Yet there is an exception--one disgusting exception. PEA doles out "Early Cum Laude" status to the top 5% of the class this time each year. The letters were sent out earlier this week for the class of 2007. The cut-off this year was--if I recall correctly, as ascertained from anecdotal evidence--around 10.36 GPA or so, out of a maximum 11 (A). It may have been as low as 10.31; I don't recall exactly. The letters read "On the basis of your academic achievements, you have been selected to become an early member of the Cum Laude Society." Sixteen seniors this year. Their names: Andrew Brown, Ryan Caro, Ed Casserly, Jessica Flakne, Megan Gilbert, Sherry Gong, Kelly Hoffer, Keone Hon, Ellie Hong, Ki Hoon Kim, Kevin Liao, Yashrash Narang, Evan Rose, Yuna Sakuma, Bram Stochlic and Cindy Teng. These are the sixteen people with the highest cumulative GPAs.

What is wrong with this picture, you might ask? Why do I object to this practice?

First off, a large portion of this years list--and lists other years--is made up only of two and sometimes three year seniors. With fewer years here at Exeter, there are fewer chances to mess up. Two years sometimes appear to really dominate this chart, which tends to upset diligent four-years who slave away only to find themselves outdone by newcomers who lack some blemish that turned up 9th grade winter.

Next, and most importantly: why do we report ONLY the top 5%? I said to my friend Ryan Caro after someone else congratulated him, "Ryan, I congratulate you on your academic achievements but not the Early Cum Laude." This is because reporting the very top of the class is hypocritical to the philosophy supposedly espoused by withholding generalized rank.

What's to be done?

edit 10/15/06: As Ryan Caro mentions in the comments, Exeter DOES report the top 20% of rank at graduation via Cum Laude designation. I am referring to rank as any meaningful indication of rank during the college admissions process--sorry for the confusion.

An aside: I took the SAT I again today, and will do no more testing, regardless of my scores. I think I will do quite well with these scores--the only other time I took the SAT I was my 10th grade Spring, the second time the new test was ever administered. I did all 3 of my SAT IIs in one sitting last spring. I wouldn't mind getting a very nice score on this sitting of the Reasoning, but I'm confident that at the least I'll improve my score a good deal now that I've gained some more patience for the test. We'll find out soon enough.