Finishing college with under a 2.5 cumulative GPA in Econ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

[Anonymous]

these are the people you hear about -- ivy league baristas, HYPSM janitors, etc. grades are the TOP priority in college, i'm sure we could agree on this. perhaps she wasn't prepared for college anyways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

3.0 != 2.3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, it's not optimal OP. But, you already knew that. I'm a headhunter and recruit for higher level positions. I still think your child can get a job. I like the idea of her interning or getting a temporary assignment. She should do informational interviews with as many people from her alma mater as she can find. The old adage is true ...
"it's not what you know, but who you know". By doing the networking and getting in front of people, she will find people like herself who may not have been star students but who may be running the show nonetheless. Some "nowhere State U" folks have their own firms and hire only top-notched school grads. Good luck! Child will do fine.

This is really good advice. It's all about the networking. I work for a well-known government consulting company and there are two ways to get a foot in the door: 1) university recruiting (which would likely screen out your daughter) or 2) referrals. We hired several class of 2014 grads this fall/winter who came in through references of current employees. I did some of the interviewing - many of them did not include their GPA and my company doesn't check anything other than to verify that a degree was obtained.
As far as resumes go, we really only looked at internships and volunteer experience that related to our entry-level job skill sets. Definitely encourage your daughter to get an internship or two. I think you said she's going to be a senior - is there an internship program through campus that she can take advantage of this fall/spring. Or if she graduates without a job, can she do an internship next summer?
Temping is another great option mentioned by PPs. My cousin graduated from a very mediocre university in 2012 with an unimpressive GPA. She got a foot in the door at JP Morgan in NYC through a temp agency and just got hired on full time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:these are the people you hear about -- ivy league baristas, HYPSM janitors, etc. grades are the TOP priority in college, i'm sure we could agree on this. perhaps she wasn't prepared for college anyways

When I read a comment like this it makes me wonder if the writer is an idiot or just a troll. Have you ever heard the old saying look out for the C students they are the ones that donate the buildings! OP your kid will be fine. Tell her to network, temp, intern... whatever it takes to get that first job and then work hard. She certainly knows how to work hard after being a college athlete. Grades only matter for that first job. It may be harder to get that first job but hustle can make up for a lot of shortfalls!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

3.0 != 2.3.

No, but for purposes of getting into grad school, it isn't that great either. Thus my point about turning a negative into a positive by addressing it head-on as an illustration of personal growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

You don't get into a good grad program, you get into wherever you can and demonstrate you can pull a 4.p and then your next grad program is at a good school.

The other alternative, and I know a guy who did this after getting bad grades during freshman and sophomore years, is to re-do undergrad. He didn't tell his new school that he had attended a prior school.

My H did this. He got a 2nd undergraduate degree at UMD and used that GPA to get into graduate school. It only took 2 years to get the 2nd degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

3.0 != 2.3.

No, but for purposes of getting into grad school, it isn't that great either. Thus my point about turning a negative into a positive by addressing it head-on as an illustration of personal growth.

Problem is, with a 2.3 there wasn't any growth. I was similar; I had really bad grades early but turned it around, graduated with a 3.0 and got into a really good graduate program. Of course my GPA in my upper division courses was close to a 4.0 and I did extremely well on the GREs. A 2.3 means pretty crappy grades throughout, they wouldn't have been able to be athletically eligible if they had much lower grades earlier vs. later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

3.0 != 2.3.

No, but for purposes of getting into grad school, it isn't that great either. Thus my point about turning a negative into a positive by addressing it head-on as an illustration of personal growth.

Problem is, with a 2.3 there wasn't any growth. I was similar; I had really bad grades early but turned it around, graduated with a 3.0 and got into a really good graduate program. Of course my GPA in my upper division courses was close to a 4.0 and I did extremely well on the GREs. A 2.3 means pretty crappy grades throughout, they wouldn't have been able to be athletically eligible if they had much lower grades earlier vs. later.

True. For some reason, I read the OP as saying her kid still had time before graduating. Clearly my graduate degree wasn't in reading comprehension!

[Anonymous]

Sports pays for college. The idea to network with college alums who are former athletes is the best advice so far. With the number of colleges in the DMV this was an overlooked option!

[Anonymous]

* Sorry should read "With the number of colleges in the DMV coaching was an overlooked option."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

I helped with admissions for my graduate program (haha, I had a full merit scholarship and stipend as a Grad assistant, we had to help with this stuff). We didn't even look at 2.3 GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She could probably get a job as a research analyst/assistant at one of the many think tank/non-profit agencies around here. Tell her not to put her GPA on her resume.

A lot of them really just need bodies to help lay out and edit research papers, and some working knowledge of the subject matter is helpful.

I'm thinking of my own association in particular, but we don't have any spots at the moment.

a place like CFR, brookings, CEP, etc. are going to bring up/ask for gpa as they'll ask for transcripts.

I worked at a few think tanks. The prestigious ones will indeed not hire anyone who's not essentially top-of-class. I never saw a GPA below 3.8 get chosen.

[Anonymous]

Think tank person -- would that include people from HYP who have a 3.5? You wouldn't look at them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well in this area, she should be at least going to grad school.

But the idea of advertising your GPA on your resume - meh, I didn't do it 20 years ago and when I review resumes now for entry level tech jobs that require a degree, I ignore it. We routinely in the office roll our eyes over those posting about their 4.0 gpa.

When you are over 40 reviewing resumes, you tend to "meh" the gpa. College was so long ago....

How do people think she's going to get into any real grad program with a 2.3?

I got into a respected grad program in my field with a 3.0. I fell flat on my face my freshman year, but graduated pulling 3.8+ averages per semester. The trick is being up-front about your struggles and relating how you overcame them in your application.

I helped with admissions for my graduate program (haha, I had a full merit scholarship and stipend as a Grad assistant, we had to help with this stuff). We didn't even look at 2.3 GPAs.

Yeah? Even if said GPA could be split into early failure followed by stellar performance? Aren't you supposed to also look at "intangibles" such as the perseverence, resiliency, etc. highlighted in a good comeback story?