Just got my final grades back for the spring semester and got 3.421 gpa, but my question is...what is importance of having a high gpa anyways? what is my motivation to try my best(i haven't yet). people who had/have experience with getting a job after college replies are wanted.


thanks in advance.

 

Hey are you by chance on the acura-cl board as well?

Anyway...i guess it all depends on which profession you choose.
I-Banking, Engineering, Computer Science....all require a high GPA for that is one of the criteria they use to initially choose candidates for interviews.

If you are planning to become self-employed you shouldn't worry too much.

I'm an architect and firms don't ask for transcripts period.
We have to load up on our portfolios instead.

Hope this helps.

 

First answer the field you are interested in.

One thing about good grades is that it will mean you have stuffed more information in your head. Retention over the long term is about 40%. If you have learned more then you retaion 40% of more information and hence have more knowledge at the end.

Many fields that require good grades use numbers to weed out. This process sucks but is the way it is. You are so close right now to having Cum Laude on your diploma (3.5 at most institutions). I graduated magna cum laude and honors in highschool. It looks good on the diploma.

How far along are you in school? If you want a high GPA it's much easier to front load and maintian then to pull up a lower GPA. Trust me, I know.

 

College GPA is all about getting the job.....

You want to make sure you stand out among your peers when it comes time to start going to the job fairs and handing out resumes. In the 5 minutes you talk to a recuiter, they're not going to make a solid judgment about your character, but when they go back and review the resumes later, they're going to look at your GPA and classes and use that to get a picture of how 'good' you are at what you want to do. If you didn't do well in your classes, they'll expect you to perform about the same if you worked for them. Some fields are extremely competitive, and the supply of graduates is so big that the companies can be VERY selective in who they choose to interview and hire.

The 3.4 GPA you mention certainly isn't a bad GPA, and might be a very good one depending on your major. My degree is in Electrical and Computer Engineering and I graduated with Honors with a ~3.5 GPA. I landed a great job as a software engineer with a major company and consistently rank as one of the top employees in my department (at least until they realize I'm on s2ki at work ).

 

As everyone has stated, GPA is just another way to stand out. Having experience when leaving school is also very important (to many companies more important) It might be a cliche but it's nice to be well-rounded. When graduating from college, there is little for employers to base their opinions on, so GPA and what types of classes you've taken will be more important right out of school then after you've been working a few years. Never hurts to do well in school no matter how you look at it though

Rice

 

RazorV3,

As others have mentioned, the importance, or lack thereof as the case may be, of having a high GPA will depend on the field you're going into, the companies you apply at, etc.

Personally, I don't feel a high GPA is required to get a decent job in many fields. The glaring exception would be the most highly selective companies, and also those that specifically seek to recruit interns and new graduates. This is because these companies have a greater pool of candidates to choose from, and since the candidates all have relatively little work experience, there isn't too much to differentiate them on. Therefore, the importance of any differentiator, such as GPA, is magnified.

For most companies, your GPA matters very little. Many of them won't even bother asking about your GPA. I know this to be true for the technology and biotechnology fields, because those are the ones I have direct personal experience in. With some other fields, such as engineering and business, you might sometimes get asked about your GPA, but it still factors very little in the overall process. These are the fields I'm familiar with, but I can't vouch for others. Remember, the people that will be hiring you have been working in industry long enough to know that your GPA is not a guaranteed indicator of how your performance at work will be. If your GPA is the only differentiator between yourself and another candidate, then it might come into play, but there's a long list of things they'll consider before they get to the GPA. The reality is, a high GPA certainly won't hurt your chances of getting a job, but other things, like who you know, your timing, etc., are far more important.

And keep in mind that your GPA, if it matters at all, will likely only count when looking for your first job. After that, it's all work experience.

The main reason I can think of as motivation to keep a high GPA in college is graduate school. If and when it comes time to apply for graduate school, you will love yourself for keeping a high GPA (I know, 'cause I hated myself for keeping a not-so-high one). Graduate schools tend to be easier to get into than undergraduate, and if you keep a decent GPA, you will have a large pool of schools to choose from. If you plan on attending graduate school at all, then it's a very good reason to keep your GPA high.

So, don't stress too much about your GPA. Nothing horrible will happen if it's not as high as it absolutely could be. If anything, you should monkey around a lot during college, because it really is one of the best periods of your life. Just keep your GPA decent, don't let it fall through the floor, and enjoy the time! When it's all said and over with, you'll still end up finding a good job, and when you look back, what you'll truly remember are the good times, not what a high GPA you achieved.

 

If you're going to do something, why not do it well?

 

Rice had a great point. Well roundedness is a HUGE plus. I know of someone who recently made in the top 99 percent on a grad school entrance exam. His score was amazing. Someone else I knew scored very good, but here score was more average for the applicant pool that had a chance in getting accepted. She though, was very well rounded with alot of extra curricular activities in and out of her chosen field. She got in and he did not get an interview.

 

That may be true for graduate school admissions, but not for hiring practices. Employers don't care how many clubs you were in, and it's not something you'd put on a resume either.

OTOH, if your well-roundedness puts you in contact with someone who gets you a job later, that's an entirely different story.

 

In my experiences, the people who get interviews are those with decent GPAs (a 3.0 seems to be the cutoff, 3.5+ is preferred), who have both academic (SAE, honor societies, "brain" clubs) and social (fraternity/sorority, dorm activities, athletic clubs, etc) extra curriculars, and have a bit of professional job experience (co-ops or internships). Leadership experience in extra-curriculars is a HUGE bonus. Once you get the interview, you have to sell yourself as a person. Your degree and resume will demonstrate that you're competent, they're looking to see if you can fit within the company.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jeffbrig
[B]That may be true for graduate school admissions, but not for hiring practices.