3.2 GPA, Ivy to Ivy transfer chances

I am currently in a notoriously, tough Ivy with a 3.2 gpa. I am thinking of transferring because I am worried about future grad/job prospects. The average gpa here is very low. I graduated from high school with a 3.9 gpa taking all honors/AP classes, got a 2100 SAT, and have good ECs. What are my chances at other Ivies? Do I have a shot? I know that Ivies are very difficult to get in but would they consider the fact that I am coming from a tough Ivy and previously had a good hs record? Advice would be great!!

I would say your chances are not good if your only reasoning is are worried about your GPA and future job prospects. I wouldn’t worry that you don’t have a 3.9 at a competitive school. Employers know the quality of the education that you are getting. Just do your best. When you take the top 1% from HS and put them all at the same university 99% of them won’t stay in the 1% there. It’s a life lesson. Stick with it and don’t transfer unless you have a valid reason.

There is only one “tough Ivy”, GPA-wise, but regardless, your transfer chances are nil since a 3.2 puts you below the median.

So you are telling the new Ivy that they have lower standards than your current Ivy? Let us know how that works out.

http://www.gradeinflation.com/ indicates that the lowest recent average GPA at an Ivy League school is 3.36, so your 3.2 is below average wherever you are. Some of the others are in the 3.4x range; it looks like only Harvard and Brown have significantly more grade inflation with 3.6x averages.

How long have you been there? What’s your major? I don’t think transferring is the solution for having a low GPA. If you have any time left, you can most likely get it up higher.

Are you currently taking advantage of all the school has to offer student support wise? What classes are you doing poorly in? Will you be taking similar classes in the future? Did you make every effort to not get a low GPA again? 3.2 isn’t bad, but it sounds like you want to do better. You don’t have to answer all those on here, just things to think about.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but employers don’t really care about your GPA. Grad school is another thing, but that’s why you should focus on your current school.

I think that you need to work hard where you are to get your GPA up.

According to NACE, 70% of employers use a cutoff GPA to screen college applicants to move on in the process (to interviews, site visits, etc.), and about 60% of those use a 3.0 cutoff GPA.

So, for a first job out of college, an applicant with a 3.01 GPA may have slightly worse prospects than one with a 4.00 GPA, but an applicant with a 2.99 GPA may have much worse prospects than one with a 3.01 GPA.

@ucbalumnus Wow, that’s really interesting. I was always told at my last school that your GPA doesn’t matter if you’re not going to grad school. Guess I’m wrong! Thank you!

That said OP, your best option is doing all you can to get your GPA up. I doubt it’s too late to do so.

It’s a 3.2 at a tough ivy, your prospects are very good. I would be more concerned if it was a 2.9. @ucbalumnus is absolutely correct, just keep it above a 3.0, and no, you won’t be going to grad school at MIT but you will land a good job.

I never heard there’s one “tougher” Ivy. C’mon, it depends on your program and habits. No, not doing better at one won’t delight another and get you an admit. I hardly believe OP has his thinking cap on.

And as for NACE, folks, take a look. A response rate of 17%, only 169 out of roughly 1000 they surveyed. In the publicly available summary, no indication of what sort of employers, the fields or other. 3.0 is called “the mean and the median,” not an absolute cutoff. Other factors rated higher.

http://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/the-attributes-employers-seek-on-a-candidates-resume/ is the NACE reference. While 17% response is not great, what other information is there besides unsubstantiated claims?

Also, 3.0 is the cutoff given by 60% of those who screen by GPA, and the median and mean cutoff GPA used by employers screening by GPA.

So who were the responders? Top engineering firms or smaller regional? What industries or sorts of jobs? Highly competitive or the more ordinary range of firms? What kind of screening?
People shouldn’t freak out.

OP has time to improve. And to show strength in the major itself and relevant experiences.

Page 28-29 of http://careerservices.wayne.edu/pdfs/2018-nace-job-outlook-survey.pdf describes more about GPA cutoff screening, including industry preferences.

Can someone please clue me in about which is the toughest Ivy?

Least grade inflation would probably be Cornell (3.36) and Princeton (3.39), according to http://www.gradeinflation.com/ .

Re#15, reported aggregate GPAs may be influenced, differently, by different mixes of majors and different grading practices by college/ major at different campuses.
For example, back when I attended at least, at Cornell there was a lower GPA threshold for Dean’s List in the engineering college vs., eg, the arts & sciences college. Indicating grading in engineering was tougher. One-fifth of undergrads there are engineers. Only 1/3 of its students are studying in its arts & sciences college, which on many campuses is the only college there is. And at others constitutes a much larger %age of the whole.

Whether typical grades for an, eg, English major at Cornell are any different than for an English major at lots of other schools is unknown.