I am a chemical engineering student with a drastically low gpa due to personal issues that plagued me for three years of college. I have had such a hard time getting internships that I decided to take an extra year to boost my grades and do a double major with bioengineering (I know it sounds a little crazy but it’s only one more year for me).
What is your advice for someone like me, who has little to no job experience, looking for jobs? People say GPA isn’t that important, but is it? Most companies have a 3.0 cutoff, and I barely am making the 2.5 mark. It is also hard for me to try and get lab experience, as professors often don’t recruit too many students. Any helpful remarks or ideas?
Well higher GPA sounds good. But I’m not sure that double major will help much - take a look at other threads on minors / double majors. Also ask for advise from your campus resources - they’ll know the specific hiring patterns for your school.
Double majors don’t help. They may even hurt a little if the second major is afield of the first major. Leads to questioning what do you really want to do.
Check your college rules. Many have minimum GPA requirements to graduate.
Internships usually have a higher criteria than full time employment. At my company they would advertise as needing a 3.0 for an internship, but any application below a 3.5 was tossed out because we had so many applications for only a few spots.
However, internships are not required to get full time employment; a good GPA is. Two years of straight A’s will just push you above the 3.0 mark. I question whether you can get straight A’s after not really learning the material for the last 3 years.
BTW, you have it backwards; professors usually DON’T recruit students. It is the student that seeks out the professor.
Thanks guys!
DS GPA is closer to 2.5 in ME. Cant get an internship. GPA should be your focus-dont worry about adding a major.
Internship aren’t easy to land with any GPA. There’s a bit of luck for sure. Knowing someone helps, as does school connections, but there are lots of students with solid resumes that experience crickets after filling out lots of applications. Hang on there.