# "Summa cum laude" graduation cake design rejected due to perceived vulgarity **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619 "2018-05-22T15:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/81 "2018-05-25T12:49:25Z")
But you can do that without raising the limit on the GPA. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/82 "2018-05-25T13:22:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Grade inflation. The first ones got their mediocre students to pass for good ones, but eventually schools down the pipeline from them will start correcting for it. They already do correct for it. When I was applying to colleges, they all wanted a form from the guidance office that explained the GPA calculation method. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/83 "2018-05-25T13:41:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s also a way to give bonus points for taking harder classes, AP or not, by giving them higher weighting factors. Without that, someone who took only the easiest classes can have a higher GPA than someone who took the challenging ones. Yes. Our kids’ High School (public) has a maximum unweighted GPA of 4.0 but it gets weighted by some formula for honors classes (up to some limit per quarter) such that the maximum _weighted_ GPA is 4.96. It is a pretty standard thing to do to help discourage avoiding taking more challenging classes. Nothing to do with grade inflation; that’s a separate issue. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/84 "2018-05-25T15:16:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Yes. Our kids’ High School (public) has a maximum unweighted GPA of 4.0 but it gets weighted by some formula for honors classes (up to some limit per quarter) such that the maximum _weighted_ GPA is 4.96. It is a pretty standard thing to do to help discourage avoiding taking more challenging classes. Same here. Was not a grade inflation issue at all in our school, but more credit for taking harder classes. We had a 1.2 multiplier for honors classes, so an A was 4.8, B was 3.6, C was 2.4, D was 1.2 and F was 0. I’m not entirely sure what the theoretical maximum GPA was, as everybody was required to take classes that did not have an honors track like gym and typing. So 4.8 wouldn’t be the max, but somewhere around 4.75-ish I’d guess. And for applying to college, I don’t think the nominal GPA made that much of a difference, as I remember class rank (not raw GPA) and ACT/SAT scores being the major factors. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/85 "2018-05-25T16:52:52Z")
Huh. My college did it, and it had nothing to do with the difficulty of the classes. A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, F=0 for every class. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619/86 "2018-05-26T01:25:41Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > An Indian doughnut with cumin in Chorlton-cum -Hardy, or Cumbria or Cumbernauld. > > I know I’m going to feel stupid soon, but I don’t understand what is wrong with “do the right thing” . It was totally unexpected by us also 🙂 the client was British American Tobacco… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summa-cum-laude-graduation-cake-design-rejected-due-to-perceived-vulgarity/814619.md?page=4)