The Senior Exercise

The senior exercise must be completed by all classics majors. To fulfill the senior exercise, each major must pass the appropriate sight examinations and the senior seminar. Minors need not take the sight examinations, but they too must pass the senior seminar.

Majors may receive Distinction on the senior exercise. Three factors are taken into account in determining Distinction: the student's average grade on the sight examinations, the quality of his or her research paper for the senior seminar, and his or her overall performance in the senior seminar. To be eligible for distinction, a student's average grade across these three categories must be B+ (87%) or higher; moreover, in each of the three categories, a minimum grade of B (83%) is required. (In other words, a score of B- or lower on any category renders a student ineligible for Distinction.) At the department's discretion, other aspects of a student's previous course-work may also be taken into account.