<p>I am in a dilemma atm. I have a 3.4 GPA from a small liberal arts school in Physics. I then transferred to an 40ish ranked engineering school and got hammered the first semester due to very poor background in EE. I have now overall 2.81 in engineering. My first semester GPA was like 1.xyz :--). I had to average about 3.3 in the last two years to bring it up like one whole point.</p>
<p>However, no matter how much I try it's almost impossible to get it over 3. I still have one semester left and I will probably finish with 2.9+ overall. Basically I did much better in my advanced EE classes but got pawned on the intro classes due to poor background. I couldn't fig out something stupid as figuring out transresistance of a BJT.</p>
<p>I remember during high school our class valedictorian told me how engineering is one of the toughest major and now I see his point.<br>
**
Basically, what I want to get is do I have any chance at ANY EE grad school? I am not looking for the top school as I don't think I am that smart. What about jobs, how should I formulate the resume? **</p>
<p>For jobs you are fine. Just leave the GPA out of your resume.
Regarding your grad school chances. You are not in so bad shape.</p>
<p>Take an extra year to do research, and get good letters of recommendation.
Take a few more classes to get your GPA up to 3.0 (3.0 is really the magic number).</p>
<p>So if you have >3.0 GPA and some solid research experience, you are a decent candidate for a lot of masters programs.</p>
<p>bump. Thnx for the reply James. Ok, now due to family reason I am asked to look for a job rather than grad school. I need to put some of gpa on resume. I will get BS degree from both school. Problem is how do I word it? Should I just combine them into one and properly designate as “cumulative collegiate gpa,” which takes me to little over 3.1. Or list each separately and highlight the improvement in last 2 years of engineering school? But then it’s too many gpa’s which may give the HR person migraine. </p>
<p>I honestly feel that GPA 3.2 is a true measure of my aptitude, just that I got __ the very first semester in engy school, lol. I was pretty stupid, I guess I should’ve just talked to the dean and withdraw from my first semester so that I wouldn’t face this problem.</p>
<p>oh ok. I only wanted to put some kind of number because I thought what if they discard the resume for lack of gpa? I mean it is a recent grad type of resume. I mean they might ask me for it sooner or later.</p>
<p>But if you really believe that it’s not necessary for me then I suppose I will take your advice.</p>
<p>Uh I’m pretty sure you should put your GPA on your resume for an entry level job…how else will they decide you are a good person to hire besides previous experience (assuming you have some)?</p>
<p>You do not need to put your GPA on a resume. However, if you leave it off people will either ask you for it or they will assume it is very low. Most companies have a hiring limit related to GPA (i.e. a policy that a recruiter cannot hire a student with a GPA below 3.0 is very common). </p>
<p>As far as combining GPAs, you never, never, never do that. In an interview process or on your resume, you will tell me a GPA. I will make a hiring decision based on that GPA. If I offer you a job, it is up to my HR department to perform a background check. That check involves what you told me about your criminal history, your ability to legally work in the US, verifying your employment history, and verifying your educational background (including degree, school, and GPA). If your GPA reported by the school does not exactly match the GPA on the transcript from your degree-granting school, my HR department will immediately rescind your offer*. And when I say “exactly match”, if you have a 2.96 listed from your college, and you put 2.97, you’ll get a call from HR and might lose your job offer. If you put 3.0 (rounding to two digits), you won’t receive a call, just get a letter informing you that you’ve been disqualified for falsifying your resume.</p>
<p>Why can you not combine GPA’s? A straight B-student that spent 4 years at Berkeley is not the same as a straight C-student that spent 2 years at Berkeley but came in with 2 years of 4.0 credits from a community college. </p>
<p>So in your situation, what do you do? You list both GPA’s. Also, list your major GPA for EE when you’re ready to graduate. And do your absolute best to be above a 3.0 at graduation. I can’t imagine that 1 semester can kill your GPA to the point of no return. One semester of a 1.0 GPA plus three semesters of a 4.0 GPA is a 3.25 GPA (assuming the same number of hours each semester).</p>
<ul>
<li>People always ask “what if I interview in Fall 2010 and you offer a job in Spring 2011, but my GPA has changed”. That’s fine (as long as you do not drop below my minimum GPA threshold). But your transcript will still show your cumulative GPA in Fall 2010.</li>
</ul>
<p>Let me add to the above that someones your school will transfer in grades, and not just credits. </p>
<p>All that matters is what is says on your transcript. Before printing your resume, either check your transcript online or request a copy from the Registrar. At the end of the transcript it will list a GPA. Include that GPA exactly as listed there.</p>
<p>No two separate transcript since both are degree granting schools, with not too much difference in difficulty level. I am not talking about CC vs Berekely and combining it that way, which is pretty dumb. </p>
<p>The Engy school gave me credits for like calc and phys classes and stuff but did not take that into gpa calculation. Actually they gave me a credit for one wrong class and made me take a engineering class, which was obviously a disaster. So basically in my engy school I have overall 2.81(90% EE classes), but without that semester it would be 3.3. I still have 1 semester left and can get overall to 2.97 if I get all A’s, but that aint gonna happen lol. And the other school where I did phys and calc I have 3.4, I get the phys degree from there. </p>
<p>I have talked to some Grad school and they said they are interested in the last 60 credits or something which I would clear the 3.0+ mark easily. But obviously job has turned out to be much more needed than grad school atm.</p>
<p>You can’t combine GPA’s regardless of the quality of schools. My example of a CC -> Berkeley is an explanation of why you cannot do that. It doesn’t matter if you transferred from MIT to Stanford, the rule holds.</p>
<p>Grad schools will look at the last 60 hours but will also consider your overall performance. But generally you need more than just a 3.0 to be competitive for good grad schools.</p>
<p>yeah if I had 3.0 overall in engy school I would just list them separately and wouldn’t even be here. But the problem is that 1 semester of 1.xyz grade. Since it is in no way shape or form reflect my aptitude. I kinda blame myself for making it complicated, easiest thing do was to just go straight to engineering school and finish the degree. </p>
<p>For the grad school, last 60 credit grade would be about 3.3, with overall being 2.9+ if you just consider engineering school. </p>
<p>So for the job whats your final take?
Im thinking I should just list something like this. Is this pretty fair?
School A Phys GPA 3.4
School B EE GPA 2.8
School B EE GPA(last 2 years) 3.3</p>
<p>School A Overall GPA 3.4
School B Overall GPA 2.8
School B Last 60 hours GPA: 3.3</p>
<p>By including “Physics” and “Electrical Engineering” in the descriptions, it makes it sound like those are major GPA’s, which are different from overall GPAs.</p>
<p>As an alternative to the Last 60 Hours GPA, you could do “Upper Division GPA” which would just be 300 and 400 classes (or however your school distinguishes freshman/sophomore from junior/senior)</p>
<p>Yes. But there is nothing you can do about it. If you leave it off, there are some employers that will throw out your resume for not including a GPA (they’ll assume it is <2.5). Those that still interview you will ask that question in the interview and might immediately discount you based on that. If you include it on a resume, you can be sure that every company that decides to interview you will already know your GPA and will be fine with it.</p>
<p>Just write your resume to emphasize your co-op experience and de-emphasize your GPA.</p>