A High GPA Is Not All What It Seems To Me

<p>I know some people think that you are smart if you have a 3.7, 3.8 GPA, etc. But does your GPA tell you everything about that person? Does a high GPA mean that you are a smart person? </p>

<p>I have heard from a few professors that grades do not always reflect how smart a student is. So, in context, the professor was trying to say that someone who has a 3.5 GPA is not necessarily smarter than someone with a 2.5 GPA.</p>

<p>Think about it. After high school, everyone started fresh. Once the first days of classes started, it didn't matter if you had a 3.5 GPA or 3.7 GPA in high school. </p>

<p>After college it is about the same. My communications professor is on the review board for interviews. She said that a lot of times the people with the highest GPA's didn't get the jobs. </p>

<p>Think about it. Would you hrie someone with a high GPA who doesn't dress professionally or doesn't have good communication skills? You most likely wouldn't.</p>

<p>In conclusion, my point is that you shouldn't stress so much about your GPA. I am not saying to not try to get a high GPA, but you shouldn't worry about it. I bet you 10 years down the road you won't even remember your GPA.</p>

<p>well yah, if you gotta 4.0 in your engineering degree, but can't string together a sentence in proper english, can't have a drink with you're coworkers, can't tell a joke, can't express you're desires/needs/wishes....who the hell want's to hire you? I wouldn't want a robot working for me, i want human beings.</p>

<p>Well then you're money in the bank if you've got the 3.7-4.0, dress well, and have good social skills.</p>

<p>I sat down for a job interview for an internship for this summer and we spent about 2 minutes talking about my grades, and about an hour talking about what experience I had. Take that however you want to.</p>

<p>did the school you went to help you land that interview? did they want to see a high GPA? oh ok.</p>

<p>I don't think anyone believes a GPA is a direct reflection of intelligence. And obviously they are not going to spend much time in an interview talking about grades, there is not much to add beyond what is already in front of the interview on paper.</p>

<p>If you have a 4.0 GPA, that doesn't mean you're smart. If you have a 2.5 GPA, chances are you aren't that smart. </p>

<p>What I'm trying to say is, your grades don't tell people how smart you are, but it almost certainly tells people how dumb you are.</p>

<p>But of course, whether you're smart or not is not a good indicator of future success.</p>

<p>"What I'm trying to say is, your grades don't tell people how smart you are, but it almost certainly tells people how dumb you are."</p>

<p>That doesn't make any sense. So does that mean somebody is stupid if they have a 2.5 GPA? A high GPA doesn't necessarily mean smart and a low GPA doesn't necessarily mean stupid.</p>

<p>uh.. no.. a 2.5 gpa can also mean "smart but lazy." I agree with whoever says that GPA is by no means the end all and be all of a resume.. I think that people place way too much emphasis on it.</p>

<p>haha we posted the exact same thing at the same time. nice.</p>

<p>The only reason employers put so much emphasis is it's the quickest way to narrow down an applicant pool in the hundreds down to just a few to interview. It's the closest objective standard there is to an indication of smartness, even though it's not always accurate. The good thing is it really only matters for your first job out of college; afterwards, it's all about experience.</p>

<p>Smart but lazy? These are so rare that they don't even matter any more in a pool of not-so-bright students.</p>

<p>"Smart but lazy? These are so rare that they don't even matter any more in a pool of not-so-bright students."</p>

<p>I don't know where you go to school, but I know a bunch of people who are like this. If you really think about, every single person who enters college can get all A's. Of course that is not going to happen. Everyone is lazy at times. Sometimes I would rather work on my hobby than study for my test. Does that mean I am stupid if I fail the test? No, all it means is I didn't study enough for the test.</p>

<p>"What I'm trying to say is, your grades don't tell people how smart you are, but it almost certainly tells people how dumb you are." </p>

<p>Brilliant, steevee!</p>

<p>
[quote]
If you really think about, every single person who enters college can get all A's.

[/quote]

This is absolutely, 100% false.</p>

<p>Sorry to have taken out that single sentence and ignored basically everything else in this thread/your post, but this really stuck out to me, because it's not true at all.</p>

<p>Your GPA is not a measure of intelligence. It's a measure of how you set your goals and how hard you're willing to bust your rear end to attain it. And THAT is why it's important, because it gets your foot in the door. After that, you gotta shine in your interview, but big companies aren't going to waste their time with kids that don't try in college, because who's gonna guarantee they'll try at work?</p>

<p>That said, I do agree with whoever said that it's not a measure of how smart you are, it's a measure of how dumb you are. Just because it's high doesn't mean you're smart, but if it's low it means your stupid. And before you say "oh the geniuses that don't try," I'll pre-empt that by saying if you're a genius, and you don't even put the minimal amount of effort to get a half-decent GPA, then your decision-making skills blow, and you're pretty stupid to waste all that potential.</p>

<p>Um, in Canadian schools you cannot get all A's merely by trying.</p>

<p>Not to mention schools like Cornell, MIT, Caltech, U chicago-tell kids there that they can get A's by just turning in their HW...</p>

<p>At lower tier state schools and some hippy LACs, you CAN get A's by just meeting trivial requirements.</p>

<p>GPAs are so subjective. Some school curriculums are cakewalks while some are more intensive. Would you look down on someone who has a 2.7 gpa from a tough university who tries his hardest? Or would you praise the kid who has a 4.0 going to Bumbleshubble Polytechnic School of Boiling Water?</p>

<p>So what's with the saying "it doesn't matter where you graduate"?</p>

<p>^um, that saying is a lie. Your degree is more important than your GPA. A kid from Yale can get a sick job with a 3.0. A kid from LSU with a 4.0 most likely can't.</p>