts. LEt me ask you something very simple: is there anything you don't know about? Nope nope no sarcasm here. You really strike me as someone keen and knowledged about many stuff. Have you been just out of college? I will be in shock if yes. BTW, I noticed that you used "his" to refer to my stethoscope. It's "her". :wink:
 
The actual GPA ranges will definitely vary from school to school. It's actually based on percents of graduates.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by none:
•The actual GPA ranges will definitely vary from school to school. It's actually based on percents of graduates.•••••yup that's the correct answer. man i'm so close but i don't think i can get it by the time i graduate. it'll be close if i pull off straight A's for a year lol.
 
Berkeley didn't have the greek system. They had highest honors, high honors, and honors. Highest honors was something like 3.90 and above. High honors was something like 3.72-3.89 and honors was 3.5ish to 3.71.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Patiently Waiting:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•Summa Cum Laude > Magna Cum Laude > Cum Laude

At my school it was:

3.4-3.59 - Cum Laude
3.60-3.79 - Magna
3.80 or greater - Summa•••••The Fly,

I keep running into your posts. LEt me ask you something very simple: is there anything you don't know about? Nope nope no sarcasm here. You really strike me as someone keen and knowledged about many stuff. Have you been just out of college? I will be in shock if yes. BTW, I noticed that you used "his" to refer to my stethoscope. It's "her". :wink: •••••:oops:

I guess I'll take this as a compliment! :D

I'm really not particular special or anything -- I've been out of college for a year and, as you probably know, am heading to medical school this fall along with many of the others.

I guess I would have to say that I've done a lot of different things -- for example, I worked as a firefighter/paramedic during college which let me see lots of stuff and now I split my time between lab work and my job in the emergency dept. at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston (one of Harvard's teaching hospitals).

In the end, I think it's just that I read a lot. . . NYT every day and the New Yorker religiously.

I hope that I haven't come off as arrogant or as a proverbial 'know it all," it's just that I like to answer questions -- it positively reinforces my reading!! :D

Regarding my pronoun misuse. . . I usually pride myself on being completely UN-sexist and I have violated my own rules . . . for that, you have my sincerest apologies! :)
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•[I hope that I haven't come off as arrogant or as a proverbial 'know it all," it's just that I like to answer questions -- it positively reinforces my reading!! :D

Regarding my pronoun misuse. . . I usually pride myself on being completely UN-sexist and I have violated my own rules . . . for that, you have my sincerest apologies! :) •••••Absolutely not. I have been very benefited by a lot of your input on this website. :)

No worries about the pronoun misuse. There's no way for you to tell if I'm she/he based on the displayed name alone. I will just blame on myself for writing/sounding like a man. :wink:
 
I am not sure how it works at my school. (brown)
For some reason, I think there is just Magna Cum Laude (top 15% of graduating class).

Maybe I am wrong.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Patiently Waiting:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•[I hope that I haven't come off as arrogant or as a proverbial 'know it all," it's just that I like to answer questions -- it positively reinforces my reading!! :D

Regarding my pronoun misuse. . . I usually pride myself on being completely UN-sexist and I have violated my own rules . . . for that, you have my sincerest apologies! :) •••••Absolutely not. I have been very benefited by a lot of your input on this website. :)

No worries about the pronoun misuse. There's no way for you to tell if I'm she/he based on the displayed name alone. I will just blame on myself for writing/sounding like a man. :wink: •••••Much obliged for the kind compliments! :)

And for the record, you most certainly did not sound man-like, it was my egregious ignorance that led to my error. . . :wink:
 
Magna cum laude translates to "with great praise".

Summa cum laude translates to "with the highest praise."

In case anyone was interested...
 
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Summa: the highest
Magna: splendid, magnificent, large, great
Cum: with
Laude: praise

SCL=with highest praise
MCL=with great praise
CL=with praise

-your local latin scholar (Ms. Kell would be so proud)
 
So how do you find out what scale your school uses? I wanna know! I'll be graduating soon. Do they inform you of this beforehand? Do you wear cords based on graduating magna or summa laude?
 
my school made it summa for top 2%, magna for top 5% and cum for top 10% if i'm not mistaken...
 
Just found out officially that Brown doesn't have Summa Cum laude..just magna. I think that's messed up. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />
 
Amazingly I pulled off two straight 4.0 my last year and finished with a 3.79992

My school decided to round up and give me Summa.

AK
 
The Fly, did reading the NYT everyday help you with the MCAT?
 
