<p>My son just completed his first semester at a top 15 university. He is majoring in engineering and hopes to go to law school. The concern I have is this... his GPA for first semester was 2.925. Given the competitiveness of the field, I am not sure how to interpret this GPA. I have tried to find the average GPA for freshmen at the university he attends but to no avail. Does anyone know how to find such information? Does anyone know what is considered to be average or above average GPA for an engineer? I realize it is only 1st semester but I am concerned that he may not be doing as well as he needs to in order to deal with the future coursework, etc. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I am almost as dumb as an oyster and not terribly (or even moderately) experienced with engineering programs or avg. gpas in top unis but my gut tells me that your S had a good first semester. College is an adjustment and early on many students do significantly worse than high school. Grad Schools are often looking for their admitted students to have GPAs in 3.0 and higher range so that your boy is almost there in this most transitional of semesters looks to me like a good sign. </p>
<p>At UC orientations they tell the kids and parents that early on they can expect some Bs and even some Cs from their former 4.0 students. So I would say that your S is where he can be expected to be at this point though there is clearly room for growth.</p>
<p>What I wouldn't have done for a 2.9 for first semester of college. DD1 doubled my first semester grades last year.</p>
<p>it's not anything to be overly concerned about considering it's only freshman fall, but GPA is very important in law school, and they don't distinguish much between major (a 2.9 in psych is essentially the same as a 2.9 in engineering to law schools). </p>
<p>also, i'm not sure which university you are talking about, but a lot of top 15 schools' grades are really inflated. in the crimson awhile back, they mentioned that 50% of the grades given at harvard are b+ or better. thus, depending on the school, your son's GPA <em>may</em> be lower than the typical freshman, which is something worth exploring without making him feel bad (after all, 2.9=B, more or less). was he just taking really hard courses, or does he need help with writing or time management, etc? also, have him talk to his adviser or, better yet, someone in the engineering dept.</p>
<p>He took an intro to chemistry class in which he got a C. He also had a B- in an upper calculas class (his ap score allowed him to skip two lower classes). He took an engineering analysis class and got a B and a engineering design class with an A. My concern deals more with how his grades stack up for a first semester freshmen. I cannot find any information about the average gpa for 1st semester engineering students, so I really have nothing with which to interpret his gpa. I just want to have some confidence that he is not trying to major in a field that he may not be equipped to handle. Thanks for the reply</p>
<p>My daughter's doctor who is "head to toe" a Yalie(BS, MD) said to my daughter not to take too many honors courses in her freshman year because from his experience, he spent the rest of his undergraduate playing catch up with his GPA.</p>
<p>At the two U's in my moniker the average engineering GPA is somewhere around 2.6-2.7. This is 'after' about 40% of those who start switch out of engineering to another major and it's considerably lower than the average humanities GPA at the same place. The engineering schools just grade very tough and like to have 'weeder' courses which have a negative effect on GPA. </p>
<p>However, the GPA average will vary depending on the particular school and how they happen to grade. A 3.4 at one might be a 2.7 at another. </p>
<p>It's best to graduate above a 3.0 if possible since some companies use that as a cutoff for new grad recruits (a short-sighted rule IMO). Others don't though so there are still plenty of opportunities for those with < 3.0.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that engineering is a tough major, much tougher than the humanities, and there can be a bit of 'shock effect' especially in the first semester. I wouldn't sweat the 2.9 GPA. There are probably plenty of his classmates who 'wish' their GPA was that high.</p>
<p>I think he's probably got a pretty good GPA for engineering, but I've heard the same thing about law schools - they aren't going to make allowances for majors. I don't think though those are terrible grades for a freshman.</p>
<p>My D is in her 2nd year of engineering at UVA, she has told me that the average GPA at her school is a 2.7 in engineering. Look engineering is really tough, this past semester has really done her in, staying up till 3 to 4 am on the average. The first year was a little easier for her, not really sure why maybe because she had not declared her major yet. She is majoring in computer engineering, she was a straight "A" student in High School so when she received a B the first semester she about freaked, this semester she received 2 B's, was happy when she got that. I suggest that you take a deep breath and relax, from one stressed out engineering parent to another, he will be fine.</p>
<p>I agree with previous posters -- that gpa is not bad for a freshman in engineering, but it will definitely be a problem for law school. While I have seen students enter Harvard Law after graduating from our state school engineering program, they generally have a 4.0 or close.</p>