<p>Most of colleges require C or C- to graduate, so B is not bad. But after reading a lot of internship applications I've seen require 3.0 and even 3.5 GPA’s, hence I am confused as to whether or not a B is a good score, as a B would be insufficient to apply for the 3.5 GPA requiring internship and would be the minimum requirement for the 3.0 internship. As you know, internship -> real job.</p>
<p>Perhaps it depends on the school one attends, but I know that at the college I attended, and at the college my D attends, a B average would not be impressive and would exclude a student from many opportunities. When I was hiring for positions at my last job (a large international financial services firm - I was looking mostly at entry-level financial analysts), we did not consider applicants with a 3.0 GPA. Most successful applicants were well above 3.5.</p>
<p>Are you asking about a single B, or a B average? Big difference.</p>
<p>The old adage, “Cs get degrees” is true, however, as you’ve already seen - a mediocre gpa (even a B average) will not get many the things they want:</p>
<p>A co-op position
Retention of merit aid
A competitive edge in employment
A shot at a master’s degree…</p>
<p>You get the picture.</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> grade inflation](<a href=“http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/]Undergraduate”>Undergraduate grade inflation | FlowingData)</p>
<p>according to this chart, a 3.0 average would be just below the national GPA average (which is also on an upwards trend). So, crudely, no - a 3.0 shouldn’t expect an above-average job/internship. However, then we get into semantics which are often bigger than the numbers, so idk man I don’t think this is a question any of us can answer for you.</p>
<p>P.S. above, a 3.0 TOTALLY has a shot at a master’s, occasionally even at a PhD. Not at a competitive programme, maybe, not funded, maybe - but pay, and you’re good.</p>
<p>It’s all relative, isn’t it?
Of course a B is good. It is better than a C and a C is average.
But it isn’t great, it isn’t exceptional.
If a student had all A’s but one B that student would likely say the B was bad.
But if he had all C’s but one B, he’d say the B was good.</p>
<p>And I think your field of study may have an impact on the grades. There’s a lot of talk on cc about how difficult it is for an engineering student to keep a high GPA. In fact, I’ve seen parents get recommendations not to go to the school where the scholarship needs a 3.5 for renewal – too likely that the engineering student won’t get there. </p>
<p>As far as internships, aren’t they kind of like the work world? It helps to know somebody, regardless of your stellar or not-so-steallar stats.</p>
<p>ordinarylives - It always helps to know someone. </p>
<p>However, our company hires interns from all over the country and it is very competitive. Gpas are reviewed and are often the determining factor.</p>
<p>As others have said, generally no. Where I go most major classes are curved around a B- and upper levels around a B+, and a 3.0 is about average. A 3.0 is not a terrible GPA, but it’s certainly not what would be called “good.” A single B in a class isn’t bad though, but a B average implies that you’re getting several grades below a B.</p>
<p>
Not at Dartmouth. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1495659-many-dartmouth-courses-have-median-grade.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1495659-many-dartmouth-courses-have-median-grade.html</a> ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for responses.
College grades are curved, average students get score “B”, So the real world only offer the intern/job opportunities to the top half?
Can it explain why 50% of the college graduates have no major related jobs?</p>
<p>My S is a MechE major at UCBerkeley and a B grade is considered very good. His overall GPA is just below a 3.0. He was still able to land an excellent paid internship this summer with a highly regarded company the summer before his junior year. If studying were his ONLY interest in college he probably would have been (slightly?) above a 3.0 but his research assistant job and fraternity work takes up a fairly significant portion of his free time. I think there are many prospective companies that look for a well-rounded applicant.</p>
<p>My friends daughter goes to a state university and has an A average. School accepts 90percent of applicants. It’s an easy school. It really is.</p>
<p>My other friends son went to a much tougher school, and had a B average. Acceptance rate was 30percent.</p>
<p>Are you saying the A average from an easy school is more valued than a B from a tough school?</p>
<p>makes me sad a Gpa is the make or break for some jobs. My daughters school has a two year requirement for foreign language and a core curriculum, so often kids take classes that aren’t easy for them. Guess they will be punished for not going the easy route.</p>
<p>Depends on where you get your B’s. If you are a STEM major, and get a C in the distribution classes for Art and Foreign Language, then those can be more easily overlooked than getting a C in Calculus.</p>
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<p>those jobs for which a GPA is make or break won’t even look at applicants from schools with 90% acceptance rates.</p>
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<p>Or will only consider them with graduates from more competitive schools if their SATs or grad stat scores(GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc) are within their minimal acceptable desirable ballpark. </p>
<p>For instance, someone with an A average, but an SAT of 1180 would be considered out of the running unless they can provide much more impressive grad stat scores to compensate.</p>
<p>I think people doing hiring looking at sat scores is lazy hiring. As well as Gpa.</p>
<p>Most of recruiters don’t ask SAT scores for internship. That belongs to high school. But a lot of them do ask college GPA.</p>