Are you a college freshman wondering what a dean’s list award is? Do you wonder what the benefits of being on the dean’s list are? Here’s an article that explains it in detail.
If you’ve just entered college, you’ll hear people talk about being on the dean’s list. It’s an honorary list designed to serve as a pat on the back for your outstanding academic achievements. Read on to find out everything you should know about a dean’s list, including the requirements and benefits of being on the list.
What Does Being a Dean’s Candidate Mean?
What Does Being a Dean’s Candidate Mean?A dean’s candidate is a recipient of an academic award for demonstrating academic excellence. The award represents a recognition for high scholarship demonstrated by college or university students. Although the award is synonymous with the honor list or honor roll, it should not be confused with an honors degree.
Generally, college students must satisfy several requirements to qualify for the dean’s list award. These requirements typically differ across institutions. However, it often requires that students are enrolled in full-time capacities. It also requires achieving a specific grade point average within the academic term.
A dean’s candidate is an honorary role awarded to top students. In most cases, only a few students meet the dean’s lister requirements. One of such is a high GPA, and the GPA cut-off varies across faculties and academic semesters.
What Percentage of Students Make the Dean’s List?
As explained above, the Dean’s List is an honorary role assigned to the top students of any school. And as such, the number of students eligible for this award would usually be a small percentage of students. But how small is this percentage? The percentage of students receiving the Dean’s List award varies from school to school. However, it’s usually between 10% to 25% of students. We recommend checking your school’s website or booking an appointment with your academic advisor to know the exact percentage of students that can get the dean’s list award in your school.
Notwithstanding, you’d need to perform exceptionally well to qualify for the award in your school. So whether the percentile is 10% or 25%, you’d only qualify if you meet all the requirements in your school.
7 Benefits of Being on a Dean’s List
The hype around the Dean’s List keeps growing daily. You’d often hear students talk about it and their desire to be on it. But beyond this hype, how vital is Dean’s List? Are there any special benefits for being on the dean’s list? Yes, there are so many benefits attached to being a dean’s candidate, thus, the constant battle by students to make this list. Here, let’s review some of these benefits.
1. A sense of personal achievement
One of the first reasons to pursue a dean’s list award or any award in school is the sense of personal achievement that comes with it. The dean’s list award is very prestigious and, as expected, takes a lot of work to achieve. So, being on the list means you’ve put in the work throughout school.
Imagine being compensated for the tears and sweat of studying all day and pulling all-nighters in some situations. It feels good to know that all the efforts are not in vain. So it’s cool to celebrate your achievement and let it motivate you as you push for more throughout your stay in school.
2. Prestige and recognition
While we talk about the pride and intrinsic motivation that comes with being a dean’s candidate, we can’t deny the obvious recognition that comes with it. Like many awards, you’ll enjoy cheers and claps from fellow students and teachers. Being on the dean’s list automatically shows your school board, faculty, and staff that you’re a good student. Thus, they’ll typically treat you like a special student. Being on the good side of the authorities doesn’t hurt.
You could also ride on this popularity to build relationships with your professors and top teachers. You already know their role in writing recommendation letters and references when you need them.
3. Improved job prospects/employability factor
Let’s face the fact: one of the reasons why many students study hard is to make them employable. From the first day of college, many students begin to dream of landing the best jobs.
Being on the dean’s list makes it easier to get such jobs. You may not need to search for jobs, as the award sets you up for employer invitations. Recruiters are constantly looking for highly motivated students, and they know that one of the best ways to get such candidates is to narrow their search to the best students. Your dean’s list award will always prove that you’re a strong candidate compared to your peers.
4. Invitation to special events
Now that you’ve become a dean’s candidate, get ready for a busy schedule. Being a dean candidate puts you among the top in your cohort, thus creating opportunities for several invitations to special events. These events include networking events with top company executives. You never can tell; it may be the opportunity to meet and network with an executive of a company you’d love to work with. Even if you don’t meet such executives, it’s still an opportunity to pick some knowledge that will help you in your future endeavors.
There’s also the possibility of getting invitations to international case competitions. Attendance to such competitions usually requires an invitation, and being on the dean’s list earns you an invitation and sets you up to participate actively.
