Do T14s take into account Latin honors? Forum

[gutrot13]

I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

[Throttle]

I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

Only when comparing you with a numbers twin. Example you both have 3.8 168 the person with honors will usually win.

[hephaestus]

I don't think any school will even remotely care.

[gnomgnomuch]

I would think not since the majority of students in the T-14 usually have excellent grades. Also, universities have different cut-offs higher/lower grades for honors. For example my school has 3.5 (Cum Laude), 3.75 (Magna Cum Laude) and 3.85 (Summa Cum Laude), while my friends Cut-Offs are 3.2, 3.5, 3.75.

I think what would matter more would be some kind of honors thesis (especially if you could get that published)!

[062914123]

.

[gutrot13]

I would think not since the majority of students in the T-14 usually have excellent grades. Also, universities have different cut-offs higher/lower grades for honors. For example my school has 3.5 (Cum Laude), 3.75 (Magna Cum Laude) and 3.85 (Summa Cum Laude), while my friends Cut-Offs are 3.2, 3.5, 3.75.

I think what would matter more would be some kind of honors thesis (especially if you could get that published)!

That is my point, this was awarded due to having an outstanding thesis, not GPA.

I have earned Summa because of my thesis. I also happen to have a high GPA.

[Mal Reynolds]

Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

[buddyt]

WHAT school/major has 3.85 as summa cum laude?! at my school, most departments had summa at well over 3.9

ASU sets Latin honors, regardless of major, at:
- 3.40-3.59 Cum laude
- 3.60-3.79 Magna cum laude
- 3.80+ Summa cum laude

Source: https://catalog.asu.edu/ug_grad_req

ETA:

Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

[UVAIce]

The fact that your thesis won you summa is a pretty small soft in the face of students that were valedictorian, etc. A majority of honors are essentially a non-factor as they are normally tied into your GPA in some way. For example, at my undergrad you needed a 3.9+ GPA and had to conduct an oral defense in front of a panel of professors. It really doesn't matter. Strong academic softs are something like being a Fulbright Scholar or a Rhodes Scholar.

[UVAIce]

WHAT school/major has 3.85 as summa cum laude?! at my school, most departments had summa at well over 3.9

ASU sets Latin honors, regardless of major, at:
- 3.40-3.59 Cum laude
- 3.60-3.79 Magna cum laude
- 3.80+ Summa cum laude

Source: https://catalog.asu.edu/ug_grad_req

ETA:

Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

ASU is TTT

[062914123]

.

[PRgradBYU]

I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

Only when comparing you with a numbers twin. Example you both have 3.8 168 the person with honors will usually win.

Huh? Please explain how you know this.

[beepboopbeep]

I doubt it factors at all; it varies too much school-by-school, as this thread is proving. Mine doesn't even award latin honors.

Further, does it matter? 3.8-3.9 is good enough for HYS, and it's not like you're choosing to list it or not. Even if an adcomm joined the thread and gave a definitive answer, it would not be actionable information. Either you have them or you don't; either you'll get in or not. Worry about the PS/LSAT/shit you can affect.

[TheThriller]

What a bout Greek honors?

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

What a bout Greek honors?

Real bros don't need external validation

[Ti Malice]

I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

Only when comparing you with a numbers twin. Example you both have 3.8 168 the person with honors will usually win.

You haven't the faintest clue as to whether this is true or not. Don't go around stating this crap as fact.

[20141023]

.

[bombaysippin]

Allow me to preface this by stating that I am not actually basing this off of anything except my own personal experience. Having said that, I personally do not believe that Latin honors really matter at all. For example, I graduated with a 3.9/4.0 and was eligible for highest honors, but I didn’t see the need to write an honors thesis just for the sake of writing one, so I didn’t. I don’t think it affected my cycle adversely whatsoever, because I had a shitty LSAT for most of the T14 (166) yet got into several decent schools (as listed in my profile), presumably based on my GPA alone.

If you’ve already submitted your transcripts to LSAC, go to their website, log in, then go to “Transcripts” under the “Credential Assembly Service” section on the “My Home” tab. Next, click “Academic Summary Report” on the far right of the new page that opens up. This will show you how many people from your specific institution get grades in certain ranges:

0.00 - 1.59
1.60 - 1.79
1.80 - 1.99
2.00 - 2.19
2.20 - 2.39
2.40 - 2.59
2.60 - 2.79
2.80 - 2.99
3.00 - 3.19
3.20 - 3.39
3.40 - 3.59
3.60 - 3.79
3.80 - 3.99
4.00 - 4.00+

Each law school has its own formula of how to interpret this data, but basically, if your school gives almost nobody high grades (=no grade inflation), law schools will supposedly take this into account. The academic summary report also lists if you got any honors, but because this isn’t “relative” like the GPA (and LSAT) ranges in the report, it presumably won’t tell admission committee members as much about your performance and therefore won’t mean as much as the grades themselves.

So I know this might sound like a stupid question, but to be sure anyway, the lower your UG school's avg gpa (not to be confused with your respective indiv gpa) is compared to how high your culm lsac gpa, the better? Like obviously it seems like the answer would be yes, but I thought law schools only really cared about their own numbers and that them taking every application "holistically" is kinda just bs....

[20141023]

.

[kwu]

If you want BigLaw, clerkships, and academia, it matters: folks plaster this stuff all over their bios. Latin Honors are universally recognized labels that signify that you are academically superior to the vast majority (95%+) of your peers. Gatekeepers sometimes mistakenly translate this to intellectual superiority and superior work ethic, and recognize you as a safe[r] bet.

[Tom Joad]

If you didn't graduate summa cum laude you will never cut it in law school.

[gutrot13]

The fact that your thesis won you summa is a pretty small soft in the face of students that were valedictorian, etc. A majority of honors are essentially a non-factor as they are normally tied into your GPA in some way. For example, at my undergrad you needed a 3.9+ GPA and had to conduct an oral defense in front of a panel of professors. It really doesn't matter. Strong academic softs are something like being a Fulbright Scholar or a Rhodes Scholar.

I don't even think that my university (or any of the three I've attended) have recognized valedictorians. It'd merely be a procession of students with a 4.0.

I appreciate the answers provided in this thread, even if they're a bit dismaying. Aside for the satisfaction from completing such a project it seems as though I might as well have not completed it at all and instead have solely focused on my classwork. Especially when there is a high probability my 4.0 is dropped albeit marginally.
Anyways, this was very helpful.

[Robbin Blue]

Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

This x1000. Everything else is secondary at best; Latin honors aren't even worth mentioning more times than not.

[PRgradBYU]

If you didn't graduate summa cum laude you will never cut it in law school.

Haha. You're funny.