Do you have to finish engineering degree in four years?

The strength of a 3.2 is very relative to the school attended. It might be low at Brown where everyone seems to be Summa, but high at Cal Poly where the mean graduating GPA in engineering is 2.7. Grade inflation is a problem at some institutions, but at most a 3.2 is nothing to sneeze at.

I was an engineering manager for one of the big aerospace companies before I retired. GPA is more of a gate, be above a certain value (was typically 3.2 or so) and your resume got a look. After that, it was matching specific courses to the skills required for the job being offered and the “plays well with others” personal aspect that determined whether or not you were interviewed/offered a job. So, I wouldn’t recommend spending a extra year in school to get a higher GPA (and I really doubt that taking an extra year actually raises one’s GPA much at all)

The other odd thing about your post is going after an MBA and expecting the company to pay for it. My company stopped paying for MBA’s for engineers a long time ago. You got paid to increase your engineering skills but an MBA doesn’t do much for an engineer, even for an engineering manager. The skill set required of an engineering manager is not what they teach for an MBA. Only when you were in upper management and far away from any real engineering and now managing the business side of the company would the company consider paying for an MBA.

HPuck35 said: The other odd thing about your post is going after an MBA and expecting the company to pay for it. My company stopped paying for MBA’s for engineers a long time ago.

I would say: not my son’s company and if your company stopping paying for the school, it is your company policy. In fact, my son’s company is encouraging the employees to take higher education. Anyhow, I know there are still some companies out there that would pay for their employees education. Then again to each-each own.

Also, my son’s company will pay higher compensation but you have to have GPA at 3.4 not 3.2. Of course, they have jobs for 3.2 GPA but those are ordinary jobs with so-so compensation. You have to be able to distinguish between high paying jobs and others. The name high paying jobs require special treatment like high GPA, goods recommendation, stellar college performance with REUs, internships, research, etc. Otherwise, it is useless.

Can I ask you also? if your old company will pay for high paying jobs (I mean really high paying entry level engineering jobs like $80K a year) with the same 3.2 GPA across the board?..then if any kids coming with GPA like 3.75 with REUs and internships will be paid the same?

He never said they weren’t paying for continued education. He said they weren’t paying for MBAs. They are still paying for other degrees.

eyemgh said: Grade inflation is a problem at some institutions, but at most a 3.2 is nothing to sneeze at.

I would say: Vandy is notorious for Grade Deflation. You can google and find out. I believe grade inflation is being practiced at Yale, Harvad maybe, etc. But, not Vandy. It is hard to study engineering at Vandy because of grade deflation.

So based on your logic, 3.2 at school with grade inflation meaning it will become 3.0 of the school practicing the grade deflation, right?

Anyhow, at my son’s employer, you will get high paying jobs for any entry level, if you have GPA at least 3.4 not 3.2. The key word is: high paying jobs-high compensation. Of course, they have also jobs with so-so compensation and anyone can apply with GPA 3.2. But, to get the high compensation entry level jobs, they require 3.4 and with REUs, internships and good LOR (letter of recommendation). They will check and call or email the professors regarding the LOR. I know some companies do not do that. But some companies do. Then again you have to distinguish between so-so compensation with High Paying jobs.

boneh3ad: thanks for the info.

Colorado_mom: But I’d not extrapolate our experience to say it would be right for others. Every case is different.

I would say: This is healthy discussion and some information in here, I believe will benefit to some kids. In this discussion, I am just trying to tell that if the money is ok (money management for school) then you don’t have to do 4 yrs in engineering; why don’t you extend it to 5 yrs with extra one year to try to upgrade your GPA and getting REUs, intership, co-op, etc. By upgrading your GPA, you can aim for high paying jobs not the ordinary engineering so-so jobs.

Of course, you can get jobs with 3.2 GPA for doing ordinary education 4 yrs college. But, is not better if you have 3.4 GPA (5 yrs schooling) and will have a shot for high compensation jobs? one year will make a huge difference in your life.

What exactly is “high paying” here? Form my experience the starting salaries really don’t vary that much, maybe as much as 10%. Why would you (as other have pointed out) want to spend, in both out of pocket and opportunity cost, 100K or so for a 10% raise? And that is not guaranteed. Just to make the math easy, if one could land a job making $10K more a year, it would take 10 years to recoup.

High paying jobs will pay around $80k or more for entry level jobs in engineering. The so-so ordinary jobs in engineering will pay around $50k. Now that is a huge difference not 10 percent differences, it is $30,000 difference. Well, if you or any kids have good money management and money is not a problem, you don’t need to finish college in 4 years. Why don’t you extend it to 5 years trying to improve your GPA, getting REUs, Internships, research etc.

