OT: I got my diploma in the mail! But...

CONGRATS!

Congrats on the degree and hope you get the correct one soon!

When it comes again, get yourself a really nice diploma frame for it.  Universityframes.com has beautiful frames, I have one for each of my degrees.  Congrats on getting your Phd.  I have 2 bachelor degrees and an MBA.  I cannot imagine going back for a Phd!  It seemed like so much more work when I was getting my last degree.  BTW, I totally understand giving it back for the higher honor.  When I was going through my MBA, I had straight As until my second-to-last class, in which I got an A-.  The professor was a total jerk, and I think the kind that can't stand to give an A.  I'm sure it killed him to give me an A-.  I cried over the A-, my hubby thought I was nuts! :)

Woot! Congratulations on your MAJOR accomplishment!!!

I would absolutely send it back to have my name spelled correctly. (I'm still trying to figure out a way to get new diplomas with my former married name removed...I think I may be stuck with those)

As for being insane for taking an extra class to go to magn *** laude, I totally would have done it, too! I was a bit pissed that for my BS we were lumped under the School of Education (they didn't do *** magna, or summa, instead, they did honors, high honors, and highest honors), so my diploma reads HIGH HONORS. I think back on it now and realize how trivial it is because I know what it means, but it meant a huge deal to me when I received it because it was an amazing achievement for me to just have gone to college (and work full-time throughout), let alone achieve distinction. Too bad they don't offer honors distinction for grad school because I really kicked ass there. 

Again, congratulations and hope you get the corrected diploma soon.

Yes, the higher honors level seemed very important at he time (I, too, worked full time and went to school part time for YEARS), but now seems kind of silly.  

I think they should offer the honors levels for grad school, too!  I had a perfect 4.0 GPA for both my MHum and my MSEd in Counseling and a 3.82 for my PhD (I only had a 3.5 at Vandy, but it was Vanderbilt after all and it was tough)!  Ok, yeah, I just realized that sounds like some serious bragging... but, dammit, I worked hard for those grades and I am proud of them.

Kudos for doing so well in your MBA program!

Lora

I had a high school teacher once who gave me a B.  He graded an essay question so that I missed my usual A by one point. 

When I asked about it, he laughed and said he wanted me to learn how the rest of the world felt.

LOL.

I remember being absolutely crushed when I was 19 or 20 and got a 'C' in a computer based Accounting class (it was one of the first classes they offered that way, and I confess that I didn't put my best effort into it).  It was my first one.  Sadly, I also got a 'C' in BOTH of the following two Accounting classes that were also computer-based (but I would have had to re-take ACC 101 in a classroom setting to complete the sequence in a class where you could actually ask a professor for help!) on the other hand, I got a 'B in Differential Equations that same term (part of the reason the Accounting didn't get the time it should have) and I was VERY happy to get out of that class with the 'B'!

Lora

I can totally understand about your name being misspelled.  I have had it done so often during my entire life.  Even now my big boss often misspells it.  I am Karin, not Karen.  It feels totally alien to me when someone writes Karen.  It is just not my name like being called a completely different name.  A name is personal and should be spelled right.  And especially on your diploma that signifies YOU not someone else worked hard and earned it.  CONGRATULATIONS on such a major accomplishment!

Yes, if I don't spell my first name, people (understandably) always put it down as Laura (and, as you said, that is just NOT my name and is weird).  My parents' last name was something that also had to be spelled or people would mess it up, and I got SO tired of having to spell BOTH of my names.  When I was a teenager I told my parents I was going to change the spelling of my first name when I turned 21, but by then I realized how odd it would be to be 'Laura'. I have a common middle name, though, and this is the first time anyone has gotten IT wrong.

I actually really like your name spelled with the 'I' instead of the traditional way.

Lora

Congratulations Lora!!!!! I completely understand your giving back both to have them changed. It is a big deal and one worthy of having changed. My name, both first and last are often Misspelled and it's frustrating. I asked for my youngest daughters 8th Grade Certificate be replaced as well due to misspelling of our last name. I had a credit card once that had the first name wrong and while they were correcting it and I received it back it then had the last name spelled wrong. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr