<p>The stereotype of the college jock who slides through four years of college taking crib courses existed long before the NCAA set any minimum GPA standards. And the current NCAA minimum GPA of 2.0 applies only to incoming freshmen. Getting a 2.0 in high school is not a particularly high bar. </p>
<p>Once enrolled, the NCAA minimum GPA for continuing student athletes is based on each school’s minimum GPA and is not higher than the school itself requires. Thus, don’t blame the NCAA for any fallout caused by the existence of minimum academic standards. Those standards are coming from the schools themselves and apply to all students.</p>
<p>Assuming there’s no scholarship minimum, 2.5. Why? Gives enough of a cushion in case a student tries something new and isn’t successful. Why not higher? Again, assuming there’s no scholarship to maintain and no tough to get into graduate program, life’s not all about grades. When was the last time somebody needed yours?</p>
<p>You know the old joke, what do they call the student who graduated last in his (or her) med school class? “Doctor”</p>
<p>We don’t have a minimum, but their scholarships do. So far, grades have not been a problem.</p>
<p>My sister who has 2 kids full pay at top schools insists that they have a 3.0 or they will come home. I’m sure if there were a semester where one of her kids worked his fanny off (her sons are ChemE and Comp Sci), yet still got a bit under 3.0, she’d be fine with that. However, she’s not paying for them to party hardy. Period. </p>
<p>I think this issue comes up more with kids who might be <em>tempted</em> to screw around on mom & dad’s dollar because they have no fear of losing tuition money.</p>
<p>And, obviously, if your child is normally a 3.0 student, then it would be unreasonable to withdraw support for some occasional slippage…especially because of a particularly hard course which is not your child’s strong point.</p>
<p>But, if your kids are typically “straight A high stats students” it’s not unreasonable to have some reasonable expectation.</p>
<p>Gives enough of a cushion in case a student tries something new and isn’t successful.</p>
<p>I can see negotiating that ahead of time. If there’s a particular class that is not req’d, but would be a positive experience (and may result in a C), then the student and parents could discuss this ahead of time.</p>
<p>Goal setting is an inexact science. Set the goals too low and you get sand bagging and lowered expectations. Set them too high and you get no buy-in and failure. </p>
<p>Son attends a technology institute, is pursuing an engineering degree and must maintain a 2.9 to retain his merit scholarship that pays for everything sans tuition. </p>
<p>We agreed to pay for 4 years of tuition with an expectation he graduates with a 3.4 GPA or higher.</p>
<p>Loss of merit scholarship from the college would trigger a loss of our financial support. For our situation a 2.9 would mean our son was not engaged or otherwise incapable of performing to his potential.</p>
<p>D1 had a full merit scholarship to a good LAC, but she wanted to go to Cornell. We agreed that she would contribute to tuition with her summer jobs, and she would need to maintain a 3.0 GPA. When she decided to join a sorority and to live at the house, H told her that she could live at the house if she were to maintain a 3.5 GPA. As it turned out, most firms she wanted to interview with all had minimum 3.5 GPA requirement.</p>
<p>D1 is a smart kid, but not a genius. All her grades were hard fought - studying with right kids, going to office hours, getting extra help from TA, doing extra work. In the beginning, she put in the extra effort because of our agreement, but later it was because of her concern for her future. When most freshmen were given some leeway of getting adjusted to college (partying and taste of new freedom), D1 knew she still had to answer to us (yes, helicoper parents).</p>
<p>We are all on CC, so lets just be really frank, what could you really do with a 2.5 or 2.0 GPA, even from the best college? Would it get you into a grad school or a job?</p>
A lot of students get hit with the reality check the first semester. They usually use that reality check to their benefit from that point forward.</p>
<p>
It can be difficult knowing what the kid ‘normally is’ when they’re first starting college. This varies with the particular college and the particular major along with whatever course load and course mix they selected. For students at the higher level colleges it’s like cutting out 95% of their HS class and now having the remaining 5% (or whatever) make up the entire distribution of grades. The ‘A’ is no longer always so easy to attain. This is especially true at some colleges for some majors (engineering/CS come to mind) where there’s a certain amount of weeding up front.</p>
<p>
Believe it or not a student with a 2.5 can still get a good job.</p>
<p>oldfort, When I got hired they didn’t even ask me what my GPA was… and I work for a very large reputable company. I had over a 3.0 and would have told them had they asked, but it didn’t even come up. Now, that was 5 years ago which means it was before the economy went sour… so maybe they are asking these adys… </p>
<p>I do know they did a full background check and contacted each of my previous employers and asked many questions about my qualifications. They seemed much more concerned with what I had “done” as opposed to what I “knew”.</p>
<p>I review applications. For NEW grads, one of the first things we do is look at their transcripts. There is much competition for jobs…we get 200 or more applications for each position. We do look at grades for new grads. If someone has extensive experience in the field, their grades don’t matter as much as what they bring to the interview process via their experience. </p>
<p>However, in my field, which requires a masters degree to get licensed, a student would NOT get accepted into a masters program with a GPA that is below 3.0. In fact, even a 3.0 GPA would make their admittance to the grad programs problematic. In my field of study, students at most schools must maintain a 3.0 GPA or they are asked to leave the major. </p>
<p>So YMMV with regard to the GPA minimum as it relates to grad schools, job prospects and the like.</p>
<p>there was a mom who posted a few days ago. Her D is at a top LAC on merit scholarship. The D is in danger of losing her scholarship because of too much fun with friends. She’s only taking like 13 credits. A few times the D had called the mom while obviously intoxicated. </p>
