Does college GPA matter for future employment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and those who say otherwise are perpetuating a massive lie. Especially if you want a good internship to set you up for an elite career, you will need a high gpa. People will always say you need "experience." Well, that experience requires a good gpa to actually get the dang position.

Not really true. I had an actual job during college. I worked at a major bank and then VISA. I got into a prestigious training program out of college with a low GPA as I had actual work experience. Ironically you need a high GPA to get internships but not to be an employee at 18-20.

At work we just hired an EVP who is 34. Prior job was SVP. He has 16 years banking experience. He started work full time at 18 and did college at night. You dont need the internship if you already have the job.

No one will give and engineering student an engineering job to work at while they are in school. Even the non college degree jobs like working in a garage which could work for mechanical E maybe require some training.

Sure, you could work for a professor in a lab, but unless you really hit it off with them you will still have to apply for those jobs against people who have higher gas.

I don't know what technically classifies as an engineering job, but plenty of kids can work STEM jobs while in college. Kids that participate in their colleges' EV competition teams are able to work internships as just one example, assuming the college is located close to where the company has an operation (and their team does well in the competitions).

[Anonymous]

I have worked in consulting and banks and hired people and have never looked at the GPA. I look at internship experience. My own DC has an average GPA and managed to land very competitive internships because they are able to ace the OA (online assessments) and skill based interviews.

Op - your kid's GPA is what it is. They have to hustle and do their best to get a job. As you can see, some people emphasize GPA and others don't. If one applies widely enough, they will find positions or managers who don't consider GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate 3.67 Religion.
Graduate Community Planning 4.0

Can't find a job to save my life.

What year and what school? Or type of school. What do you want to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I interview a lot of college seniors every year and they all put their GPA on their resumes. I also look for it.

But let me ask you this: would you say a 3.6 from say an Elon grad was better prepared to work for you than a 2.9 from say Georgetown? I just think there's a big difference in rigor and expectations across universities, so GPA can be hard to distinguish what a person can really do. When I look at candidates, I might consider GPA if it's there, but I look at where they graduated from and when. From there, can they write, can they communicate, are they weirdos?

I don’t think Georgetown gives 2.9s!

[Anonymous]

My DC graduated in '24 from GMU with a 2.8 GPA in CS; However, he passed multiple Amazon AWS security certifications. He got several job offers, and settled on a 125K job with a 15K signing bonus. GPA is overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate 3.67 Religion.
Graduate Community Planning 4.0

Can't find a job to save my life.

No churches are hiring?

[Anonymous]

It matters in limited fields for a limited period of time earlier in one’s career. After a certain point though, the reality is most post-college employers do not require or even request a GPA.

[Anonymous]

Like most things ymmv. Depends on the field, experience, connections, etc.

DH tried to get his cousin connected with an internship at the financial institution where he was quite senior but his cousin didn’t have the prerequisite gpa for the program. It sucked because that cousin’s mother (DH’s Aunt) was DH’s connection for his first job after college, but he was a strong student. DH was bummed he couldn’t return the favor.

[Anonymous]

What is the major GPA? I was able to use that on my resume and it was a much higher number.

I don’t think it matters after the first job (except for grad school!). I see a lot of resumes and the only time it caught my eye was when someone included a 2.9. Like why list that when it’s not required.

[Anonymous]

The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and those who say otherwise are perpetuating a massive lie. Especially if you want a good internship to set you up for an elite career, you will need a high gpa. People will always say you need "experience." Well, that experience requires a good gpa to actually get the dang position.

Not really true. I had an actual job during college. I worked at a major bank and then VISA. I got into a prestigious training program out of college with a low GPA as I had actual work experience. Ironically you need a high GPA to get internships but not to be an employee at 18-20.

At work we just hired an EVP who is 34. Prior job was SVP. He has 16 years banking experience. He started work full time at 18 and did college at night. You dont need the internship if you already have the job.

No one will give and engineering student an engineering job to work at while they are in school. Even the non college degree jobs like working in a garage which could work for mechanical E maybe require some training.

Sure, you could work for a professor in a lab, but unless you really hit it off with them you will still have to apply for those jobs against people who have higher gas.

Huh? There are so many engineering internships at private companies that are for college students in the summer. There are ones near campus for year round parttime but thats not common, most have on campus research in the school year. My kid’s ivy just had a several workshop-days thing letting the engineers explore options. Almost all cutoffs are 3.0 for PAID positions. They mentioned there are resume building options on campus or away that are unpaid for those under 3.0 though they made it sound as though that is a very very rare GPA after sophomore year. These summer programs are for after sophomore or junior year. They are competitive but there are many to be found. The ivy sponsors funding for some of them , and has a history of sending multiple students due to an ongoing relationship. Others are fully in the private sector. Others are government paid positions. Some are abroad with funding. They are real Engineering jobs for 10-12 weeks and the pay is good for most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

bullcrap. Joint owner of a company and we were all A students most from top universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a law firm. Some people put their GPA on their resume and some don't. Obviously trying to get into law school, that and LSAT's matter. But to get a job after? Not needed.

I don't think that's true.

We have GPA cutoffs for on campus interviews.

The school asks us to take X% of our interview slots by lottery, which we do as a courtesy but we aren't really interested in those students.

[Anonymous]

MY Meche son had a sub 3.0 (closer to 2.5) GPA. He is employed. His employer never even looked at his transcript. He did have a gap after graduation but eventually he found something. He later learned his Eagle Scout was very important to his employer who was very involved in Scouting with his son. You never know...

[Anonymous]

I graduated with a 2.7. Dragged it up from a .9. Yes, you read that correctly. I've been gainfully employed at one of the Big 3 in my industry for over 20 years - no one ever asked for my GPA.