This was my experience and my experience only...

I had a 3.5 cumulative GPA from a good business school (Stern School of Business at NYU). The only reason I had interviews lined up was because of the 3.5 and being a member of an honors accounting society. Our accounting society regularly invited college recruiters of the Big 4 (Big 6 at the time) accounting firms to give presentations on the opportunities in their company and the joys of getting a CPA. The college recruiters told us that they look at the GPA first when they sift through the numerous resumes when they're narrowing down the candidates to interview.

So yes, I believe a high GPA will get you at least an interview with the recruiters.

Also, during my interviews with the managers and partners of the accounting firms, I've noticed that they too looked at my GPA as I've had many instances where they commented on my 3.5 GPA from Stern.

 

thanks for the great replies. btw my major is computer science.

 

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

 

My friends who have graduated with CS degrees have had mixed results... Some companies have wanted extensive experience in a particular language; a good portfolio of programs in said language will help. Other companies were interested in resume abilities: diverse language knowledge, good grades, etc.

I guess my suggestion would be to try to get over a 3.5, and devote much of your free time to programming (whether it be writing your own game, or just learning as many languages as possible)...

 

my major is econ and my GPA is so so. i'm interning at a major investment bank but i really don't like it. i'm really thinking that working at an office isn't for me so i'm really not too worried about the GPA thing.

 

RazorV3,

If your major is Computer Science, then I would say your GPA matters very, very, very, very little, at least as far as getting a job is concerned. Most jobs in the computer industry don't rely on grades, but rather on real world skills. Many computer folks are self-starters who acquired their skills simply by horsing around on their own, and the companies know that. Also, if you end up becoming a progammer, the programming you do in industry will likely be very different from the programming you were taught in school. So, don't sweat the GPA, but make sure you learn a lot about your area of interest outside of class. I currently work as a programmer, and a lot of the folks I work with don't have college degrees at all (I do but not in Computer Science).

The only good practical reason I can really think of for keeping a high GPA is for graduate school applications. Since you're majoring in Computer Science, it's possible that down the line, you'll want to do some sort of graduate degree (maybe a MS in CS, or a MBA since business knowledge never hurts), and if that happens, then you'll want a high GPA. Other than that, I don't think your GPA will have much bearing on anything once you're done with school.

Good luck...

 

I have a different perspective completely. I have NEVER been asked for my transcripts. My (I did say MY) key to landing a job is contacts. I worked hard and made many contacts in college.


I still strive to make new contacts every chance I get. Every hand I shake is an opportunity. My company gets almost all of it's business from referral.

 

It's all about being selected for an interview.

When a job opening is created, the manager lists the experience, skills, applications, tools, etc. Required for the job. The HR screener who usually knows very little about the job, skims the resume as follows:

1. Recommended by someone in the company

2. If you've got applicable experience and the resume communicates that well, then you'll get an interview.

3. If the resume has the applicable acronyms, skills, tools, apps, etc.

4. Major, Schools attended and GPA (List only the higher of your overall GPA or the GPA in your major)

5. Other activities.

If you have #1, #2 and/or #3 then GPA is almost irrelevant, unless you are applying to a company full of life-long post-grad managers.

If you don't have 1-3, then #4 is going to be very important.
In most cases you resume will be in a pile with 100's of others. If you are applying for a job in the same field as your major, A so-so GPA from a legendary school is better than a 4.0 from a so-so school.
If many applicants have a 3.5 or over, then #5 is used as an indicator of responsibility, good work ethic, being able to balance school work with real life, etc.

 

High Honors
Honors
Honorable Mention
Average
Below Average
Me

I think it just shows what kind of work ethic you have.
It really depends on what you plan to do when you get out of school. If you want a high powered job, you have to be a high powered graduate. Institution attended, GPA, course of studies.
Just remember that there are myriads of students out there with 4.0 GPA after your job.

 

I'm in the engineering field and only have one and a half semesters left before I graduate. I've done five internships and a one year contract thus far. I rank in the top 30% of my class but my GPA is about a 3.25 or so - better than average, but certainly not stellar.

I have been asked back for two more internships with both companies I've worked for. I've done everything from purely numerical/theoretical research to design, fabrication, technical writing, and assembly (and tons of other tasks). The first job I got because I knew someone in the company but I got offers to return (and later work on contract) based on my performance alone. GPA meant nothing. The second company I worked for (and still work for, even while I'm in school) takes much the same approach - experience and attitude are a LOT more important than GPA. I didn't know a person in the company and beat out two other guys, both with much higher GPAs.

In comparison, there are very few people in my class that have a very good GPA that are able to land good internships. Why? Because the majority are (to put it bluntly) geeks. They live inside books. They couldn't build a lego tower, much less a complex machine. They could calculate every stress and strain but they'd never be able to put the blocks together. In short, they lack common sense. GPA is great when you have no experience (or the job requires none) but if a job requires experience or common sense, a GPA really isn't going to mean much. I had a girl in my class that had the highest average in the faculty but it took her 18 interviews to get her first internship because she lacked personality, common sense, and a good attitude (no experience, either, but that went for most of us).

My mother is the principal comptroller for an aerospace engineering firm. She will consistently THROW AWAY the resume of someone that has a high GPA because the vast majority have proven to be useless in "real" work (even if it's highly theoretical or experimental). This is not true of every "smart" (intellectually) person but that has been the experience of the company. One of their best engineers failed out twice before he graduated!

In short, a good GPA is nice....but I wouldn't worry about it. Most companies I know require a 3.0 or higher, or a 75%+ overall average. That's quite attainable, in my opinion. Go for experience (even if you have to work for free during the summer, if you're not in a structured coop program) - it'll serve you better in the long run. Show them what you can do in the real world....not the perfectly structured, nicely set up classroom problems we all deal with.

Just my $0.02.