The Great Laude Wars

One of the things I've been looking forward to the most about graduation has been Latin honors. I've always been more than capable of excelling academically, I just never really cared to. The effort required to track every grade percentage point just hasn't seemed worth it to me in the past.

For example, of my high school class of more than 800 students I graduated only at #24, all the while tutoring both the valedictorian and salutatorian in math and physics. If I'd only taken the trouble to turn everything in, I'd have easily challenged them both for their positions.

To me though, it was much easier to rock the evaluation exams than to do the day to day drudgery of homework and coursework. Hence my 36/36 perfect score on the ACT when I took it my senior year in high school. The trend continued when I got into college. The exams that blew everyone else away, I was that person that blew the curve for everyone. I consistently performed at high B/low A level, regardless of the difficulty of the exam. I lost points not for lack of knowledge or understanding of concepts, but rather for housekeeping details that I just didn't bother to read or attend class to hear. This style of ill-preparation and poor class attendance earned me a stellar 3.2 GPA in my first undergraduate degree.

When I graduated with my BS in Biology, I decided I wanted to go to medical school. Clearly a 3.2 GPA wasn't going to get me noticed by any medical school in the continental US, so I knew I'd have to rock the MCAT to even have a chance. That was probably the most legit exam I've ever taken, and I only scored a 29 the first time out. A decent score, but hardly earth-shattering especially combined with my crappy GPA. I buckled down, actually studied, and scored a 38. That score generated some interest from the schools, but I ultimately decided against going to medical school.

So when I came to nursing school, I made a decision from the outset that I was going to do the work. If I was going to take this second chance, I was going to do it right.

And so I did.

I kept track of every little percentage point. I obsessed over assignments. I studied for exams I knew I could pass without trying in search of those extra 8-10 points. I had a few bumps in the road, like when my son was born at 11:20 pm the night before my pharmacology final, and I got less than 2 hours of sleep. The final dropped most people a letter grade it was so ridiculously hard, and I was no exception. I ended up with a B. Then there was the research teacher that decided I was Satan's spawn and through the subjective grading of research analysis papers, orchestrated me receiving a B by less that 0.02 points. I talked it over with my wife, and we decided I wouldn't grant the instructor the satisfaction of seeing me worked up over it, so I let it go without challenging it. In the end I have a 3.88 GPA for nursing school, and achievement I'm quite proud of.

Imagine my surprise when I found out I would not be graduating with Latin honors. You see, when I entered nursing school, they automatically upgraded the catalog under which I would be taking classes, regardless of the catalog under which I first entered the university. They also updated the requirements for Latin honors. Previously it had been either an overall GPA over 3.5, or the last 45 hours over a 3.5. The new requirements require both an overall GPA greater than 3.5, and the last 45 hours over a 3.5. Not only that, they would calculate overall GPA from every hour ever taken at the university, not just the hours applied toward the current degree.

And so that 3.2 overall came back around to haunt me. Clearly my own fault, but people change. And I have dramatically.

If only the hours being used for the current degree were calculated, I easily had the >3.5 overall required. And my last 45 were way above requirement. Additionally, if I had transferred in to attend nursing school from an outside university, all that GPA would be wiped clean--lost in transfer credit hours. So because I chose to be loyal to university, I get penalized.

I decided that being a nurse was all about being an advocate, and I was going to start by advocating for myself. I made an appointment with the assistant registrar/graduation counselor. She refused to consider my points, and was actually quite rude. So I made an appointment with her boss, and in the meantime wrote the following email to the deans of my nursing school:

Dear Dean HeadHoncho & Dean FirstAssistant:

When I first came to ### in the Fall of 1998 in pursuit of my first Bachelor's degree, I was young and unfocused. It showed in my grades--yet still I managed to eke out a 3.2 overall GPA when I graduated with a BS in Biology in 2001. Nine years later as I am about to graduate ###CON's BSN program, I am older, more mature, and much more focused. As a result, at the end of this semester I will have over a 3.8 over the last 45 hours--the criteria used to award Latin honors. Mind you, I did this with a job, 3 children, no daycare and wife that works full time nights as a nurse.

Unfortunately due to arbitrarily having my catalog year reassigned when I entered the nursing program, my overall GPA doesn't qualify me for Latin honors. However, if I had done my prior coursework at another college, those hours would not count toward my overall GPA, and I would easily qualify for Latin honors. This seems a bit unfair to me, and rather unfortunate. Because I chose to stay loyal to ###, I am being penalized by not receiving Latin honors.

I came to nursing school for the sole purpose of gaining my BSN so I could continue on to grad school. I would love to stay in the ###CON program, however since my undergraduate overall GPA will continue to haunt me, I just don't see that as a possibility any longer. I refuse to patronize a learning institution that endorses a double standard for its students, refuses to reward students for institutional loyalty, and arbitrarily changes the rules as it deems convenient.

I know that you have no direct control over who receives Latin honors, but I thought you should be aware of the fact that you will be losing at least one well-qualified student from the pool of potential graduate students. NP? DNP? PhD? Who knows how far I would have gone. I feel you also should be aware that people like me, loyal to ###, are being treated differently than someone who hasn't worked any harder than me, but will be rewarded for disguising their overall GPA in transfer classes.

I'd be happy to entertain your thoughts on the situation. I am currently working the chain of command to try and resolve the issue on my own--now making an appointment with HeadHoncho Registrar.

Regards,

NurseXY

Something I said must have lit a fire somewhere, because by the time I attended my appointment with the registrar the next morning, the Dean had already written an email forwarding my email on to him. Oddly enough, they found it appropriate to return me to my original catalog year (which never should have been changed), and suddenly I qualify for Latin honors. Magna cum laude in fact.

However, as the assistant registrar/graduation counselor rather gleefully told me, it doesn't matter because the programs have already gone to print so it can't be changed to reflect my honors.

But it matters to me.

And it will matter on my CRNA school applications.

I had purchased honors cords when I bought my cap & gown a couple of months ago. And you can bet your tassel I'm going to wear them during graduation.