Graduating soon but with poor GPA... 8

[ShiftF4]

Hi,

I want to get some honest opinions about my chances in getting a decent job with a sub 3.0 GPA. I'm having a great deal of difficulty finishing my last 400 level courses. Although I did great in my 200 level courses, I'm having difficulty grasping the higher-level concepts and am scraping by with a string of C's. 300 Level courses were B's. When I graduate, I expect to have an overall GPA of about 2.7-2.8. Part of the reason why my GPA is so low is that I haven't done very well in my non-engineering courses either.

All that being said, during my two internships I was noted as being a very hard worker and learned quickly on the job (processes, use of software, but not technical material).

I'm hoping to get some ideas/strategies on how to improve my job outlook. Thanks for any help!!!

 

[bradpa77]

I don't think that a 2.8 GPA is that bad at all. Engineering is a tough program to get through. I think that you have pretty good grades considering the program you are in. I graduated with a 2.95 and I got a job right out of college. I think the fact that you have had 2 internships is VERY good. That alone with your decent GPA should make you stand out in the job market. Especially if the internships are willing to give you good reviews. Finding a job is tough for anyone these days. Be persistent and keep pluggin' away at it and I'm sure you'll be able to get a job offer that you'll be satisfied with.

Plus, as "pse" mentioned above, you have a good background for just about anything. Be glad you chose a solid career path like engineering. I have friends who were english majors in college and they got straight A's and they couldn't find a job at all. My wife has a psychology degree and she doesn't have many options available to her either. Whenever I browse for jobs, I see tons of jobs that I'm qualified for. There is a lot of opportunity out there for you even outside of engineering. So if you have trouble finding an engineering job for a while, find something to tide you over in the meantime and keep sending out resumes. I have a friend that did terrible in engineering. He barely graduated. He probably had around a 2.0 GPA. He didn't have any internship experience either. He didn't get a job right out of college. He had to settle as a data entry clerk for a few years (which I'm sure pretty much sucked) but then ,after much persistence and patience, he finally landed an engineering job. So if HE can do it, I'm sure you can.

What about the internships you worked at? I knew a lot of students who got there first full-time jobs by becoming permanent hires at the same place they had their internships. They already know you're a hard worker. It would be a good back-up plan at least. Good luck.

 

[Ashereng]

Just to clarify, for someone who came from a school with marks in percents, and from a different era.

2.8 GPA out of 4 is about 70%?

The passing mark for my degree is 60% average, with no more than 2 courses below 50% in a given semester.

 

[FACS]

I don't remember my GPA... I think it was 2.65... no one ever asked about it. My technical concentration studies were 4.0 and 3.8s. But I got a poor grade in some silly management course.

My graduate level courses were better... 3.somethings.

Don't sweat it... it is what it is.

I own my own company, I don't hire graduates at all. I hire people that work.

Charlie

http://www.facsco.com

 

[ddelaiarro]

I own my own company, I don't hire graduates at all. I hire people that work.

No offense FACS, but it is nice that not everyone follows this mentality. If they did, we'd have quite the Catch 22 situation on our hands.

That being said, I understand and appreciate your general premise of wanting experience over education.

 

[MedicineEng]

I would recommend you to go abroad. It would broad your horizons, would give you an international experience that all employers like and after a while nobody cares about your GPA.

 

[imok2]

I would like to give you some perspective on your delima, from a guy who is probebly old enough to be your grandfather. When you talk about GPAs you are only talking about a small time frame in your life. yes it's nice to get high GPAs but believe me, it's not the whole story by a long shot. I graduated high school with a "C" average, I only did that because I loved playing baseball and football, I really never had any mentors and my parents worked all the time to put food on the table. I never had any thoughts of going to college because I didn't think I was smart enough, so I joined the Marine Corps and I found I really loved it and I was good at it this gave me so much confidence in myself that I was able to win the distinction as the best Individual Marine in competitions held over a 3 day period. Little by little I was building confidence in my ability to do better in life and become somebuddy I could like and respect. When I got out of the servive I found the perfect life mate had two boys and started working at North American Aircraft as a template maker. I went through a series of layoffs so I decided to learn a trade I could depend on. I went to a community college and took all their air conditioning classes and received my AA degree in 1962 By this time I got a job at Aerospace Corp as a "B" mechanic on 2nd shift and my job consisted of carrying a vacuum cleaner mop and bucket where I would lean and vacuum out the plenums and clean the boller rooms. I wqs in heaven because I was actually working around real and big equipment. I kept going to college and got another AA Dergee in Electronic tTechnology because even back in 1965 I knew the future would be in electronic controls. Moving along, I worked in many places, for many contractors and I always went to some type of class in this field. I became a member of the United Association, Local#250 and got certified many times in various aspects of the trade. Then in 1972 I got employment wirh the County of Los Angeles as a service mechanic reponsible for a service area consisting on various large buildings uch as Court houses, sheriff stations,probation camps, hospitals, if you can think of it the county probably has one. we were also required to do some steamfitting.This story could go on for many pages but the point I'm trying to make is that if you want to be an Engineer bad enough than that's what youl be no matter what. By the way I happen to teach HVACR part time at the very community college I graduated from why back when, and I love it and I love all my students, many of whom come from well shall I say .. not the best of ircumstances. But Hay, what a pleasure when they really start to get it. Life is good ,especially when you believe in yourself

