Academic Procedure Questions: Grade Classification
So, now that you’ve been at Alfred University for a little while, you may find yourself asking, “What class am I? How do they assign that name of sophomore or senior on my transcript? How is it that my friends might have the same amount of credits as me but are in a higher class?”
Grade classification here is assigned by credit hour and differs between each department within the school, although the breakdowns are basically the same. Alfred University has designated that in the Liberal Arts and Sciences department, a freshman has 0-29 credits, a sophomore has 30-59, a junior has 60-89 credits, and a senior has more than 90. The College of Business designates a freshman as having from 0-29 credits, a sophomore as having 30-53, a junior having from 54-89 credits, and a senior as having more than 90. The School of Engineering and Professional Studies designates a freshman as having 0-30 credits, a sophomore as having 31-60, a junior as having 61-89, and a senior as having more than 90. The School of Art and Design designates their freshman as having 0-30 credits, sophomores as having 31-62 credits, a junior as having 63-90 credits, and a senior as having 91 or more. Finally, the School of Ceramic Engineering and Material Science designates a freshman as having 0-33 credits, a sophomore as having 34-62 credits, a junior as having 63-101 credits, and a senior as having more than 102.
Basically, your class doesn’t really matter in most cases, but it is used to determine housing and scheduling. The Registrar uses the Liberal Arts and Sciences classification to decide who gets into certain classes before others. The Office of Residence Life also uses the Liberal Arts and Sciences department’s classification to determine your class and then housing is assigned first to seniors and juniors, then sophomores, and then to freshman according to your random housing lottery number.