If 88% of your class was phi beta kappa, is it really an achievement?

[SoCalDem]

I just heard Pat Roberston say that he was in the same class as Alito, at yale, and he was phi beta kappa, as was 88% of his class..:shrug:

Apparently it was fairly easy to do back then, or the honor was passed out like halloween candy :)

[jsamuel]

1. I'm Phi Beta Kappa, not really sure how I qualified?

I didn't know anyone else that did in my college (I graduated in 2004)

[niyad]

2. I would like to see yale's and phi beta kappa's records for that

[The Witch]

3. 4,000 in our class, only 18 or so of us were named pbk.

yes, i was one :proud:

[expatriot]

4. i joined phi beta kappa too in college... don't know why.

It is one of those things where you pay to join and then you can put it on your resume. i don't think it ever helped me. in order to qualify you have to have a certain gpa or test score or something. i forget.

[Nabia2004]

5. I believe you need a GPA of 3.5

Could be higher, we got to hang an extra trinket from our hat at graduation.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. It's YALE.

If you got into Yale, chances are good it wouldn't take much to get into Phi Beta Kappa to begin with, even though it might be very difficult to do so in general.

[elehhhhna]

7. It's called grade inflation. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

8. That's The Correct Answer For The Timeframe Involved

Yale & Harvard had a severe, and well documented legacy grade inflation issue in the 60's. Later, the profs started to inflate everyone's out of "fairness". They adjusted everything in the late 70's and early 80's to have more consistent grading policies.
The Professor

[SoCalDem]

9. Bingo.. It was happening even back then

Even at an Ivy league school where the creme de la creme congregate, there has to be a higher standard for "awards", or it's no different than the little soccer kids all getting trophies, win or lose :)

[MostlyLurks]

10. Here's an off-topic question:

How was Robertson in the same class at Yale as Alito? Robertson's bio says he got his JD from Yale in '55. Alito was born in '50. Frankly, if he got into Yale at the age of 5, I'll defer to his interpretation of the Constitution.

Mostly

[SoCalDem]

11. Robertson's dazed and confused again?

still? :)

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Is 'Phi Kappa Beta' not a frat house, then?

Seriously, could American universities sort out what they use all these Greek letters for? Are all the other uses frat/sorority houses, or are they used for the Dungeons and Dragons Scoiety too (nonaligned Delta Delta evil)?