 

[graybeach]

One of the very best engineers I know graduated from college back in the early '80s with a 1.9 GPA. It was tough in general to get a job back then, but he eventually did and later got his MS from a top school.

Meanwhile I have worked with some very muddle-headed 4.0ers who could not engineer themselves out of a paper bag. I attribute this, in part, to the grade inflation that has occurred over the years. But it is also due to the fact that engineering is an art that one either feels in his or her bones or doesn't.

The most important thing to do when you get your first job is to ask lots of questions and make sure you have the right idea about what is expected. You do not have to know everything; you just have to be aware of what you do not know, and you have to figure out how to get the answer.

Take every assignment seriously. Even if someone gives you some xeroxing (not an uncommon assignment for a junior engineer), ask if the copies should be collated, 3 hole punched, stapled, etc. Before presenting the finished product, check them scrupulously to make sure nothing is missing or upside down. Do this and you will soon have a reputation for being responsible. The more worthy assignments will come rolling in.

 

[UcfSE]

You may have a hard time at first, but then you have to expect that. No one knows you at this point, all they have is a GPA which is not very good whether or not it accurately represents you. After reading this thread I notice most of the people saying GPA doesn't matter also had their own bad GPA, and then proceed to try to underrate or knock down those who actually did good in class. That all sounds like excuses to me. Don't make excuses and don't try to bring down someone else just to make yourself feel better about your own short comings. I'm not saying you're doing that per se, but that's just a bad mindset to be in. Believe me that for every 4.0 who can't do squat there's a dozen with a 2.0 who still can't do squat.

Anyway, in most of these stories, you also notice they went on to do better, meaning they didn't stay the same mediocre or poor student but rather changed their work habits, work ethic, or what-have-you. Of course, some didn't or don't and still slack and make excuses. What's important from all of this is you have the opportunity to overcome a bad mark and compensate for everything. It will take some work but that's to be expected and can certinaly be done if you want it bad enough. Good luck!

 

[nutbutter]

Well, I graduated with a 2.41 GPA (out of 4.00), which is prett much horrible. I withdrew one semester because I was doing poorly and I had a few Fs. Also, we had a zero credit-hour seminar every semester that I skipped almost every semester. I also got Fs in those, however, they didn't count on my GPA, but they looked bad.

I had to work 40 hours throughout college and I had some personal issues with drinking and a horrific break-up.

Somehow, with those crappy grades I was able to land a job at a very respectable consulting firm within 3 months of graduating. They apparently didn't hire anyone with less than a 3.0 GPA.

The point is that the GPA is just a guideline. It's basically to get your foot in the door for an interview. Once you get that interview it's up to you. Regardless of whether you have a 4.0 or a 2.0, you will get the job if they like you and you seem competent. In entry-level positions you don't need a lot of technical skills anyway. Usually, they will mold you to what you need to be doing and you'll be trained, and all of your work will be checked. For that reason, they usually don't need a genius.

So, the secret to finding a good job (or any job) is to blow them away in the interview. Remain calm and act confident. I think that I was able to get my job because I was so calm and confident in the interview. I was almost certain that I wouldn't get the job (because of the GPA requirements), so I was not nervous at all. I was at ease and this allowed me to be myself and I think the employers saw that and liked it.

Good luck
Stoddard

 

[bradpa77]

Part of the reason why my GPA is so low is that I haven't done very well in my non-engineering courses either.

I put two different GPA's on my resume: My overall and my engineering course GPA's. I did this because I was in the same boat. I had a higher GPA in my major than I did overall. Mainly because I had some real bad grades lingering from my first major (computer science) and it was bringing down my average. Most likely your prospective employers won't give a rat's behind about how well you did in "sociology" or "intro to music" or "anthropology" or any of those elective non-engineering classes. So it would definitely be a good idea to distinguish between your major GPA and overall GPA on your resume. I imagine it would increase your chances of being considered.

