Can you graduate summa cum laude,magna cum laude, or cum laude from a college if you

caliotter3 · Dec 17, 2009

I doubt it. When I transferred my new school posted the GPA from my old school. Different schools might have different policies on this though.

Mike A. Fungin RN · Dec 17, 2009

Transfer isn't a fresh start, it carries over because you get credit for the prior work. That's the way it should be. It would be really misleading to graduate "summa cum laude" with a BSN if half the coursework were done elsewhere and done poorly.

litchi · Dec 17, 2009

I graduated magna cum laude as a transfer student, but my grades were fairly consistent at all colleges I attended. As far as doing poorly before transferring and getting a clean slate, it probably depends on the college. I found some information regarding transfer students and honors from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Here's their particular policy:

Graduation with honors at the baccalaureate level requires a minimum of 60 semester hours at UAH. Honors will be determined by the grade-point average for the last 60 semester hours of coursework taken at UAH or the overall GPA for all coursework taken at UAH, whichever is higher. The academic terms containing the last 60 hours of coursework taken at UAH will be identified and the GPA of all UAH courses taken during those terms to satisfy graduation requirements will be computed and the honors will be determined as follows:

If the GPA computed as above is 3.90 or above, the student graduates summa cum laude.

If the GPA computed as above is 3.70 or above (but below 3.90), the student graduates magna cum laude.

If the GPA computed as above is 3.40 or above (but below 3.70), the student graduates cum laude.

Did some more googling--it looks like you do get a clean slate. As long as you complete at least 60 credit hours from the college you transfer to, you can graduate with honors. This also applies to the University of Arizona and the University of California (although if you transfer from a UC school to another UC school, the previous GPA does go along with you) among other places.

So.. going by that, it does seem like it would be possible at a lot of schools. Kinda sucks IMO though.

ryangogogo · Dec 17, 2009

I know. If you wanted to graduate with honors you should've done well your whole college career. I just thought I'd still ask y'all that coz I like reading what other people know.

But then, I don't get this. I found this on a school website regarding transfer courses:

"The cumulative average of a transfer student at a former school is not carried over to the University. The student begins to achieve a new cumulative average upon enrollment."

And then regarding graduating with distinction:

"The University bestows three separate honors designations for scholastic excellence reflected in the cumulative average:

Summa cum laude-3.9 and above, Magna Cum Laude-3.7 and above, Cum Laude-3.5 and above."

I got confused. So, do they count or not? I'm just really curious coz from what i've known all my life, graduating with honors requires all of your college years, not just your gpa in that school you decided to graduate from.

litchi · Dec 17, 2009

ryangogogo said:
"The cumulative average of a transfer student at a former school is not carried over to the University. The student begins to achieve a new cumulative average upon enrollment."
And then regarding graduating with distinction:
"The University bestows three separate honors designations for scholastic excellence reflected in the cumulative average:
Summa cum laude-3.9 and above, Magna Cum Laude-3.7 and above, Cum Laude-3.5 and above."
I got confused. So, do they count or not?

Going by that, the previous GPA would not count and you'd get a fresh start. If your new GPA was between 3.5 and 3.69, you'd graduate cum laude. 3.7 to 3.89 would be magna cum laude. Anything above 3.9 would be summa cum laude.

CuriousMe · Dec 17, 2009

At my school, credits transfer in, not grades....so as long as you passed the class, it counts. Now that works both ways, all my A's from my prereqs didn't count for anything but credit.

Anyway, to answer the question, if someone some how managed to get into my program with all C's (which I don't see happening, but for the sake of this question) and then got all A's in the program, then they would have a 4.0 upon graduation and would graduate with honors.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 17, 2009

Usually when you transfer classes in from other schools, you only get credit for the class--the grades would not carry over. I did lousy in my BA program. A few of the not-so-good classes transferred over as credit towards my ADN, but only the credits and not the grades. I ended up graduating summa cum laude.

However, not all schools do that. In the BSN program I'm in, it looks as though some of my transferred class's grades WILL carry over into my GPA. I'll have to investigate it further, though, as I may be wrong.

Veganmom · Dec 17, 2009

It makes sense to me that the GPA in previous schools is not considered for honors. Think of it in the reverse: if someone attends a community college with a GPA of 4.0 and earns a 3.5 GPA for courses later taken at A&M, should that person graduate cum laude from A&M with the cummulative average of 3.75?

rollyp80 · Dec 17, 2009

I think it makes sense....plus the last 2 years of school are usually a lot more challenging than basic general ed. classes. My school only gives credit for transfer and your GPA is determined by the classes in the nursing program..... The honors categories are: 3.50-3.79 (cum laude), 3.80-3.94 high (magna cum laude), and 3.95-4.00 highest (summa cum laude).

cjbarnes2006 · Dec 17, 2009

At the nursing school I attend, graduating with honors applies only to nursing course work. But, every student does the pre-requisite courses at another institution and transfers in, so really it levels the playing field.

That being said, you have to have at least a 3.25 to have even a chance of being accepted, and most have higher.

thatsthekeyRNC · Dec 17, 2009

I was wondering the same thing because I just transferred to a new school. I didn't do horribly at my old school, but I was happy to know that my GPA would "start over" based on the work I completed here. I've known some people who get really mad about it because they do good at their first school and then do bad at the new school so THEN it's unfair, but you need those first grades to be accepted to the new school and that's how I think about it.