<p>how do companies know your gpa though? i guess you have to send official transcripts?</p>
<p>Well, when applying to internships and/or jobs, they'll know your GPA by what is (or isn't) on your resume. It's an unspoken rule that if your GPA is not on your resume, then it's below a 3.0. Also, some jobs will require an official transcript.</p>
<p>I've yet to see anyone who is coming out of college have their SATs matter. When talking to several advisors at my university's career center, it's recommended that only information from recent (as in college) years be put on your resume. Plus, many of the graduating seniors I know have resumes that make no mention of this. (Yes, they're employed with various jobs, some at the Big Four.)</p>
<p>I highly doubt that, at 21/22/23, an employer is really going to care about an accomplishment that was had at 17/18, when experience and the things you did at college matter so much more.</p>
<p>Is it wise to forgo a certain school(a cheaper and better school) for a lesser institution to get a higher GPA? It's the difference between UMich and MSU--literally. Does prestige and grade deflation account for anything?</p>
<p>I'm not even sure I'll be able to maintain a 3.0 GPA where I'm going.><</p>
<p>And no offense to MSU students and alumnae--I would like to go to your school, and not just because its academics aren't extremely unforgiving.</p>
<p>Alchemy, it's my opinion that if you're aiming for grad school, go to an easier undergrad and get better grades. If it's for a job, the more well-known school would be a plus.</p>
<p>I'd like to get a job right out of college but I don't know how realistic that is. I'm Literature, Arts, and Sciences right now. I don't see myself in any technical fields like engineering, business, or education, so I think I'll end up in graduate school.</p>
<p>I guess if you're trying to claw your way into some high profile job with all the other overachievers, it's something they would look at, along with which school you went to, what awards you won, stuff like that. </p>
<p>For the vast majority of people, I would imagine that, if you've got no relevant job experience, they'd take a look at it just to make sure that you've done reasonably well and you didn't graduate by the skin of your teeth or something. But only if it's your first job, and only if they don't have any other means to evaluate you (and only if they haven't already rejected you because too many other people with actual job experience and qualifications applied before you). They care about whether you can actually do the job, not what kinds of fancy numbers you can write down on a stats sheet.</p>
<p>MSU and Macalester College(though it isn't easy I should be able to do reasonably well in the environment) are looking good right now. I'm under the impression that UMich isn't great for undergraduate GPAs, being an elite public with no grade inflation. Anyone know the average GPA?</p>
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<p>Many i-banks, consulting firms and a no. of other corporations (such as retail banks) do have cut-offs for SAT scores.</p>
<p>GPA is only one of the factors that gets you a job. A job is only one of the ways you can get rich (not a good one though). Getting rich is only one of the factors that might make you happy. </p>
<p>My point: ask any successful/happy people over age of 30 or 40 how important has their college GPA been to their achieving happiness in life. Their answer will most likely be it is not very important.</p>
<p>Some times we should try to remove ourselves a little bit from the rat race to get the big picture.</p>
<p>UM's average UG gpa is about a 3.2 which is average for big schools.</p>
<p>You know who gets the best jobs?
-And no, it isn't the Chinese kid at the library 24/7.</p>
<p>It's rich kids who do little to no work and have pre-existing connections. People hire people, not a data crunching machine. MOST people get jobs through personal references. </p>
<p>If you're not rich, try to keep your GPA above a 3.2 or so and then spend the rest of your time networking. A low GPA can hurt you, but a high GPA doesn't automatically help you, unfortunately.</p>
<p>The average is a 3.2? Oh, I'm not worried at ALL then. I thought it was in the high 2's</p>
<p>Depends which school Alchemy. At my school average is 2.8 and Deans List is 3.0.</p>
<p>^same with mine</p>
<p>Hehe, so you can feel my pain wutang. About having to tell yourself that if you graduate somehow with a 3.5 you are set :)</p>
<p>just another anecdote (hearsay from kids mom): she said kid didn't get a job an investment firm of his choice due to not having gpa above 3.8 (disclaimer-could also be personality, summer intern choice/or job,family connections)</p>
<p>has anyone else also been told "after your first job, your grades don't matter anymore." basically when you apply for second job, they base it on experience/first job, no longer grades. anybody confirm/reject/qualify this?</p>
<p>wutang is right. america is on a class system. the rich stay rich, the middle class stay middle class. people don't really break the system, unless they're extraordinarily lucky.</p>
<p>^That's why I don't understand all this fuss over prestige. Traditionally, the IVY's were just a pedigree for the already wealthy. A way to become more cultured, study latin, support the arts...</p>
<p>Talk to my high school history teacher who went to Yale and grew up poor. The best job he could get after grad. with a 3.8 in history was as a Boston public school teacher...Sure, he learned a lot, but nobody came up to him w/a suitcase full of money. He could have gone to law school, but that would have required more time and money (which he didn't have).</p>
<p>Bush grad. with a 2.3 in History from Yale and became president...</p>
<p>Really puts it into perspective. </p>
<p>And also, I may be wrong about this, but isn't GPA kind of useless in college? I mean, you could always go back and retake a class or two and bring it up exponentially. It's not like High School where you can only make up a class if you fail it. I wouldn't base much on GPA because someone could easily go to the nearest community college and re-take, like, Freshman Math or English and bring their GPA up a couple points.</p>