Is there anywhere I can find the average GPA of engineering students for every college.

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Grade Inflation is a factor in my application process albeit a small one.
I don't want to go to a great school and find out that the average GPA is 2.7 resulting in me needing to work my ass of to get a 3.0 to get decent job opportunities.
Again I'm not talking about the average GPA of incoming freshmen.
I've seeked but I could not find. </p>

2

<p>If you put in some effort, it is not hard to get a 3.0, it’s actually not that hard to do a lot better than that. Average GPA’s take into account the guys/gals that do nothing and pull 2.3’s or even fail. You get out what you put in.</p>

<p>But to actually answer your question, I haven’t seen one.</p>

3

<p>There is certainly not any aggregator site that collects them all in one place. You can try searching the websites of your schools of interest, sometimes they will have GPA distributions tucked away somewhere, but median GPA’s are not commonly released. You could also try contacting the schools and asking them directly, but I have NO idea how well that would work.</p>

<p>I think the vast majority of schools have a median engineering GPA in the 2.8-3.2 range, with most falling pretty close to 3.0… but that is an opinion based in part on my experience in only a couple of schools, but also in part on assumptions and hearsay.</p>

4

<p>Really, though, just don’t get so hung up on GPA. Pick a school that suits you both academically and culturally and work hard and you will be fine. In the end, no matter where you attend, it isn’t the school’s fault if your GPA is low.</p>

5

<p>It’s better to go on the assumption that the top 1/4 of students in each class will get an A. Pick a school where your HS stats put you in the top 1/4 of engineering students, then the only limiting factor will be your effort. It is better to be a star at a small state school than a bottomdweller at a respected research institution.</p>

6

<p>Picking a school where your SAT scores are a little above average should offer you a challenge without swamping you. </p>

<p>If you are asking this question with the idea that you can kind of coast thru an engineering program, you’re out of luck. All engineering programs require a lot of work. There is just so much to learn. If you aren’t being pushed then you are either the next Einstein or in a program that isn’t worth doing.</p>

7

<p>I wouldn’t worry about it, Schools with lower than average GPA’s have a reputation for being “rigorous” (which is a good thing), so recruiters will take that into account. Purdue, for example, has a reputation for rigor.</p>

<p>Unless, that is, you plan on going to med school. Then class rigor could be a problem (but so would be taking engineering in the first place…). :wink: </p>

8

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<p>I wouldn’t adhere to strictly to this. SAT/ACT scores are not terribly strong indicators of college performance.</p>

9

<p>

While there are exceptions, colleges that have a study body full of highly motivated, top students tend to be have a higher average GPA than colleges with less selective student bodies. For example, GradeInflation.com mentions that Stanford and Harvard had an average GPA of ~3.5 in 2005. It is likely significantly higher today. In the same year, West Georgia, had an average GPA of 2.75. Is it easier to be below average at Harvard/Stanford and get a 3.5 or to be close to the top of your class at West Georgia and get a 3.5? Does that mean one of the colleges has unreasonable grade inflation/deflation?</p>

<p>

Yes, if you consider all available stats instead of just SAT scores, SAT M/V scores add little improvement to predicting college GPA beyond the other stats. For example, the Geiser UC study found the following regression coefficients for cumulative 4th-year college GPA among math/science majors:</p>

<p>Math/Physics GPA – HS GPA: 0.35, SAT V: -0.01, SAT M: 0.02, SAT W: 0.11, SAT II M: 0.12, SAT II 2nd: 0.09</p>

<p>HS GPA was by far the most influential stat. Math & verbal SAT I had a negligible contribution. SAT II tests and SAT writing had a significant contribution, but notably less than HS GPA. When considering all of these stats as well as education, income, and API; Geiser was only able to account for 26% of the variance in college GPA. With just M+V SAT, he was only able to account for 13%. Graduation rate followed a similar pattern. Note that the vast majority of the variance in GPA could not be explained by GPA and test scores.</p>

<p>The Duke study considered even more variables, including things like the application LORs and essay. It found the following variables had the greatest contribution to dropping out of an engineering major, ranked from most significant to least significant. + indicates increases changes of dropping out. - indicates decreases chance of dropping out. Note that SAT scores had a lower contribution than all measured variables except for having undesirable personal qualities (desirable person qualities increased chance of dropping out of engineering).</p>

<ol>
<li>Being female (+)</li>
<li>HS curriculum (-)</li>
<li>How easy/harshly college classes graded (-)</li>
<li>Application essays (-)</li>
<li>HS achievement (-)</li>
<li>Being an URM (+)</li>
<li>Being Asian (-)</li>
<li>Application LORs (-)</li>
<li>SAT score (-)</li>
<li>Application desirable personal qualities (+) </li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“http://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/ROPS.GEISER._SAT_6.13.07.pdf”>http://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/ROPS.GEISER._SAT_6.13.07.pdf&lt;/a&gt; .
<a href=“http://public.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/grades_4.0.pdf”>http://public.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/grades_4.0.pdf&lt;/a&gt; . </p>

10

<p>I think a better question to ask is…</p>

<p>“What is the net attrition rate for the engineering program?”</p>

<p>Historically, this has been a very high number for some engineering programs, and it tends to reflect outdated teaching methods, not rigor.</p>

<p>Tufts was able to drop their engineering attrition rate from 20% to 0% in the early 90’s through curriculum changes.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.prism-magazine.org/jan06/feature_powerful.cfm”>http://www.prism-magazine.org/jan06/feature_powerful.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Faculty and Research | The ILR School”>Faculty and Research | The ILR School;

<p>UMaryland Baltimore County has also been a leader in retention stats.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.prism-magazine.org/mar12/feature_02.cfm”>http://www.prism-magazine.org/mar12/feature_02.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here are some examples of recent initiatives. Note that UMaryland had a 66% attrition rate before beginning their program.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.prism-magazine.org/sept11/feature_01.cfm”>http://www.prism-magazine.org/sept11/feature_01.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;