5. It raises your internship chances
Being on the dean’s list can also impact your internship chances. After all, most organizations see the dean’s list award as proof of your diligence and responsibility. These are the sort of characteristics that these organizations want, so they’ll not hesitate to offer you opportunities to intern with them. As a freshman, you’ll need more experience to help you approach recruiters in competitive industries. Therefore, being on the dean’s list comes in handy. It means you’ll get invitations from most of these companies, taking away the bulk of the responsibility from you.
This benefit of being on the dean’s list also extends to the later stage of your career when you’ve gained more experience. Because it means the capability to maintain high academic standards, which can translate to your professional life.
6. Graduate and professional school preparedness
The benefits of being on the dean’s list continue long after you’ve graduated from college. At least, the dedication and hard work required to be on the dean’s list can help you through your graduate education.
First, the dean’s list award recipients are usually given admission priority because graduation schools believe they have what it takes to excel. But beyond that, you’ve already picked up valuable experience from your efforts to make the dean’s list.
This experience can help you through the challenges that a graduate or professional school will throw at you. We recommend that you strive to be on the dean’s list consistently throughout your college years if you plan to continue your education.
7. Being on the dean’s office radar
The dean’s list award does not only bring recognition among fellow students. It also means more recognition from the dean’s office. Being among the small percentage of students from your faculty on the dean’s list brings such attention. This attention can be helpful in some situations.
For example, when you want to get inside the scope of certain information. You can always enter the dean’s office guaranteed audience since they already know and trust you.
What GPA Puts You on the Dean’s List?
As we’ve noted earlier, earning a spot on the dean’s list of your college is a huge feat. Some people classify it among the highest levels of recognition for scholarly achievement. However, different institutions have different qualifications for making the dean’s list. This means that what qualifies you for the dean’s list award in one school may not necessarily qualify you for the award in another school. Some schools release the dean’s list quarterly, while others do it annually. Whatever the case, look at your school’s website to know what applies to your school.
The exact GPA requirement for a dean’s list award depends on each particular pool of students. However, it’ll usually be between a 3.5 and 3.7 GPA on a 4.0 scale. You must also be a full-time student taking a minimum number of credits to be eligible for the award. Some schools include part-time students, but that’s in rare situations, and they’ll put such information on their website for all to see.
Does Being on the Dean’s List Matter?
Yes, being on the dean’s list matters. It’s an excellent way to commemorate your efforts throughout the semester and has evidence of your academic ranking among the top percentile of students in your college.
Beyond this, it also offers you a sense of belonging. Being on the dean’s list has many intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. However, the push it often gives students to work harder is the best benefit. Remember, it’s one thing to make the dean’s list and another to maintain the momentum that will continually keep you on the dean’s list.
That said, here are a few tips that can help you generate and maintain the academic momentum needed to be on the dean’s list.
- Be organized: we must emphasize the need for every student to be organized. You need to know your goal from the start and plan toward it. Cut out unnecessary distractions and focus more on the things that offer academic value throughout your stay in school.
- Study well: we can’t overemphasize this point. As a student, you need a consistent study routine to stay at the top of your game. Create a study schedule and stick to it. Don’t wait until days before a test or exam to begin studying. The earlier you begin, the easier it’ll be for you.
- Attend all classes: no class is less important than the others. Plan to attend all classes. Avoid sleeping late or not sleeping at all, as it can cause you to be too lazy to attend classes the next day. Some professors score students for attendance and include these scores as part of their continuous assessments. You don’t want to be losing those easy scores.
Wrapping Things Up: What is a Dean’s Candidate? Does it Matter?
The dean’s list award has remained relevant in college education. It’s understandable why many students strive to make a list, considering all its benefits. It’s a roaster of students that have performed well during their previous semester or school year. It has traditionally remained a prestigious honor to show that you’ve made efforts to rank among the top students in your faculty.
So far in this article, we’ve reviewed everything you should know about the dean’s list award, including what it is and how important it is in your academic pursuit. We’ve also reviewed some of the requirements to be on the list. However, if you still have questions, you can always consult your college counselor to clarify your school’s particular requirements for being on the list.
If you liked this post, you’ll definitely want to check out our other college tips too.