10 percent raise? that is not a raise. We are talking about starting entry level jobs here. If you have better GPA and have stellar college performance, you are ahead in the game. Would you like to get a good momentum from the start? A good momentum will drive your emotion, enthusiasm in performing the jobs.

Do you think that you can get high paying jobs with only GPA 3.2 and don’t have research, REU, internship? most of the college kids have that credentials. No wonder they will not get high paying jobs. Engineering degree is tough to get and REUs, Research, Internships, Co-Op are all in competition to get. Not every students will get the chance to do any of those; the selection is unbelievable. You have to show all your college credentials then the professors or employers will choose you.

ucbalumnus said: There may be reasons to do a 3+2 program, but it does entail some risks, such as the possibility of non-admission to the “2” school or not getting enough financial aid at the “2” school

I would say: My son did 3+2 at Tulane Physics and Vandy Mechanical Eng. Tulane gave him scholarship and internal internship and REUs. Then he moved to Vandy. It was the same thing that was being given scholarship, REUs, and research. You probably are not aware that Tulane and Vandy are notoriously generous schools in giving money for school. Especially Vandy with no loans policy. Check them out and google the information.

I know some other schools are stingy with scholarships, internships etc because of budget constraint. But, not those two schools. Then again to each-each own. However, if any kids knows how to find such valuable information and good at maneuvering the school money then they will come out as winners with zero debts upon graduation.

Not all schools are created equal when it comes to giving money to students.

If you are making reference to variation across the country and different industries, then you will find that much variation in starting salaries. But it’s not due to GPA directly. Sure, there are some companies that only want to hire the “best of the best” and will pay accordingly. But if you want to go design steam turbines for GE, or wings for Boeing, or engines for GM, I can assure you that your starting salary may vary a little due to your GPA, but not nearly the range of a 30K difference. FWIW, my GPA out of school was 3.6 and it had no measurable effect on salary, but I had the job I wanted in a place I wanted living the life I wanted.

So if you want to pursue those opportunities that want the “best of the best”, then by all means employ any strategy that gets you there.It’s not all that different than the strategies employed by pre-med folks to help ensure they get a spot in med school.

DecideSomeHow: FWIW, my GPA out of school was 3.6 and it had no measurable effect on salary, but I had the job I wanted in a place I wanted living the life I wanted.

I would say: My son was recruited when he was at the last semester sometimes around Feb this year and he graduated in May 2016. He finished cum laud at both schools Tulane and Vandy. After working in that company, he has noticed also a couple jobs for high paying jobs as entry level with requirements of: high GPA 3.5 and above preferably also with experience in school research, REUs, etc. Now why they posted asking for high GPA? the answer is: this is high paying jobs not so-so entry level jobs. This is for aerospace company and they will recruit also kids from MIT, Cal-Tech, etc with same high GPAs.

I don’t know about you with 3.6 GPA but if you like so-so jobs with ordinary pay then it is you. Like I said: to each-each own. But, to others who want to have high paying jobs, you need to raise the GPA as 3.2 GPA will not land you the lucrative high paying jobs at entry level.

Anyhow, my son already has a job with high compensation and his school planning has worked for him, I just want to share this experience. Also, my son wants to get ahead and has plans that is after working 3 or 4 years, he would like to get MBA from top schools like Berkeley, UCLA, Sloans, Stanford, etc. And those schools will not generally admit you with 3.2 GPA in engineering undergraduate.

To say you can’t get a good starting job with 3.2 is simply ignorance of the facts. Sure higher is better, but in most positions there are no steadfast rules on GPA. You’re talking about the challenges of a 2.2 not a 3.2. I’m not sure where got your info and maybe Vandy has rampant grade inflation, but you’re incorrect asserting that a 3.2 grad can’t get a good job.

I am really missing the point of this thread. Your son received $80k starting salary from the aerospace company in California. Congratulations. He is obviously very qualified and this is a typical starting salary for this industry for top applicants. He graduated in five years, because he was in 3+2 program. Many engineering students don’t apply to 3+2 engineering programs for various reasons.

eyemgh: but you’re incorrect asserting that a 3.2 grad can’t get a good job.

I would say: you have to distinguish between so-so entry level jobs with ordinary pays and high paying job-better compensation. I have said: there are plenty of jobs with 3.2 GPA in engineering but to get the high paying jobs (better pay), they will ask you to have at least 3.5 or 3.6 GPA. The key word is high paying job. Those paying jobs are not many while the so-so jobs, they will post quite often.

There are jobs that anyone with 3.2 GPA can apply but not the high paying jobs. I am sorry but you don’t know that in any aerospace companies in order to get those high paying-better compensation entry level jobs, they ask for high GPA as mentioned above, good recommendation, and stellar college credentials like having REUs, internships, research, Co-Op and Govt clearance, citizenship, etc.

