The SAT was and still is one of the most stressful tests I have ever taken in my life. I had to study and take it five times just to raise my score by 250 points. There was way more homework in high school than college. More studying in college, but more homework in high school. You can have a 2.5 GPA from a top college and still graduate and get a job because employers don’t care about GPA. If you have a 2.5 in high school you can basically guarantee you won’t get into a respectable school. And now the average GPAs top colleges are looking for is over a 4.0! And add on top of all of that: bullying, helicopter parents/teachers, eight hour school day five days a week. High school is stressing young people out, and while college was hard, high school was way worse.
Well look on the bright side… it should be smooth sailing going forward, right?
I hope DD’s high school is harder than college, because that would mean she was exceptionally prepared. We shall see.
This is your truth, but not everyone’s to be sure. I’m thankful that my daughter attends a top ranked LAC, but she did not attend a top ranked high school. So there is no real comparison of the academic instruction or workload. Very different. I agree that the stress level on high school kids is over the top, especially when you throw in the cruelty of some social circles.
The good news is that it sounds like you made it through.
Many employers do care about GPA and may have a 3.0 cutoff for internships.
I sit on a lot of hiring committees. I always look at the college transcripts, even in the courses that aren’t the areas of expertise associated with my discipline. I have often used poor grades to argue against a candidate making the short list of people to interview. There are always more than enough qualified candidates, so the committee is generally happy to have an objective reason to cut out an applicant. Hate to break it to you, but poor grades do matter. Decent grades are pretty much expected, and I’d never hire someone who didn’t mostly earn As in our field.
As a manager at the company I worked for I’d never see your resume if your GPA was below 3.0. That would be because HR would have thrown it out and never passed it on. Grades in college DO MATTER.
Even though the absolute minimum GPA was 3.0, a more realistic minimum to get hired was more like 3.4 or 3.5. We had enough applicants to be picky. And we did require that we get a copy of your transcript to get hired.
The basic question is that we would be hiring you for the knowledge you bring to the table. If you didn’t pick up that knowledge in college, why should I hire you?
For any student reading this, a 2.5 GPA in college will close just as many doors as it would in HS. Grad programs won’t be an option and employment will be extremely difficult. As noted above, a GPA below a 3.0 wouldn’t even be read at H’s company. Companies want hard working people who have pushed themselves.
zackxoxo:
You are confusing me. First you say, in the original post, that you can have a 2.5 GPA in college and it doesn’t matter. Latest post you say that “poor grades do matter” and that you’d “never hire someone who didn’t mostly earn As”.
So which is it? I have my opinion.
Guess it depends on where you go to college. My D definitely LIKES college better but she would never say it’s easier. She’s working WAY harder in college!
If you find your college too easy, then either the college isn’t a good academic fit for you or you were just coasting and didn’t make an effort to challenge yourself. Unlike your high school days, your parents and teachers aren’t around to motivate you. As a college student, you’re supposed to be independent, and independently motivated.