All
faculty and teaching fellows in the Department serve as readers for
senior theses. The thesis is initially assigned to two readers (one
faculty member and one graduate student), but in some situations a thesis
is assigned a third reader. Potential magna plus and summa theses always
receive a third reader. The additional reader is not informed of the
earlier grades. Your thesis will be returned to you with a sheet indicating
the names of your readers, the grades they gave, the amount of any lateness
penalty, and the composite grade for the thesis. The following are instructions
given to theses readers:
Summa Cum Laude
"A summa thesis
ought to be a contribution to knowledge. Whether it is successful research
on a new or little studied problem, or an original and perceptive reassessment
of a familiar question, it should manifest the consistency of high achievement
expected in professional work (though even a summa thesis is unlikely
to evidence the comprehensiveness and polish of a dissertation or published
article). It should represent a substantial amount of effort and show
the student's familiarity with the literature on the subject. It should
not rely on secondary sources where work with primary sources is appropriate.
It ought to be well written and proofread, free of errors in spelling,
citation, and general presentation. Its arguments ought to be concise
and logically organized, and the allocation of space judicious. A summa
therefore is not equivalent to just any A, but the sort given by teachers
who almost never give them or reserve them for extraordinary merit.
Many experienced thesis readers have never read a summa thesis. A summa
minus is equivalent to a more usual A, but it is still a cut above A.
Although it lacks the consistency of a straight summa, it is still in
almost all respects, substantive and stylistic, of professional quality."
Magna Cum Laude
"A magna plus
thesis should achieve a similar level of quality in some respects though
it falls short in others. It is given extra weight in the determination
of honors, as are those graded summa. Also note on the figure of equivalents
for the determination of honors (attached) that the interval between
a magna plus and a magna is double that between a magna plus and a summa
minus. A magna plus is equivalent to an A-. A magna thesis need not
be a contribution to knowledge, but it should show real achievement,
more than mere evidence of hard work and unusual intelligence. A magna
thesis is a work worthy of `great honor.' It falls midway between A-
and B+. A magna minus should also show hard work and unusual intelligence,
though the results achieved may not be successful due to an unhappy
choice of topic or approach, or to deficiencies in the style of presentation.
It is equivalent to a B+ on a rigorous grading scale."
Cum Laude
"As is appropriate for a grade `with honors,' a cum thesis should show
serious thought and effort in its general approach if not in every detail.
It should not represent merely the satisfactory completion of a task.
A cum plus equals a B, a cum minus a B-, and a cum is in between." "A
student should not automatically receive a cum minus merely because
he or she has written a thesis. Nevertheless, a grade of `not of distinction'
(C or D with + or -, or E) should be reserved only for those circumstances
when the thesis is hastily and carelessly constructed, a mere summary
of existing material, and is poorly thought through. The high standards
that the Department applies to theses must clearly be violated for a
thesis to merit a grade of `not of distinction.' Within the `not of
distinction' category, a C represents satisfactory work, whereas D and
E are unsatisfactory. The Department has sometimes held that a composite
thesis grade of 'no distinction' should be a bar to honors regardless
of the student's performance in courses."
Ranking
Senior honors candidates are ranked on the basis of a numerical score
made up of grades in courses and thesis. Ordinarily, courses are weighted
twice as heavily as the thesis. If the average grade of the thesis is
magna plus or higher, the courses and the thesis are
weighted equally.
COURSES: All
Government courses (and course-equivalents) and all Core courses taught
by Government faculty- whether or not they are used to fulfill a concentration
requirement - are used to calculate the honors average. (Note that for
students in classes prior to the Class of 2004, all courses taken in
their two chosen related fields are also counted toward the Department
course GPA, whether or not they are used to meet Department requirements.)
THESIS: The numerical
grade listed on your grade sheet is used. As noted above, if this numerical
grade is 3.67 or higher, the thesis is given extra weight. The numerical
equivalents of the several elements of honors are assigned according
to the 4-point scale used by Harvard College to determine ranking lists.
The equivalents are as follows:
summa = A = 4; summa minus = 3.85; magna plus = A- = 3.67; magna = 3.5;
magna minus = B+ = 3.33; cum plus = B = 3.00; cum =2.85; cum minus = B- = 2.67;
C+ = 2.33; C = 2.00; C- = 1.67;
D+ =1.33; D = 1.00; D- = 0.67;
E = 0. |
