<p>I heard that GPAs in undergrad aren't that important if the student does not intend to go to graduate school. I also heard that most engineers (anyone got a statistic on this?) don't go to grad school. I'm a freshman right now and grad school doesn't seem appealing to me. I haven't chosen a major (at UC Berkeley), but my top choices are probably mechanical, electrical engineering and cs, or something else that deals with physics. If I get an avg GPA, would that be fine? I still want to eventually get a high paying job one day (High paying in my field) and maybe start my own business.</p>
<p>I would not aim for an "average" GPA. Berkeley is not an easy school for engineering or otherwise. If you aim for "average" you will find yourself, in my experiences, "below average." (Not that I am at Berkeley but whatever.)</p>
<p>Furthermore you're only a freshman don't start ruling out options until Junior or senior year, believe me when you get involved in your subject and you find yourself fascinated by various topics in engineering and you'll want to do more and do some real research and become a somebody in your field, you'll actually want to go to grad school. Keep your options open.</p>
<p>It's definitely too early to start ruling out grad school during your freshman year. You just got into undergrad! Lots of things can change in the next 3 years, so you never know. Just do your best and see what happens. </p>
<p>If you plan on starting your own business, you're likely to need a PE (professional engineer) license. I read that in the future that you will need 30 credits beyond your bachelors degree to qualify to take the PE exam, so you might need to go to grad school anyway. If you want to work and go to school at the same time in the future, you could do that also. I should also mention that this change doesn't take effect until 2015 so you might make the cutoff.</p>
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If you plan on starting your own business, you're likely to need a PE (professional engineer) license.
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<p>Well, I think that all depends on what kind of business you are going to start. Most consumer-based companies do not require a PE. </p>
<p>For example, I am quite certain that very few of the Internet companies like Google or Yahoo had any PE's on staff. Let's face it. You don't need to be a PE to run a website. Nor do you need it to write software in general. I am quite sure that of the guys starting companies to create the next new supercool video game, or who are working on the next Linux/Windows release, the number of them who are PE's is pretty close to zero. If you are creating a new gadget (i.e. a new-fangled Ipod), then you don't need to be a PE.</p>
<p>Generally, PE's are highly useful for CivE's/EnvE's, are mildly useful if you are perhaps a ME or a ChemE, but have very little use if you are any other kind of engineer. Very few EE/CS people need to be PE's, and they represent the majority of all engineers.</p>
<p>I urge you to try the best you can, instead of limiting your options. Like you, when I first start undergrad, I had absolutely no intention of going to grad school, I was SO sure of it. I thought, I'm gonna get through this college crap, get a good paying job, and call it a day. GPA doesn't matter all that much since I'm not going to grad school. So I slacked off and didn't pay attention to my GPA. Then, 3 years later, I decided I really wanted/needed to go to grad school (I had 2 more years left at that time) and wished I had worked harder. Luckily, I worked extra hard for the last 2 years and was able to get into the grad school of my choice, but it really gave me a scare.</p>
<p>This is from American Society for Engineering Education:
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While you can work as an engineer in industry or government without a graduate degree, many engineers have found investing in a master's degree to be worthwhile. In addition to gaining more knowledge, you become qualified for positions of greater depth, prestige, and earning capacity. There is no reason, however, to decide immediately upon graduation; only 20 percent of engineering students go straight into graduate school from undergraduate school.
<p>Sure UCB is a good school, but GPA is also a very clear seperator among entry-level job candidates (one of the only seperators).</p>
<p>You might be able to get a job with a 2.5, but if you want to compete for the best companies and job areas, you want to stick out as much as you can.</p>
<p>GPA will definetely help in obtaining your first job. Sure , 10 years from now, it will matter very little. But it helped you get that first job..which helps you get the second job..etc.</p>
<p>No question about it. GPA matters even if you decide not to go any grad school, including business school (for MBA). Many company recruiters will cut a name off the interview list based on low GPA alone. So keep it at least above B average.</p>
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3.0 is the magic number kid...for anything engineering-wise: internship, scholarship, job, grad school, ect..
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<p>clap clap!</p>
<p>below 3.0 won't get u anything. it might get u a job but very hard to get or a bad one. 3.0-3.5 is considered good at berkeley engineering. Above 3.5 is exceptional. You can go straight to phD (i mean u have to apply get be decided) without doing master if ur gpa is above 3.5 or 3.6.</p>
<p>Many large companies hire and pay you on a scale based on your GPA. Higher GPA= more money. After this, raises are based on percentages so that the guy starting off with the highest pay gets the most money (5% of his pay is more than the 5% pay of the lesser paid guy).So now you are making even less than the other guy. Do your homework:)</p>
<p>what the hell. i didnt realize GPA was so important for engineers who choose not to go to grad school. companies really consider it that much?? im not sure i believe everything in this thread, cuz ive also heard the contrary.</p>
<p>I work at a large engineering company and the starting salary for new college hires is based on your GPA. It's broken down into 3 categories, 3.0 to 3.3, 3.3 to 3.6, and 3.6 to 4.0.</p>
<p>Students should not be judged only by their GPAs because some schools can be harder than the others. exp: a student received a grade B from Berkeley, and he could actually get an A if he studied at a easy university.</p>
<p>COMPANIES DO BASE GPA FOR STARTING SALARIES I know this
they even say that ur gpa is this ... you get this much starting. You can negotiate if u want. But it makes sense. Why would a 3.6 get paid the same as a 3.0 ???</p>
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COMPANIES DO BASE GPA FOR STARTING SALARIES I know this
they even say that ur gpa is this ... you get this much starting. You can negotiate if u want. But it makes sense. Why would a 3.6 get paid the same as a 3.0 ???
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I work at a large engineering company and the starting salary for new college hires is based on your GPA. It's broken down into 3 categories, 3.0 to 3.3, 3.3 to 3.6, and 3.6 to 4.0.
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Husband works for world wide company that hires many engineers. This is standard policy. Better GPA= more money.
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<p>The issue, at least in this thread, is that some schools are harder than others. For example, a guy who pulls top grades, or even average grades at, say, MIT, is probably better than somebody who pulls top grades at a low-tier school. So if salary was determined purely by salary, the former guy would be getting offered the same or less than the latter guy. Why is that fair? If that's what's really happening, then you can understand why so many MIT engineering students would rather become consultants or bankers instead of engineers. Why work hard to get into and get good grades at MIT if you just end up with the same salary as somebody who went to a low-tier school?</p>