<p>I think it’s these kinds of situations that parents fear. I don’t think they fear a child who is really putting in a good effort, but emerges with a C in something. I can’t imagine pulling support for good honest effort.</p>
<p>But, when phone records show that the child is texting nearly 24/7, and/or you know that the kid hasn’t missed any campus parties, then you can (and should) implement a GPA minimum. </p>
<p>I, too, subscribe to the “we only expect you to do your best” parenting style.</p>
<p>Fendergirl, We never ASK about GPA at the interview. The transcript is looked at as part of the application screening process. If you sent your transcript to your prospective employer, it is very possible that they looked at your courses and GPA before they even granted you an interview. That is what we do. We don’t ONLY look at GPA but it’s one thing that is considered during the paper review of applications.</p>
I might. There’s more to a person than a GPA. Firstly, I’d be hiring in the engineering/CS field where the GPA tends to be lower in the first place. Secondly, I’d take a close look at the internships and other relevant experience. I’d also look at other criteria such as whether the person worked a p/t job throughout college which may have had an impact on GPA (not every student has the luxury of the parents paying for everything so they don’t have to work). I’d see if they happened to take a difficult minor, such as chem, along with a difficult major, such as CS, which might have impacted the GPA somewhat. I’d also pay attention to the student’s ability to interact and their basic social skills. I’ve seen plenty of high GPA applicants who I’d never hire because of their lack of being able to interact and communicate effectively and I’d hire someone with a lower GPA over them. Given all of the variables a student with a lower GPA might be more capable than one a half point or more higher.</p>
<p>The tie-in with the thread is that there’s more to a student and their college experience and abilities than an arbitrary GPA number.</p>
<p>GPA is not an arbitrary number. It is a great indicator how serious someone took his/her job for 4 years. Do I think someone with a 3.8 would be a better worker than someone with a 3.4 or 3.2, not necessarily when you take other things into consideration. But a 2.5 tells me that person, at best, was not good at balance his/her life, at worst, didn’t really comprehend the material.</p>
<p>In two summers straight, I offered CS summer internship at my firm. I recruited from 2 well known CS schools. I saw plenty of resumes with 3.2+ GPA, good work experience, (co-op experience at GS, JP…), work study, ECs…I started the internship program because I was contacted by those schools’ career center to allow their students to work for free in order to get some experience. In case if anyone should wonder, I was able to get funding to pay those interns 65K prorated (I don’t believe in free labor and our legal required us to pay minimum wage).</p>
<p>Interesting . . . Personally, never had an employer ask for my transcript, although I was once asked to take a test at an interview. My brother, the community college graduate, had a similar experience. 400 applicants for 7 very good positions. Paper and pencil test where lots of college grads cleared the hurdle (and he barely made the cut-off), but then a practical test, where those “college boys” (as he calls them), “don’t know thier back ends from their elbows.” Yes, he got the job. It’s all anecdotal, but if we look at this logically, even in this economy, there are good jobs. We all seem to work at them. IF the only people hirable for the “good” jobs are college graduates with high GPAs, well, wouldn’t unemployement be a whole lot higher, even, than 9.whaterver%? No, I think those students who finish degrees, even those who finish by the skin of their teeth, are employable. </p>
<p>As someone said earlier, 50% of the students are in the bottom half of the class. And while I wouldn’t expect a top college’s grades to resemble a normal curve, I would expect a pretty fair share of C+ students who are quite competent.</p>
<p>S1 has interviewed with several companies known for hiring CS folks. He around a 3.1 overall (though 3.92 in CS and 3.4 in math), but has not had trouble getting interviews.</p>
<p>What <em>has</em> been interesting is the interviewing process itself. Once one gets through 2-3 levels of phone interviews for screening, the actual in-person interviews are a series of timed programming assignments with folks in various departments. They are looking to see how he performs under stress, evaluating problem solving skills, etc. Sounds pretty wild to this Luddite, but S LOVES them. Seems to play to his strengths.</p>
<p>This is drifting off subject but the hardest interview I ever had was with a software engineer. We went into his office which was floor to ceiling white boards. He had a problem on one of them and I spent the next three hours trying to solve it. When HR came to get me, I still wasn’t done… I was sure that I had bombed the interview… later, when I was hired I asked him about that day - he said it was a problem that he had been struggling with for weeks and that he figured if he needed to waste time on an interview he would get something out of it!!!</p>
<p>The problem-solving interviews seem to me a good way to weed out who really understands how to use the tools he/she has learned. Also gives a chance to someone with less-than-perfect grades but innovative ways of approaching things to demonstrate those abilities.</p>
<p>YDS, to get back to your question, As and Bs (even if the flavors of Bs are sub-3.0) are ok. If you have busted your butt for a C, we get that. Ds, not acceptable. Haven’t dealt with any Fs yet.</p>
<p>I’ll post as a public service announcement to the parents – make sure your kid knows that he/she can withdraw from a class if necessary, but that they need to maintain enough credits to be FT if they are getting FA. Know when the final drop/withdrawal dates are. S1’s HS did not allow students to drop/change courses, so had never considered withdrawing from a tough class a possibility.</p>
<p>And please, please, please let your kids know they can come to you if they are struggling. You may be able to talk them through it/get them thinking of options to rescue themselves/minimize the damage before the semester is over.</p>