Election to Membership

The by-laws of the national Phi Beta Kappa Society permit a local chapter to elect to membership no more than 10% of a Class. The Alpha of Connecticut fills its complement in three elections. The first election of each Class is conducted in February of junior, ordinarily after a student’s fifth term of enrollment in Yale College. The second election of the Class is also conducted in February, one year later in senior year, ordinarily after seven terms of enrollment in Yale College. The third and final election is conducted at Commencement, based upon a student’s full academic record.

 

 

Normally, election will be based upon the percentage of a student’s Yale grades earned in straight A. Calculations are rounded out to two decimal places. In the event that the number of students defined by these calculations is larger than the number of students that may be elected at a given time, all these students will then be ranked according to the percentage of eligible grades each student has earned in A and A-, and the results of this calculation will be used to determine election. 

Grades carry the weight of the course credits they bear. Marks of CR in courses taken on a Credit/D/Fail basis are included in the calculations and are considered non-A grades. Marks of P in courses that are graded only on a Pass/Fail basis, such as independent study courses, are not included in the calculations. Marks of W carry no course credit and are not included. Whether students matriculate at Yale as a first-year student, as a transfer student from another college or university, or as an Eli Whitney Student, they are not eligible for election to Phi Beta Kappa until they have completed four terms of enrollment in Yale College and have earned at least eighteen course credits with letter grades (i.e., A-F) at Yale. Enrollment in Yale Summer Session does not count as a term of enrollment, but terms spent on a Year or Term Abroad do count, as do terms spent at Yale-in-London.

 

Only grades earned at Yale are used in the calculations, including grades recorded on the student’s Yale College transcript while enrolled in Yale Summer Session, Yale-in-London, or in the Eli Whitney Students Program. Grades earned through a Year or Term Abroad program are not included in the calculations, nor are any grades earned at other colleges and institutions, even if they are applied towards the satisfaction of Yale College degree requirements. No grades are associated with acceleration credits, and therefore acceleration credits are excluded from the calculation of terms and grades.