• •••quote:•••
I guess I would have to say that I've done a lot of different things -- for example, I worked as a firefighter/paramedic during college •••••Just curious - EMT-P or EMT-B?

- Tae
 
At my school summa was 3.85 and higher, magna was 3.55 to 3.84, and cum laude 3.3 to 3.54. Summa wore green and white cords and a white tassle, magna wore gold cords and tassle, and cum laude wore red cords and tassle.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by lady bug:
•The Fly, did reading the NYT everyday help you with the MCAT?•••••Hmmm. Without a good control it would be hard to say. . . I did pretty well, 34T, but not amazingly well such that I could definitively say that reading the paper every day made a huge difference -- I do think reading the Op-Ed section very quickly and marking it as I would have a verbal passage did make things easier for me on the verbal section. . . did this answer your question ?? :)
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by tkim:
•• •••quote:•••
I guess I would have to say that I've done a lot of different things -- for example, I worked as a firefighter/paramedic during college •••••Just curious - EMT-P or EMT-B?

- Tae•••••I'm a nationally registered medic until the end of 2003! (NREMT-P)

As you probably know, it's a substantially longer curriculum, but in the end, with all of the things that it allows you to do, it was well worth it!
 
My school:
3.9 and up = summa cum laude
3.7-3.89 = magna cum laude
3.5-3.69 = cum laude
 
•••quote:•••I'm a nationally registered medic until the end of 2003! (NREMT-P)

As you probably know, it's a substantially longer curriculum, but in the end, with all of the things that it allows you to do, it was well worth it![/QB]••••Yeah, going into my twelfth year as a 'P'. The training was good, and the experiences were awesome, but were I to do it over again, I'd either skip medic school entirely and study harder on my premeds, or stay in EMS for no longer than 5 years.

Finishing school becomes way, way harder when you have a job that pays more than minimum wage, and puts you into hands-on, invasive procedure, drug pushing mode early. Clearly and early one you reach some hard limits as to what you can provide for people. There's only so many line-Pez-and-a-ride chest pain calls you can do before you start to burn out.

I ask whether you were a P or B 'cause I hear a lot of people say that they're P, when they're actually Bs, on their apps, secondaries, and interviews.

I know some areas call everyone riding the moan mobile a 'medic', but since you were from this side of the world, I was curious.

- Tae
 
hey this sucks.
it looks like my school's scale is higher than most others.
that's no fair.

cum laude is 3.6
magna 3.8
summa 3.9

and they don't count first-year grades.
nor any grades for courses taken abroad.
which for me translates into only sophomore and senior year grades.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Doctora Foxy:
•So how do you find out what scale your school uses? I wanna know! I'll be graduating soon. Do they inform you of this beforehand? Do you wear cords based on graduating magna or summa laude?•••••I will be walking in graduation tomorrow (SCL woooohoooooo)!!! The scale is usually in your undergraduate handbook if your school puts one out. I have heard that graduates in the past from my university have worn a special tassel but we will not be wearing any visually distinguishing items but it will be announced when we walk. We had a graduation meeting where we each received a card with our name and honor status to make sure it was correct. Call your dean to find out if you can't find the info elsewhere.
 
At my school, which was a small college, not surprisingly, the names are read aloud and include any honors (thesis honors or latin honors). However, there were no special tassles or anything, but it did list the latin honors on our diplomas. . . :)
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by tkim:
• •••quote:•••I'm a nationally registered medic until the end of 2003! (NREMT-P)

As you probably know, it's a substantially longer curriculum, but in the end, with all of the things that it allows you to do, it was well worth it!•••••Yeah, going into my twelfth year as a 'P'. The training was good, and the experiences were awesome, but were I to do it over again, I'd either skip medic school entirely and study harder on my premeds, or stay in EMS for no longer than 5 years.

Finishing school becomes way, way harder when you have a job that pays more than minimum wage, and puts you into hands-on, invasive procedure, drug pushing mode early. Clearly and early one you reach some hard limits as to what you can provide for people. There's only so many line-Pez-and-a-ride chest pain calls you can do before you start to burn out.

I ask whether you were a P or B 'cause I hear a lot of people say that they're P, when they're actually Bs, on their apps, secondaries, and interviews.

I know some areas call everyone riding the moan mobile a 'medic', but since you were from this side of the world, I was curious.

