Engineering Majors and low GPAs

[Anonymous]

Our son is pursing a mechanical engineering degree at Clemson. His GPA is terrible -- barely above 2.0. He says that this is not atypical for engineering majors and that their classes are much more rigorous and much more difficult to pass than those of non-engineering majors. We are quite concerned and are wondering if this is at all accurate.

[Anonymous]

My cousin did engineering at Virginia tech. That was his experience, but this was quite a while ago.

[Anonymous]

yep, makes sense to me.

- hard science phd

[Anonymous]

Engineering GPAs are typically a little bit lower because the coursework is more rigorous. Barely above 2.0 is not great though.

The trouble is, if you start in engineering, you have to finish in engineering because transferring a low GPA to another easier major and graduating with a low GPA is then going to look highly suspect.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and remember C's get degrees. This is super common.

After he gets his first job no one will care. Might be slightly harder to get an internship or first job, but he will absolutely be fine.

Be proud, he is sharing, he is succeeding in a super hard major.

One of mine had a low GPA in engineering, he's graduated with a fantastic job with a start up. Loves it way way more than he loved school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, especially if the classes tend to grade on a curve. Someone will be at the bottom of the curve. As long as he graduates, he can have a successful engineering career.

But its also worth asking about his study habits, especially if this is his freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting this!

Another parent of an engineering major with a low GPA who has been quietly freaking out....

[Anonymous]

I had to maintain a 3.0 to keep my scholarship. Most semesters I ended up with a 3.5 in EE. But ther was one very very bad semester sophomore year where I flunked a class and got another C. Happens.
I gave a great job managing an engineering team now.

[Anonymous]

He’s not misleading you, large state engineering programs are a full of lazy students dragging down averages. The part that’s under the rug is that given curved grades, these Cs are often well bellow 50% mastery.

[Anonymous]

2.0 is really low. I am sorry but that is not good at all.

- mech engineer

[Anonymous]

OP, don't listen to the ones who say a low GPA isn't ok,

Yes, it might be harder to get an internship or job at a"top tier company". Getting into a top tier grad school also not going to happen.

But.....

A degree is a degree after first job no one cares about GPA.

C's get degrees and no one on that graduation floor is going to tell you otherwise.

The only thing to look at is DC getting at least C's in core classes so they can graduate otherwise, while not what every parent hopes for it's really not uncommon for Engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, don't listen to the ones who say a low GPA isn't ok,

Yes, it might be harder to get an internship or job at a"top tier company". Getting into a top tier grad school also not going to happen.

But.....

A degree is a degree after first job no one cares about GPA.

C's get degrees and no one on that graduation floor is going to tell you otherwise.

The only thing to look at is DC getting at least C's in core classes so they can graduate otherwise, while not what every parent hopes for it's really not uncommon for Engineering.

False hope is not helpful.

[Anonymous]

It was way long ago, but I put the last straw on a proverbial camel's back. A student was already on academic probation for couple of terms in an Engineering major that is considered the hardest Engineering major. One more failure in a subject and the student would be dismissed from the university. The student was in Junior year of undergraduate program. He gave me no choice but to give him an "F".

Please ask you son to get necessary help from the professors, TAs, classmates, etc. Have him examine his study habits and make needed changes. In the Freshman year and/or Sophomore year first semester, there are some elimination courses (they are called that because they filter out students who can't make it through the undergraduate engineering curriculum and graduate) after which many students change majors on their own or are encouraged by the engineering department to do so.

Good luck to your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, don't listen to the ones who say a low GPA isn't ok,

Yes, it might be harder to get an internship or job at a"top tier company". Getting into a top tier grad school also not going to happen.

But.....

A degree is a degree after first job no one cares about GPA.

C's get degrees and no one on that graduation floor is going to tell you otherwise.

The only thing to look at is DC getting at least C's in core classes so they can graduate otherwise, while not what every parent hopes for it's really not uncommon for Engineering.

False hope is not helpful.

It's not false hope. I know plenty of engineering majors with low GPA's especially at schools like Clemson. Absurd to think every kid is going to have a 3.0 or better they don't.

Of course OP needs to make sure her DC is doing their best and getting tutoring help. Again C's get degrees period. No one is getting kicked out of college for a 2.0 gpa. Yes they graduate yes they get jobs. It's just harder for the first job and of course a good graduate school. Is this ideal of course not. Is it worrisome of course. Does it happen a lot yes it does.

[Anonymous]

I was a so-so engineering student from UMD and graduated with 3.0. Getting my first job wasn’t easy... but PP is correct that after the first job (assuming he can get one), GPA doesn’t really matter if he can do the work. If he can’t deliver due to his weak engineering knowledge, his company will probably let him go. Understanding engineering subject matters.