<p>^Ok. i did some more research and changed my mind. College is indeed a must. However, I think major is most important, then GPA, then school. </p>
<p>Unless you attended Harvard, princeton, or Yale, that is.</p>
<p>In another topic I mentioned importance of GPA for first job for engineers.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16521274-post12.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16521274-post12.html</a>
And engineering is one of the most employable majors. </p>
<p>Majors like political science or anthropology are not very employable, especially in the current economy. And especially with GPA 2.1.
Unless you have parents or other relatives who are already saving a spot in a family business.:)</p>
<p>When my daughter graduated from high school in 2012, one of her friends decided to join the Navy. He passed his ASVAB test in October or November 2011 and signed papers right after that. He had to wait for his initial boot camp til November 2012. His recruiter said that joining the Army (Navy, Airforce, even Marines) became very competitive, and waiting lines are long because a lot of recent college graduates are desperate to join. They have their student loans to pay and cannot find any job.</p>
<p>Graduating with a 2.1 is a joke. Good luck even if you do have a degree from UT. I don’t think employees want to scrape the bottom of the barrel from UT in their hiring. At least not the people I’ve spoken to.</p>
<p>Ya ya and Franko5150, I totally agree with you guys 
</p>
<p>But do you think what one poster said is true? That after your first job, employers won’t ask about your GPA or major, but instead would ask you where you attended school?</p>
<p>In another topic I mentioned importance of GPA for first job for engineers.
UT Austin vs. Texas Tech University Engineering
And engineering is one of the most employable majors. </p>
<p>Majors like political science or anthropology are not very employable, especially in the current economy. And especially with GPA 2.1.
Unless you have parents or other relatives who are already saving a spot in a family business.</p>
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</p>
<p>Marines has always been competitive because they only want the very best. That Navy and the Airforce are competitive make sense, since they have very low death rates. I too have an english major friend who turned to the military for aid to pay loans. Luckily for him he left after his freshman year. It’s sad how college hurts kids more than help them. 
darn those greedy uni administers that charge so much for worthless degrees!</p>
<p>Hmmm…this is a 3 year old topic.</p>
<p>Might be a 3 year old topic, but it’s an always relevant topic. I do agree after your first job, your GPA probably won’t matter, but good luck getting hired with a crappy 2.1.</p>
<p>Annoyinggirl
“Even Marines” was about the highest death rates.
All these military branches don’t need too many officers with political science, anthropology, or similar liberal arts degrees , so many of these desperate graduates enlist as privates (competing with high school graduates). </p>
<p>What is your major?
If it’s business, finance, or something that requires excessive networking the name and prestige of your college matters. Otherwise, no.</p>
<p>[Best</a> Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060]Best”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ)</p>
<p><a href=“http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703369704575462023026245534[/url]”>http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703369704575462023026245534</a></p>
<p>Wow, and UTexas isn’t even on the list the first list.</p>
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<p>Thank you. Never really understood why people always get mad on this site when old but relevant threads get bumped. After the first job, which would matter more: school or GPA?</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>Well, I’m going to do Applied Stats (emphasis in economics). It is officially named as “statistics” by the school, but IMO it def is an applied stats degree. Not even close to pure stats. I don’t know exactly what i want to do with this degree. I just find economics very interesting and not completely useless in terms of job prospects, and the stats would supplement it by telling employers that i have quantitative skills and am smarter than the average cookie. I also find Economics degrees in UG too fluffy, and would rather take a mathematical approach to it, versus just memorizing and agreeing with prof’s opinions on random economic theories.</p>
<p>Hopefully I’ll be able to pull a 3.0. Perhaps after some experience i could do some entry level stats job if I tell them that i’m willing to take much lower pay. If my degree turns out to do little for me in terms of job prospects, at least i can use the knowledge gained to make forecasts and make better decisions throughout my life. Oh, and since my parents make so little money, i don’t have to pay for college.I used to attend a middle tier UC (UCD), but i transferred out because i didn’t know what to major in and i had to take out 5k in loans per year. Now i’m at a cc and intend to transfer to SF state.</p>
<p>Annoyinggirl: you asked what would matter more, school or GPA. While both are important for their own reasons (which I feel like is almost comparing apples to oranges), most employers are not going to hire someone straight out of college with 0 work experience. What you learn in the classroom vs. learning how to apply what you learned in real life is often very different. You need internships to show that you have experience working in the field, which shows you know how to apply what you learned in the real life.</p>
<p>The thing is, most good internships are very competitive and you need a great GPA to nab one. I have a family member who works pretty high up in a well known organization managing almost everything that deals with ArcGIS (Geographic Information Systems) and he always tells me the same thing: experience is key. They turned down a job applicant with a PhD in GIS from UCLA and hired someone with much “lower” education qualifications (I hate to say “lower”, but this applicant had a masers or just a bachelor’s I forget) instead because the applicant with the PhD had absolutely no job experience.</p>
<p>I graduated from UC San Diego and I can tell you that yes, while no employer directly asks for your GPA, it makes your resume or CV stand out much more if you are able to put “GPA: 3.5” underneath your listed school.</p>
<p>Lastly, 5k per year in loans is nothing. Education is an investment, but it’s up to you to make sure you set your path and make that investment worthwhile. However I completely agree with your decision to take classes at a CC first and then transferring to a 4 year (that’s what I wish I ended up doing).</p>
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<p>Thank you very much for your advice. 
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<p>I feel that it’s best to avoid loans unless you’re majoring in something very very employable, such as engineering or cs, and are confident that you can get 3.0+ in it. Another advantage to attending a less prestigious school is that you would be competing against less motivated kids, and so your chances of getting a 3.0+ would be higher.</p>
<p>lisiatc
I was much more surprised not to see Harvard / Princeton etc on the list. The only Ivy is Cornell and only because of engineering.</p>
<p>Here is another link I bookmarked.
[Best</a> Schools by Major - 2013 - 2014 College Salary Report](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014/best-schools-by-major]Best”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014/best-schools-by-major)
No Ivies by major (except Cornell again). But Ivies are all on the top in the Full School list. So I often wondered what majors and what jobs? Investment banking for everyone?</p>
<p>Annoyinggirl</p>
<p>Statistics is one the most employable majors. Statistics could be applied everywhere so you can work in any area. It can be sciences, it can be business/marketing/advertising, it can be education, it can be government… The list is endless.</p>
<p>I cannot answer most of your questions because it all depends on what you are doing, if your major requires professional certification, if you need graduate school or just fine with undergraduate degree etc etc etc…
It also depends on the situation in the current economy. We are in recession. If economy recovers the jobs prospective will be better.
But ceramium gave you a very good advice about internships.</p>
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<p>i’ve heard (from a man very experienced on the subject) that if you attend a top tier Ivy league (princeton,harvard,yale), you can major in anything you want and still get employed in many lucrative jobs (not just investment banking). Anyone know if this is correct? I think it makes sense because if you got into an Ivy, it means you were pretty much one of the brightest in the nation when you left high school, whereas top state schools (the UC’s) rank you to your peers at your high school.</p>
<p>
Thank you very much
i doubt i would continue my education career after undergrad because you dont’ get grants after your first undergrad degree. I’ve heard most the jobs in the field of stats aren’t geared towards people with just undergrad degrees. :(</p>
<p>But oh well. That i would get a job is good enough. Don’t need to make serious bank or anything. :D</p>
<p>
I am not experienced on the subject, but no, this is not correct. At least now during recession.
<a href=“Recent College Graduates Wait for Their Real Careers to Begin - The New York Times”>Recent College Graduates Wait for Their Real Careers to Begin - The New York Times;