<p>For jobs or grad schools.</p>
<p>I don’t see much difference.</p>
<p>It depends on the job and the grad school. For law school, just as an example, there’s a world of difference between 2.65 and 2.9, and the number of years it takes to earn your bachelor’s means nothing at all.</p>
<p>Why presume you will only have that gpa? Take courses expecting to do well and see how long it takes to do well with a course load you can manage. Grad schools typically are only interested in your grades in their field and related ones, below a 3.0 doesn’t sound competitive. Professional schools will care about the overall gpa and again, a 3.0 is not good. For jobs in your major- you should be able to get good grades to have mastered the material. If freshman year was poor consider taking fewer classes and get a much higher gpa from now on. A poor start with a strong finish, especially when the last two years are devoted mainly to your major is better than consistently lower grades.</p>
<p>Ok, so if a Grad school sees that you’ve taken 5 years to graduate, does that look bad on you?</p>
<p>Graduating in 5 years does not look bad. Many people take longer to graduate for any number of reasons.</p>
<p>just to reiterate what erin’s dad wrote–no, it does not look bad for you to take more than 4 years to graduate. i know that lots of comments on this site make it seem as though taking longer than 4 years is some horrific sin (ohmygod! ohmygod!), but that’s not the case in real life. especially if you are working and taking classes.</p>
<p>I can relate - I’m in a similar situation.</p>
<p>Some add a second major, change majors or work and don’t take as many classes at a time. I see where the gpa matters but haven’t seen where number of semesters is asked for. For example- a student could graduate with a math degree in 3 years but would not have had good preparation for grad school, the fourth year can add grad level math courses. A fifth year can add a second major, making the student even better educated.</p>
<p>Many workplaces don’t ask for your GPA. It mostly depends on the kind of job. Grad schools ask for your GPA.</p>
<p>It all depends on the grad school, of course, but 3.0 is a cut-off point in grad programs at my institution. It doesn’t matter whether it took 4 or 5 years.</p>
<p>Unless you can clear 3.0, I don’t see that the extra cost is worth it.</p>
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<p>Wrong. An older engineering major cousin at a well-respected university(URochester) ended up being turned down for dozens of jobs…sometimes having interviews abruptly ended once his ten-thousandth of a point under 3.0 cumulative GPA was brought up back in the late '80s. </p>
<p>While his above 3.0 classmates all had at least one job offer…and oftentimes…multiple offers by the fall of their senior year…it took him another 6 months after graduation to find a job related to his field because of that GPA. </p>
<p>While he has had a successful career since…that experience was such that he makes it a point to all younger relatives/cousins that “You must at a very bare minimum maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA” to avoid having the job hunt issues he and other under 3.0 GPA classmates faced. </p>
<p>Moreover, now he’s in a position to supervise/hire people, he’s found that many other supervisors/HR folks perceive students who cannot maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative average as those who have serious issues with work-ethic and getting things done well in a timely manner. </p>
<p>Moreover, some employers I’ve had had higher GPA cutoffs than 3.0 in practice.</p>
<p>
Not wrong and not right. It depends on the employer. We hire lots of entry level engineers. In fact, two started last week. I have no idea what their GPAs were. Frankly, any employuer who thinks there is a substantial difference between a 2.9 and a 3.0 has a screw loose IMO. A 2.9 and a 3.9? Yeah, that’s a big difference. A 3.9 is a fairly impressive engineering GPA. But you can get a job with a 3.0 and even a 2.6. I know plenty of employed engineers with that type of GPA. </p>
<p>Obviously it’s better to have a higher GPA. If you don’t, you just need to keep looking until you find an employer who doesn’t care about it.</p>
<p>People who post absolutes on here are hilarious.</p>
<p>What about 2.65 GPA for humanity degree in top tier university? Does that make a difference in job hunt?</p>
<p>Sweetie, you are focusing on the wrong thing here. A 2.65 indicates that academia has been a problem. You might double check the college rules on any F’s or D’s because some colleges will allow a student to retake a failed course and substitute the next grade for the F. That can do a lot to help a GPA. </p>
<p>But I would be taking the message that academia was not a great fit. Are you, perhaps, terrified that you won’t be getting a job with your so-so GPA humanities degree? Do you really, really want a graduate degree? Those are two very different questions. </p>
<p>Visualize two different scenarios:
a) You own up to the stumbles you’ve had. You decide the world is your oyster and that you are ready to work and earn your way. No more term papers! No more mumbling professors! Your own apartment! Your own paycheck! You fire up all your talents to land a decent paying job that appeals to you and you never look back.
