<p>I would like to get some parent's perspectives. I just completed my first year of college and I currently have a 3.0 average. In high school, I always had good grades and ended up with a 4.1 average. I was a little mad because I didn't get any scholarships from the University I am attending (University of Texas El Paso) because my SAT scores were too low.</p>
<p>Well there is the background information. I wasn't too worried that I didn't receive any scholarhsip money because since I was little, my parents always told me that they would pay for college. The other bad thing was I dropped two classes. I feel like I wasted money. In high school, I had a few odd jobs. Currently, I am unemployed.</p>
<p>I would just like your opinion. Do you think a 3.0 is good and should I get a job? There are a lot of people I talk to that say they don't work, but some say they do. Should I feel like I am a lazy person? Some people say that students shouldn't work in college.</p>
<p>I would just like to know if they are any other situations like mine out there.</p>
<p>If you're not in summer school fulltime, I think that you should work over the summer. This will be to your advantage in that virtually all employers who hire graduating college students want to hire students with prior job experience. In addition, working a job -- any job -- will teach you valuable skills and give you insights into the work world and into yourself.</p>
<p>During the time in which you were taking fewer courses in college, I think that unless you were participating in a productive EC (by this, I don't mean partying with your frat) or dropped the classes because of illness, you should have devoted your extra time to something like working.</p>
<p>Did you waste money? Absolutely not. You only get one "freshman year" experience in a lifetime! I think the bigger question is where you see yourself in ten years. OK, so you're not going to be the Class of 2009 Valedictorian at UTEP. Big deal. Your 3.0 surely puts you in the top half of the freshman class. That doesn't sound like "failure" to me.</p>
<p>you don't want to overload yourself, but people who work often say they find they are more organized and make better use of their time because they have to. And even if your parents are willing to foot the bill for college its reasonable for you to try to help out some, especially during breaks and summer.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you should be thinking about careers and investigating them now. One year has already gone by. If you spend part of your time in college exploring careers and finding out what's right for you, you'll be set when you graduate. Even if you already think you know your future plans, college offers a great opportunity to get some experience and confirm the field is right by getting internships and part-time jobs.</p>
<p>Too many kids just let the years go by, show up for classes and that's about it until they graduate. Then they expect a job is going to appear. It doesn't really work like that, and now is the time to lay the foundations that prepare you for a career after college.</p>
<p>Did you do your best in your classes--study, do all the homework, attend classes? If so, then 3.0 is just fine. If not, then do all of the above and see how much it can go up.</p>
<p>As for working, you should definitely be working or doing something productive over the summer. It isn't right to lie around, goof off with your friends, and expect your parents to pay for everything. </p>
<p>As for during the school year, to me it depends on whether you can handle work and school. Some people can, and others can't, depending upon course load, difficulty of classes, and personality type. We didn't expect our first son to work during the school year, but we did expect him to work summers. On the other hand, our second son is not working this summer, so he can concentrate on his trumpet (He is a performance major.), but he will be an RA in the coming school year, so that will be his contribution to the cost of college.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies. I am not one of those students who parties or does stuff like that. My goal is to work for a sports company and on my spare time I research different sports companies and sports in general. I do not lie around the house and do nothing. I am always working on a task. I am going to attend summer school full time. I am currently taking a Maymester course.</p>
<p>It seems like everyone has a different opinion about working. What I learned is that the resume just gets you through the door. Even if you have a high GPA and worked, companies will not neccessarily hire you. One example is my cousin. She is going to graduate from high school with a 97 average and she seems dumb every time I ask her something. I think your appearance is the main key and grades won't guarantee you anything.</p>
<p>Just curiosity, how many of you parents pay for your children's college expenses?</p>
<p>I agree with Susan...each student is different. D2 just completed yr 2 of college. We provided her with set amount of $ for each school yr. Yr 1, she worked some on campus. She worked full-time last summer and has TA-d this past yr. And, luckily, received a paid summer research internship this yr. We did not encourage or discourage her from taking the campus jobs...but happy that she was able to handle it with a full course load. She paid half her airfare home during spring break...every little bit helps. :)</p>
<p>I read once that Chapel Hill's "Carolina Covenant" has students working at an on campus job 10-12 hours per week, because of some study that showed that students who worked that amount made better grades that those who worked more or less. (ETA: Couldn't find this tidbit on their website, though)</p>
<p>Since money isn't a huge issue for you, if you are going to work, you might think about doing something that has to do with sports but that might not pay much, like helping to teach a summer clinic or maybe even covering local sports events (10Ks, high school games, etc) for a small newspaper that wouldn't normally have the resources to send someone out. There's always working for a sporting goods store, too.</p>
<p>
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My goal is to work for a sports company and on my spare time I research different sports companies and sports in general.