 

[ziggi]

It seems that alot of people here had a problem with their non-engineering electives. I must be the odd one out, I used those courses to boost my marks, except philosophy (shudder), I hated philosophy, I couldn't understand a thing.

 

[UNLengineer]

I am with you on this one ziggi, the non-engineering courses were great because you had to do little to no work and they boosted your GPA.

 

[imok2]

Ziggi, Philosophy is the only course I got a "D" in. OK, so were not philosophers. However, I love to give advice!! should'nt I at least got a "C" :>)

 

[ziggi]

My stoner friends managed to pull off A's in philosophy, I got a D+, apparently drinking doesn't allow you to appreciate philosophy as much as other recreational habits do.

 

[plasgears]

With hindsight to my advantage, I can suggest that you remove all distractions in your college career. I was B+ until I joined a tech fraternity; then it went down to C+. The only advantage I could project in my resume was being active on campus with ASME and part-time jobs in the registar's office and the ME dept. I got good references that way.

 

[Beantown89]

I graduated with a B.S. in civil engineering. My GPA was around 2.4. I worked all through college and was in a Fraternity. Needless to say my activities sometimes got in the way of my studies. I pulled a 3.0 my last year and did a Summer Intership.
I landed my first job from a friend of family and got fired after 6 months! My next job was through a temp agency which gave me very good experience at a small engineering consulting firm, and was a much better job fit. They hired me temp to perm after 3 months.

You'll find the right job fit after interviewing at several places. My experience is only one company asked to see my transcript.

 

[Witasz]

I wouldn't stress out about a 2.8 if you have good internships to back you up. I had several great internships throughout college in the two fields I wanted to work (environmental and chemical). Even though my grade point average wasn't stellar, two of the places I interned at told me I could have a job after graduation if I wanted one. However, during my senior year I panicked, like you, about my grad point average and whether I would be a good engineer. One of my professors convinced me to enter the master's degree program. By the time I finished, I was more confident in my engineering ability and earned a higher grade point average (3.5).

When I went out and interviewed, I found a few people really cared about grade point averages (engineers with PhD and PE) but most people cared more about my past internships and my references. During my 5 years working, I have met engineers that are very book smart but were completely useless when placed in a field or plant situation. I have also met engineers that weren't at the top of their class but know process/equipment/etc inside, outside, and probably in their sleep.

If you are willing to work hard, someone will take a chance on you. Even if you don't like the first (or sometimes the only) job offer you get, learn what you can and use that experience to move onto another job.
-AW (chemical and environmental engineer)

 

[bvanhiel]

Painted on the roof of the labs, and visible from the ME building, was my favorite piece of grafitti: "You can still get a job with a 2.0".

Big companies, that get lots of resumes, will use GPA as a first pass filter. Look at smaller companies, especially somewhere that you might have a personal connection.

Alternatively you could stick around school another year. I got my MS degree, and landed a much better job than I would have had I left immediately after my BS. I attribute it more to the maturity I gained that year than to the piece of paper. It might be worth your while to postpone graduation to take more classes and raise your GPA.

-b

 

[ddelaiarro]

It might be worth your while to postpone graduation to take more classes and raise your GPA.

Or to just avoid the mundane drudgery that is a 9-5 gig All those ads that tell you to 'Stay In School' are dead on. The real world ain't all it's cracked up to be...

 

[jpankask]

The HR manager who hired me for my first job once told me she would rather see a 3.0 GPA with some campus activities (engineering groups, government participation, etc.) than a 4.0 with no activities. I had a 3.1 out of 4.0 which I spent 3 years raising to after my abysmal 2.3 freshman year. However, the lady who replaced that HR manager wouldn't consider anyone with less than a 3.3 for an open position that later came up.

So it really depends on the company and the person doing the screening and hiring. I have found what is most important is to get your resume into the right hands. Most hiring managers will not look at your GPA first, where the screening (HR) manager will use GPA to dwindle down the resumes to a manageable number. The person who is making the hiring decision will take notice that you used your time and resources to get your resume directly to them. That usually will earn you at least an interview and then you have a chance to explain why your GPA is not as high as others.

Try to draw attention on your resume to your two internships and your accomplishments there and on-campus activities. After your land your first job, nothing but having earned your degree will matter so drop your GPA from your resume. It won't be an issue after that with most companies. Someone above said to focus on smaller companies, and that is probably your best bet for your first job. Good luck.