Ballerina016: He is obviously very qualified and this is a typical starting salary for this industry for top applicants. He graduated in five years, because he was in 3+2 program. Many engineering students don’t apply to 3+2 engineering programs for various reasons.

I would say: Yes, he is typical like top applications with high GPA and college stellar credentials (REUs, research, internship, etc). You are right the key word is top applicants. So, anyone who has only 3.2 below GPA will not be considered top applicants. let alone, without any research, Co-Ops, internships etc, they definitely will not get the high paying jobs. They can apply to other so-so engineering jobs (there are plenty of those out there).

I know that most engineering students don’t apply to 3+2 programs with various reasons. However, if my son just wanted to do straight 4 yrs college, he still would do it in 5 years to raise the GPA and finding those REUs, Internship, Co-Op etc. One year difference is not much. But, if you have high GPA like 3.6 above with stellar credentials having REUs, research, internships, Co-Op, etc then one year being spent for those is very valuable.

Spending extra one year instead of doing 4 yr college, it is very good if the goal is to raise GPA and want to have better college credentials. Any kids knows that when they graduate college, they are still young like 21 and 22 yrs old. So, extra one year they are still young and will have a shot for better paying jobs because they have good GPA etc.

Better paying-high compensation entry level job is good for your soul. It will boost your self-esteem, have a better momentum and will increase your morale. If you don’t get high paying job, it is ok too but if you can have a good plan for school (5 years instead of 4) then it is worth a try.

Then again this experience is not ordinary. Well, look at FB founder and owner, look at also Bill Gates, They are both are college dropped outs. They are successful now. And they are many successful people have done not because they have followed the ordinary things. Do not count out or eliminate those out of the box experiences. Of course such experience is not for everybody, but you can benefit from it if you know how to play the game.

My son has played the game well. Therefore, upon graduation he is debt free (no school debts at all) and has found a high paying/good compensation job.

This Q and A is going no-where. I would like to conclude that as follows:

4 yrs engineering degree with only meager GPA (3.2 below) and not able to get any REUs, internship/research etc, you will not be able to get better HIGH PAYING job with better compensation. THEN why not trying to finish in 5 years to improve your GPA and get some of those internship/research along the way etc. You can do it in 5 years IF the money is OK and will not bother you to go 5 yrs.

Anyhow, ordinarily by the time you finish engineering in college, you are like 21 or 22 yrs old. And the extra one year if you do it 5 yrs, will not make you look old. After 5 yrs doing engineering you are still young.

Who said anything about a so-so ordinary pay? All I said was that my GPA was not a factor. Way more goes into pay than GPA, which I think was the whole point of this thread.

I am posting this job to show you what I am talking about. REMEMBER if your GPA is only 3.2, you will not get this job.
Especially eyemgh, please pay attention and look at the GPA requirement below:

Basic Qualifications:

•At time of application submission, candidate must have completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Applied/Engineering Physics, Microelectronics Engineering, or related.
•Must have knowledge and/or experience in at least one of the following: RF, Microwave, Integrated circuits, Board design, Digital Design, Mixed Signal Design, Power Electronics, Digital Signal Processing, or related area.
•Must be able to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance (U.S. citizenship is a pre-requisite)

•Able to perform work in an approved environment during specified work hours

Preferred Qualifications:

•Active Secret Clearance
•Have an overall GPA of 3.70/4.0 or higher
•Professional Experience in a related area
•Good presentation and writing/communication skills
•Self-motivated, willing to learn, and interested in working in a team environment.

So, I have proven my case. I am not trying to deter those of you who have only GPA 3.2 and below while they want it 3.70 out of 4.0. Of course, there are jobs that you can apply with GPA 3.2 but not high paying job. Bye the way, this job is still open, current. This is an entry level job and if you have bachelor in Physics (engineering physics), you can apply too.

DecideSomeHow: All I said was that my GPA was not a factor. Way more goes into pay than GPA, which I think was the whole point of this thread.

I would chime in: You are totally wrong. Look at this job requirements (see above)

: •Active Secret Clearance
•Have an overall GPA of 3.70/4.0 or higher
•Professional Experience in a related area
•Good presentation and writing/communication skills
•Self-motivated, willing to learn, and interested in working in a team environment.

So, if anyone has GPA 3.2, I am so sorry that will not be qualified for this entry level job. Even you Decidesomehow, your GPA is only 3.6 and they will ignore you.

But, don’t beat on yourself, there lots of jobs (ordinary so-so paying engineering jobs) that you can apply with GPA 3.2. But the high paying jobs have an edge a bit that require high GPA at least 3.70 see above and figure out for yourself.