Hey. I am a 3rd year at GT working on my chemical engineering degree. I have really been struggling at Georgia Tech. I study and do all my homework but some times I procrastinate a lot. This has led me to a 2.23 GPA. Do I still have a chance at getting a good job?
In my experience, neither my husband nor I have ever been asked our college GPA when applying for a job., nor will you submit a transcript indicating your grades. We just list(ed) the degree earned and the college conferring it. And, as a hiring manager, I never requested such information from a prospective employee. If you were asking about applying to graduate school, that would be a different story. Pertaining to your procrastination issue, the first step in tackling it is admitting you have a problem. I suggest making a “to-do” list of things you must accomplish each day. Having it stare you in the face each morning might help you check your items off. If you’re not a morning person, become one. Many people find they can accomplish a lot more, in a shorter amount of time, when it’s quiet and there are fewer distractions. Start setting your alarm a little earlier each day. Do you attend extra review sessions held by your professors/TAs? If not, those might help you gain a better understanding of the material (and, in turn, boost your grades). And, on a personal note, my son was just accepted by Georgia Tech as a chemical engineering major. I would be interested in your comments, both positive and negative, about the program. I hope I gave you some ideas that may help you!
I know several students who were in a similar position to you. They all eventually found jobs in their field, but for some of them it did take a while and they didn’t all have a job lined up before graduation. You may also need to be more flexible with location, but as a chemical engineering major I assume you were not necessarily expecting to find a job in a big city anyway.
A lot of recruiters are looking for students with a 3.0+ GPA, but I would suggest not putting your GPA on your resume. Some places will ask for it anyway and/or ask for your transcripts, but I have known students with low grades who just never brought it up and got hired for postings that listed a 3.0+ GPA as a requirement. Not much you can do to change your GPA at this point, so just focus on graduating and spend some time reflecting on why your GPA is so low and what you can do to improve your time management skills for your future career. Lots of people struggled in school and go on to have great careers and others go on to struggle in their careers just like they did in school, so try to be in the former camp and good luck!
Thank you!
@skimomof3 Chemical engineering is really hard at Georgia tech but by the time you’re done with a class you have learned so much stuff that it’s almost unbelievable compared to high school. The community is great here and your son will love Tech. Thank you for the response.
Hi @JohnAboveAll I don’t know if this will help you but my son looked over this list https://critique.gatech.edu/ and ratemyprofessor before he selected his instructors. He has heard that the course instructor makes a big difference in your grade. It also sounds like chemical engineering is a very harshly graded major at GT. I think your knowledge about the company where you interview, your enthusiasm and attitude will count a lot on your job interviews. If you have spent time doing any projects in or out of class, make sure you talk about that! Best wishes to you!
I forgot to mention that since Georgia Tech is one of the top engineering schools in the world, you will be admired for graduating from this school. So no appologies are needed. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/search?country=france&country=japan&country=switzerland&country=united-states&subject=engineering
@JohnAboveAll Yes you have a chance at a great job.
Government jobs will ask for your transcripts but not likely to hold the GPA against you.
You can get it up a little, too, might be good for your self esteem. It is hard to get a low GPA, but you will soon have a job and not even care at all about it anymore. Its demoralizing, but you are essentially getting a double major in chemistry and engineering, with chem e. Its a very difficult major. Depending on what you do for a job, much of the really mathematical part may not pertain your career, if you choose marketing, sales, or even manufacturing. It all depends on what industry you enter and what job function you perform. Try to get a co op or summer assignment and you will feel better too. There is a lot more to working than problem sets. Your writing skills, and people skills count in the real world.