what happens to kids who graduate from college with under a 3.5?

[Anonymous]

Nothing. They go on to live happy productive lives.

[Anonymous]

I went to graduate school and now make mid 6 figures. GPA was 2.9

[Anonymous]

3.5 is not bad. I've been hiring people for 20+ years and never asked or cared. I worked in big 4 consulting and we dropped the college hire GPA requirement (3.2) because it wasn't an indicator of future performance and it shut out a lot of good candidates.

[Anonymous]

Those with under 3.5 are shot and left for dead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it depends on future plans, but usually they get a job and go from there in advancing their career.

It's rarely the end of the world.

3.0 here. Went to a top 75 law school. Top of class -- federal judge law clerk, federal prosecutor, big law partner last 20 years.

3.0 is not a bar to anything. 2.5 is not as well. It just means less paths open and harder work required.

[Anonymous]

They graduate at the bottom of their class at Syracuse Law and become the most powerful man in the world.

[Anonymous]

Graduated from a state school in the mid 90s with a 2.7. First job $18k. $180k now.

[Anonymous]

They get a C average at Yale and become President and retire to their ranch in Texas.

Or they get into Wharton, earn bad grades, become President, and get indicted numerous times.

Or they write a terrible college essay to Harvard, get admitted, become president and get assassinated.

[Anonymous]

It’s not the end of the world. The student just looks for a position and reads the qualifications to see if it asks for gpa of over 3.5. If student wants to go to grad school, unless it is med, then go ahead and apply but realize some of the top schools might not accept them but the top schools aren’t going to accept all 4.0 students either. In fact, some law schools might accept a student with a 3.4. Are the grad school scores high?

If there really is a concern, can they stay another year and do second major to bring the gpa up. But I think this should only be a consideration if the gpa is 2.5ish.

Basically just have student start looking for jobs and apply to grad school as planned and see how it goes. No need to panic or stress. Maybe student can put some talking points together as to why they have the gpa they have , just in case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering about this--how much is your future trajectory impacted (in this day and age) if you don't do particularly well in college?
Med school is almost definitely out (baring some really unusual extenuating circumstance). Is law school? Grad school in other disciplines?
How much does this impact job opportunities?
I know this is a very broad question (and of course varies by college) but any thoughts?

It's been some time now, but my anecdotal experience re law school - I graduated with less than a 3.5 from a regional liberal arts school in the 1990s - even had a D and/or C on my transcript. Didn't matter for first job or second (not applying to McKinsey or CIA but still starter-level admin jobs) - applied to law school a few years out - scored 164 (or in that range - hard to recall) on LSAT. Got accepted at a Top 100 law school and waitlisted at Top tier. Got significant scholarships for Tier 3 and 4. Took full scholarship at lower-level school and graduated top of my class - which translated into an offer from a top tier law firm. It all worked out. Test scores are absolutely key if you don't have stellar grades.

The avenues that I think closed to me because of the above - feeder clerkships (probably could have clerked somewhere other than DC or NY but that wasn't feasible at the time) - which translates into more opportunities down the road including ease of making partner and getting into various govt agencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it depends on future plans, but usually they get a job and go from there in advancing their career.

It's rarely the end of the world.

3.0 here. Went to a top 75 law school. Top of class -- federal judge law clerk, federal prosecutor, big law partner last 20 years.

3.0 is not a bar to anything. 2.5 is not as well. It just means less paths open and harder work required.

I agree with this - just need to hustle more later.

[Anonymous]

It matters for grad school , more than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it depends on future plans, but usually they get a job and go from there in advancing their career.

It's rarely the end of the world.

3.0 here. Went to a top 75 law school. Top of class -- federal judge law clerk, federal prosecutor, big law partner last 20 years.

3.0 is not a bar to anything. 2.5 is not as well. It just means less paths open and harder work required.

I agree with this - just need to hustle more later.

Ok but low grades in undergrad indicates lack of hustle, so what causes them to develop the hustle later?

[Anonymous]

I was a horrible student (HS - 2.7, Undergrad - 2.8, Grad 3.4) and yet, I am a great employee. I am the person who takes on extra tasks, who orients the new staff, who pitches in when someone is needed to cover. That has proven to take me farther than any GPA.

Good work ethic, being responsible/team player, REALLY showing up, and going above and beyond counts far more than any GPA. I have co-workers with amazing GPAs who aren't great employees (I know the GPAs because I hired them....)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it depends on future plans, but usually they get a job and go from there in advancing their career.

It's rarely the end of the world.

3.0 here. Went to a top 75 law school. Top of class -- federal judge law clerk, federal prosecutor, big law partner last 20 years.

3.0 is not a bar to anything. 2.5 is not as well. It just means less paths open and harder work required.

I agree with this - just need to hustle more later.

Ok but low grades in undergrad indicates lack of hustle, so what causes them to develop the hustle later?

It depends what kind of hustle. I graduated with a 3.0 ish but I partied and worked my ass off and networked professionally while in college. That is hustle too. It was my junior year internship that propelled my career.