- Tae[/QB]••••Fortunately, EMS didn't prolong my schooling or anything -- I obtained my medic during college by going to school Tuesday nights for a year and then doing my clinical time the following summer. So, I didn't need to take any time off and I worked PT for the rescue side of the fire department (which allowed you to remain on if you worked at least 24 hours a week and were cross trained as a FF). So, although it cut into my sleep alot and tried my patience at times, it didn't prolong my course toward becoming a physician. . . I am one of the lucky ones! :)
 
At my school, William & Mary, you could only get honors if you did a thesis. Only a very small percentage of those doing projects each year go highest honors.

Ed
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by PTjay:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by Doctora Foxy:
•So how do you find out what scale your school uses? I wanna know! I'll be graduating soon. Do they inform you of this beforehand? Do you wear cords based on graduating magna or summa laude?•••••I will be walking in graduation tomorrow (SCL woooohoooooo)!!! The scale is usually in your undergraduate handbook if your school puts one out. I have heard that graduates in the past from my university have worn a special tassel but we will not be wearing any visually distinguishing items but it will be announced when we walk. We had a graduation meeting where we each received a card with our name and honor status to make sure it was correct. Call your dean to find out if you can't find the info elsewhere.•••••Thanks, I looked it up in the bulletin:
3.5 cum laude
3.7 magna cum laude
3.8 summa cum laude

By the way, if you have cum laude, does that look good to mention as part of an update letter for waitlistees? Or is it better not to say anything since it's not the highest honor?
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vyc:
•hey this sucks.
it looks like my school's scale is higher than most others.
that's no fair.

cum laude is 3.6
magna 3.8
summa 3.9

and they don't count first-year grades.
nor any grades for courses taken abroad.
which for me translates into only sophomore and senior year grades.•••••I didn't know that Wellesley had Summa. My ex gf graduated from wellesley with magna and she told me that was the highest.. Well... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Legend:
•I didn't know that Wellesley had Summa. My ex gf graduated from wellesley with magna and she told me that was the highest.. Well... :(•••••oh wellesley definitely has summa cum laude.
your ex girlfriend LIIIIIIED to you. j/k
she probably didn't know that summa was higher than magna or something...?

what year did she graduate? maybe i know her!
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vyc:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by Legend:
•I didn't know that Wellesley had Summa. My ex gf graduated from wellesley with magna and she told me that was the highest.. Well... :( •••••oh wellesley definitely has summa cum laude.
your ex girlfriend LIIIIIIED to you. j/k
she probably didn't know that summa was higher than magna or something...?

what year did she graduate? maybe i know her!•••••vyc, I sent you a PM.
 
Don't you need to write a thesis to graduate with honors?

Anyways, at my school, 3.0 and above is cum laude, between 3.5 and 3.75 Magna, and anything higher summa.
 
i think ours changes slightly from year to year ... but its 3.5,3.77,3.95 for summa. then there is a whole set of honors and distinctions in research if one does a thesis or not. seems quite hard to get summa if one is a science major.
 
My school seems to have the highest standards of all... there were 400 graduates from the college of liberal arts, only four received summa, and my &gt;3.75 was only good for cum laude.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by vyc:
•hey this sucks.
it looks like my school's scale is higher than most others.
that's no fair.

cum laude is 3.6
magna 3.8
summa 3.9

•••••Looks like I've gotcha beat:
highest distinction: top 2% of class (this year it was &gt;3.98)
high distinction: next 3% (3.87-3.97)
distinction: next 5% (3.73-3.86)

we got stars on our gowns for distinction (3,2,1, respectively) and cords for honors (for which a project/thesis was required).
 
At my school (Cornell), you have to write a thesis to graduate with honors (at least in most majors). There is some minimum GPA - I'm not sure what it is, but the thesis is the most important thing. I decided that I would benefit more from extra classes than from doing the project - so even though I have above a 4.0 I'm not graduating with honors <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

[edit] Forgot to mention: The honors, high honors, etc. is determined mostly by the quality of your thesis and somewhat by your grades. You always get honors for doing a project, as long as your GPA is above the cutoff. I didn't do an honors thesis so I don't get honors.
 
Yeah, as souljah said, Berkeley doesn't have this summa magna stuff. oh well. we don't even get to wear anything special for the high/highest distinction alternative we have.

I don't even know if they print it on your diploma?
 
Duke is rough:
3.6-3.7ish -- cum laude
3.7ish-3.8ish --magna cum laude
3.8ish and up -- summa cum laude

All done by percentage (ie top 20%, top 10%, top 5%). 3.5 gets you a smile and a thumbs up.
 
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