Dean's List

At the end of each semester, undergraduate students with outstanding academic records are recognized by being named to the Dean's List. Students are eligible for the Dean's List if, in that semester, they (1) have earned a grade point average of 3.850 (excluding P) or higher; (2) have completed 12 or more graded credits in NYU courses; (3) have no grades of incomplete, N, or *** at the time the calculation is made; and (4) are not on disciplinary notice.

Founders Day Scholars

The University honors undergraduate students with superior academic records by designating them Founders Day Scholars. To be eligible for receiving this honor, students must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 and have completed at least 30 credits at NYU before the date when the list of scholars is determined. For more information on Founders Day Awards, see the Web site of the Office of the Registrar.

Latin Honors

Latin honors are awarded to graduating students who have achieved academic distinction. The honor will appear on the student's transcript and diploma. There are three levels of Latin honors: summa cum laude, with highest honor; magna cum laude, with great honor; and cum laude, with honor.

Summa cum laude will be awarded to the top 5 percent (by GPA) of Gallatin graduates, magna cum laude to the next 10 percent, and cum laude to the next 15 percent. The cut-off GPA for each of these levels will be determined by the record of the previous year's graduating Gallatin class (e.g., if the top 5% of last year's class graduated with at least a 3.95 GPA, then all students in this year's class with a GPA at or above that level will receive summa). For the specific cut-off GPA's, go to the Web site of the Office of the Registrar. In addition, students must have a clean record of conduct.

For students who matriculated at Gallatin in the spring 2009 term or after:

To be eligible for Latin honors from Gallatin, a student must have completed at least 64 credits at NYU for which the letter grades A through D were received. Courses taken at NYU before admission into Gallatin are included in the GPA and in the 64-credit requirement for Latin honors. NYU courses taken for a Pass ("P") grade, noncredit NYU course grades, and grades from courses taken at other institutions are not included in the Latin honors computation.

For students who matriculated at Gallatin prior to the spring 2009 term:

To be eligible for Latin honors from Gallatin, a student must have completed at least 64 credits at NYU for which the letter grades A through D were received, not including courses with the following prefixes: Y01, Y02, Y03, Y04, Y05, Y06, Y07, Y08, Y09, Y20, and Y41; all T courses; all X courses; and all Z courses. Courses taken at NYU before admission into Gallatin are included in the GPA and in the 64-credit requirement for Latin honors, except for any courses with the prefix T, Y, X, or Z. NYU courses not offered for credit, as well as those taken for a Pass ("P") grade, are not included in the Latin honors computation. Also, grades from courses taken at other institutions are not included in the computation.

Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest academic honor society, which celebrates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Invitation to Phi Beta Kappa is a reflection of outstanding academic achievement. Members of Phi Beta Kappa are a select group: only 10 percent of the country’s colleges and universities have Phi Beta Kappa chapters, and only about 10 percent of graduates are invited to be Phi Beta Kappa members.

Gallatin students who are committed to a broad liberal arts education and wish to be considered for Phi Beta Kappa should aspire to meet the criteria for nomination, which include extremely strong academic performance in at least one semester of college math, two semesters of college science (with a lab component), and foreign language proficiency (through the Intermediate II level).

Gallatin senior Paolina Lu was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in the spring of 2013. She is studying sociology, history, food studies and performance to examine the relationship between ideas about the human body, public policy and the formation of group and individual identity. She is co-president of the Gallatin Dancers/Choreographers Alliance. Lu, whose concentration is “The Body: Living, Labeling and Performing Identity” did an independent study called “How the Body Works” with Professor Leslie Satin, her adviser. She also studied at NYU’s site in Accra, Ghana and as a summer fellow at Peking University in Beijing. Paolina will also be receiving the Richard J. Koppenaal Award at Gallatin's May 2013 graduation ceremony. “I like how simultaneously big and small Gallatin is,” she says. “Gallatin fosters community and close student-professor relationships, but at the same time, Gallatin students have access to all of the opportunities that a big university has to offer.”

Sarah E. Hayes (BA ’12) was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in the spring of 2012. She transferred into Gallatin from NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences during her junior year to study psychology and narrative. An Americas Scholar at Gallatin and editor-in-chief of the Gallatin Research Journal, Hayes was also on the Dean’s Team for Student Recruitment. She was interested in the psychosocial implications of chronic illness and mental health disparities in terms of race, ethnicity and socioeconomics. Hayes did an independent study at the NYU School of Medicine that focused on high school students with undiagnosed asthma, and she did a research internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, her home state.

Five Gallatin seniors were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 2011:

• Maria Barnewitz
• Albert Gea
• Ian Kessler
• Eliana Mastrangelo 
• Mary Smith