b) You try to stuff that sad GPA under the carpet. You study like mad for grad school testing. You beg and grovel for a grad school slot. You get there and feel like a fraud because you know the same things that tripped up your grades before still exist in your life. You borrow money for the grad degree. You suffer for 2 to 4 years. You earn your Master’s and . . . still have to job hunt. </p>
<p>I know – there are other scenarios out there. But I think #2 is a typical one for people who are graduating and haven’t a clue on how to job hunt. </p>
<p>You are going to have to learn how to job hunt. If you are from a top tier college, you are blessed. You get to sweep the GPA under the rug and put a glorious bumper sticker on your car and you get to carry a sweet key chain or pendant or tie to your job interviews. George W. Bush didn’t graduate at the top of his class. Neither did John McCain (McCain was close to the “goat” or total last place in his class). Both grabbed a degree and galloped on to many other things than academics. </p>
<p>Your GPA is telling you something. Don’t let the fear of job hunting be the reason you go to grad school.</p>
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<p>Unless the OP comes from a wealthy political family which could support/subsidize him long into middle age or a well-connected Naval family* which could facilitate McCain’s first few rungs in his career(i.e. Getting a highly competitive pilot training slot despite graduating 5 from the bottom of his class)…neither of those men would be good examples for most undergrads with mediocre-subpar GPAs. </p>
<p>Moreover, judging by what I’ve read about McCain, his issue wasn’t so much academics overall as the type of academics he had to study at the Naval Academy…engineering/sciences which weren’t his academic strengths.** During his high school days, it seems his academic interests was more on the humanities/social sciences side. He even toured Princeton as he briefly considered studying humanities/social sciences there…but family tradition…and probably family pressure meant he ended up going to Annapolis and its engineering/science centered academic curriculum. </p>
<ul>
<li>Grandfather & Father were both prominent admirals.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>** According to what I’ve read and heard from older Naval officers…Annapolis in the ‘50s was much more of a narrowly focused hardcore engineering/tech school than what it has become in the last 30 years…a more comprehensive college offering majors in humanities/social sciences. The last is something some older graduates grumble about as a detraction from Annapolis’ mission to train future Naval officers well-versed in the science/engineering aspects of their profession.</p>
<p>I’ll bet there are better examples than the ones I chose. The point being that sometimes one just gracefully accepts the diploma and moves briskly on to another phase of life. </p>
<p>We indoctrinate our children for two decades. What comes after third grade? Fourth grade! The next step is abundantly clear. And suddenly they finish a college degree and the “what next” is a deep unknown black hole. Grad school can seem like a way to avoid being sucked into a well of despair (particularly in these tough economic times). However, the economy is slowly improving and grad school can be for those who are keen to be academics – Suze Orman writes eloquently about how going into debt for a grad degree is a bad, bad, bad idea for most people. Too often they end up searching for entry level jobs with a huge millstone of debt around their necks – or they seem too old and too educated for an entry level spot.</p>
<p>^ ^</p>
<p>One point I was making was given that mediocre GPA…even finding an entry-level job may be a long struggle.</p>
<p>Moreover, name of school may not be as much of a boost if there are too many other classmates/recent grads from the same school/range of schools who have better GPAs and/or work experience who are also unemployed/underemployed. Especially given the recent recessionary economic climate…it’s still an employer’s market for the most part. </p>
<p>OP’s going to need to prepare for a long struggle in the job hunt and to explain that GPA if job interviewers ask about it.</p>
<p>Unless the job requires skills that are different than coursework. For example, many public relations and event organizing jobs require strong people skills, good organizational/calendar skills and a dash of polish or style. A miserable grade in chemistry is irrelevant. </p>
<p>So many times just one F and one D is enough to crash a GPA – and the rest of the transcript may be quite reasonable. One has to lead with the strengths. For instance, I know one recent grad who only counted the grades in his major and correctly stated on his resume something like “3.5 in my major course of study” – which is what interests an employer anyway. A full transcript is furnished upon request – a flattering but honest portrayal is possible.</p>