For the Junior 24 and Senior 48 elections, students will be notified of their eligibility for election to Alpha Iota by email to their @college.harvard.edu address. Notifications for the Senior 48 election are sent in mid- to late October; notifications for the Junior 24 election are sent in late February or early March. Only those students who receive official letters of eligibility can be considered for election.  

For the Senior Final elections, which are held in May, all students in the top 10% by GPA within each academic division will automatically be considered....

Read more about How will I know if I'm eligible for election to PBK?

One letter of recommendation is required only for the Junior 24 and Senior 48 elections. Letters are not required (and will not be considered) for the Senior Final elections.

The most useful letters come from those instructors who know you and your academic work well. In general, the election committees prefer letters from members of the faculty, but letters from teaching fellows or course assistants are also acceptable. Seniors who are writing theses are strongly advised to have their faculty adviser write on their behalf. The election committees generally find letters from faculty within one's department or committee of concentration most useful, but will also accept letters from faculty outside of a student's concentration.

No, only one letter of recommendation can be considered for each candidate in the Senior 48 and Junior 24 elections.

Yes. Letters from faculty members who have moved to other institutions or from those who were visiting at Harvard are acceptable.

Election to Phi Beta Kappa is not generally influenced by extracurricular or volunteer activities, though information on a candidate's character and intellectual integrity may be considered.

No. Only course work taken for Harvard degree credit will be considered.

Applicants to the Senior 48 and Junior 24 elections will upload their latest unofficial transcript (downloaded from my.harvard) in the CARAT application portal. Students under consideration for the Final Senior election each May will not need to upload a transcript or any other materials. (Please refer to the Eligibility & Election section for more information.)

Read more about Do I need to provide a copy of my Harvard transcript?

Transcripts for PBK candidates are generated after the Fifth Monday of each semester and therefore reflect all changes in course enrollment up to that point.

No. The election in May takes place before spring term grades are available. The election committees do, however, take into account the depth and rigor of the courses in which graduating seniors are enrolled, as they do for all semesters.

Yes. The Chapter destroys all materials submitted to it shortly after each election.

Students with the same GPA may be in different academic divisions (Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, or Humanities) which vary proportionately in size (number of students eligible and elected) based on the overall distribution of fields of concentration.

Letters will be sent to all candidates, generally within three weeks after the deadline for submitting the Release Form and letters of recommendation.

You are eligible for the Senior 48, but you may only be a candidate in this election once; so if invited, you should consider whether you will be a Senior again next year and might then be in a better position. For the final Senior election you will be eligible in the spring after you graduate, so make sure Harvard knows your contact information.