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As I mentioned earlier, you ought to be getting real-world experience in the field now to see if its really right for you; what one thinks a job is like and the reality sometimes differ, and its better to find that out now at 19 than at 24. Also you need to begin to narrow down what type of work you want to do in a sports company. Just like any other business they have functions from product design, marketing, accounting, human resources, sales, and so on.</p>
<p>Reading about sports companies is a start, but its not enough to be a strong candidate when you graduate. Think of working for a sports company as a job at the center of an onion. Ideally you'd get an internship with one, which may turn into a part-time job during the year or summer. But a layer away is working in the sports field, anywhere at all, and for that the opportunities around you are endless. conyat already gave some ideas, here's a few more. Your college has sports teams and you could work with the sports department. There are probably semi-pro teams in your area, you could get an internship with them. And you don't just call them up and ask if they have interns; "Don't have a program? Ok, thanks". Work with the career center and read thru the book "What Color is Your Parachute" to figure out a plan in which you create an internship by figuring out what you can do for them. This puts your research to work; figure out what they need and explain how you can provide it. Everyone likes free help, and nobody else will be competing for your slot since it didn't exist until you invented it!</p>
<p>On the path you're on now you'll graduate with a degree and little else. Contrast that with someone who has the same degree/GPA, but their resume lists work with the college athletic department, an internship area sports team, and lists former managers willing to provide a rec. Who is the stronger candidate?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your replies. I agree with some of your posts. I learned that the resume just gets you through the door. If you have a good GPA and good references, you are not guaranteed to get a job over someone who doesn't have many references. The most important thing is to know a lot about the company you are applying for. If you don't, the interview board could care less what else you know.</p>
<p>Actually, I think that the most important thing is to have some job or EC experience that matches the skills that the company hires for summer jobs or entry level positions.</p>
<p>If, for instance, one wants to work for a sports company, it probably helps greatly to either be playing, managing or otherwise involved in a sport at a varsity or intramural level or to be somehow involved in sports such as writing sports for one's student newspaper or selling sports equipment or clothing for a store. </p>
<p>Another option would be having done something nonsports oriented that helped you develop skills that would be useful to the company. An example would be if one had coordinated a major service project for one's frat. That could translate into skills that would be useful in doing the kind of community service and marketing projects that most companies do.</p>
<p>Simply sending in a resume with stellar grades, and sending in a cover letter indicating great knowledge of a particular company would probably not be enough. The company would not want to train you from the ground up, but would want you to bring some tangible skills to the table.</p>
<p>
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The most important thing is to know a lot about the company you are applying for. If you don't, the interview board could care less what else you know.
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I'm with Northstarmom on this. Knowing a lot about the company pales in importance with having skills and experience they value. If you have 2 candidates and one knows little about the specific company but has experience in areas they need to fill, and a 2nd person with little experience but encyclopedic knowledge about the company, I'd bet the 1st person gets the job every time. This is the opposite of what you're saying. But it's your life and you of course are entitled to prepare for your future any way you wish.</p>
<p>And BTW I can tell you from years in the working world there is no "interview board" as if its an admission committee deciding who gets into a college. You'll interview with a manager who has a spot to fill and knows what he wants that person to do (eg. skills). You may also talk to some other of the manager's employees so they can see if they get along with you and to ask you specific questions about skills. That's how you get a job.</p>