<p>What is considered a "good" GPA for an engineer? I've heard of kids getting mostly getting around 3.0"ish" or below as freshmen engineers but A&S kids getting 3.5+. </p>
<p>Also, how do these typically "lower" GPAs affect graduate admissions? </p>
<p>Anyone have good answers? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Rumor goes if you score below a 3.0, to get into any grad school other than the school you graduated from, you need to take the GRE and score exceptionally high.</p>
<p>Grad School: GRE math above 750+ with a GPA of ~3.5</p>
<p>Employability: GPA of 3.0-3.5 will not get your resume thrown in the trash, usually.</p>
<p>What exactly is the GRE? Is it necessary for graduate school? </p>
<p>Also, I just looked on my school’s website and Dean’s List/Honors for our engineering school is 3.25+ whereas A&S is 3.5+.</p>
<p>GRE is sort of like the SAT or ACT, but for grad school…</p>
<p>I would like to think the GPA is dependent on where you go. Hopefully a 3.4 at Michigan isn’t seen as the same as a 3.4 at Michigan Tech or something.</p>
<p>3.0 is usually the cut off for employer recruiting. Smaller companies may hire with lower GPA.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/837569-if-you-really-worried-about-grad-cs-engineering-admissions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/837569-if-you-really-worried-about-grad-cs-engineering-admissions.html</a></p>
<p>ok i’m just glad i didn’t bomb my first semester of freshmen year. from your responses it looks like my first semester isn’t anything to worry about. thanks.</p>
<p>I think you can have a lower gpa than 3.0 and still find a good engineering job.</p>
<p>For a job at a good firm, 3.2+ is usually very helpful although if you have a 3.0+ I still think you shouldn’t be out of the running. If you have a lower GPA, exceptional work at a less prestigious local company could get you a job at a good but not amazing company like GE, Microsoft, Exxon-Mobil or IBM. I know people with sub-3.0 GPA’s at Microsoft although they aren’t the majority. There are sometimes some very decent opportunities for fresh graduates with low GPA’s, although these exceptions are probably only made for people from “prestigious” schools like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Caltech, or CMU SCS/ECE. </p>
<p>I would say if you are going for an MS with funding or a Ph.D. at a top school, 3.6+ would be seen as respectable although if you went to a top undergrad like Harvey Mudd College or MIT, 3.2 would probably be enough (given you have a reasonable research profile and GRE’s). If you are good enough to get an NSF Grad Fellowship or Hertz, I don’t think a low GPA would cut someone from a top Ph.D. program but most such recipients have excellent GPA’s and research. For an MBA program, 3.3 should be enough although GPA is not as important as work experience and leadership.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to hijack this thread…</p>
<p>but on a related note, when you guys are referring to gpa, what gpa is do they look at??</p>
<p>I am a community college student and my current gpa is 3.94 (with a “major gpa” - courses like Calc I, II, III, DE/LA, Physics series etc. - of 4.00). Keeping my fingers crossed that I am able to transfer into UCLA (or Berkeley - long shot 
), I’m not sure I will be able to maintain that gpa. Will they average the 2 gpas??, or is it the gpa in ONLY JUNIOR AND SENIOR ENGINEERING COURSES that is considered??</p>
<p>I can’t say it’s true in all cases, but usually transferred credits do not count in the GPA calculated by the school you transfer into- you just receive the credits. It should be very easy to determine the policy which applies in your case by simply contacting the school you plan to attend.</p>
<p>victor, PS- on your resume and on any job or grad school application, you will report institutions attended, years of attendance, degrees received and usually your GPA for each (i.e., separately for each institution). At this point it is completely up to the reviewer or interviewer as to how to consider what are essentially two (or more) separate records- there are no uniform rules or guarantees. However, my first-hand experience as well as common sense would suggest they will weigh your last (and final degree-granting) institution much more heavily than any prior institutions.</p>
<p>Once you transfer, your CC gpa is no longer used at all, for anything. Assuming you get into UCLA or Berkeley, all of the recruiting events you take part in will be through their department, and no university that I’m aware of considers a grade earned at ANY other institution when they calculate your gpa [credits transfer, grades do not]. The only gpa you’ll ever list again will be what you earn at your university. A good gpa at a CC is nice in order to get into a good university, but as far as getting a job is concerned it makes no difference.</p>
<p>Over 50% of the offers I’ve seen rescinded were due to GPA inconsistencies. Students average, round, and do all sorts of fudging. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Contact your degree granting school (the one with the name on your diploma) and ask for a transcript.</p></li>
<li><p>Write your GPA exactly as it is written on your transcript. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If it lists “2.99” and you know it’s a “2.996”, don’t round to 3.00 or 3.0. I’ve seen many offers rescinded for that. Also, if you went to a CC and earned a 4.0 for two years, then went to a university and earned a 2.0 for two years, do not average that to a 3.0.</p>
<p>Now, in addition to your GPA (which must be exact), you can include self-calculated metrics, such as a Major GPA (classes only from your major school - so if you’re an ME major, any class that starts “ME”), a Core GPA (all classes specifically required by your degree, so for an ME this would include Calculus classes), a Math and Science GPA (any math or science course), a Minor GPA (courses used for a minor), and GPA’s from other colleges (though it gets a bit annoying when someone studies abroad every summer and lists every college they took a class from).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think thats some very good information us high school students and college students can take away from. thanks for the heads up.</p>
<p>G.P, Lets say I applied to a company in September with a 3.55 gpa. Then bad stuff happens and I am left with 3.44 at the end of that semester. In between, I got an offer after consequent interviews. They now require a transcript. What do I do?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with that - you submitted your correct GPA at the time and your transcript will show that. I mean, it’s not like you’re psychic, right?</p>
<p>Many companies will ask for a grade update after the offer is accepted to look at your current GPA, but that’s usually just a formality. Many more companies don’t even ask for that. </p>
<p>The most common causes for rescinded offers (that I’ve seen):</p>
<ol>
<li> GPA inconsistency</li>
<li> DUI after offer accepted</li>
<li> Change of major</li>
<li> Failure to graduate on time</li>
<li> Failed drug test/background check/credit check</li>
</ol>
<p>I would have assumed the last one to be higher, but people very rarely fail the drug test (I guess they know it’s coming), most people with background check problems (again, usually DUI) will be honest during their interview, and your credit has to be really, really bad to fail that check.</p>
<p>Thanks weldon, purduefrank and G.P.Burdell for that information. It is v. helpful and clarifies everything perfectly!</p>
<p>So, to expand on this a bit further, does this mean that a TRANSFER student would be at a disadvantage gpa-wise (when trying to get a job or say, applying to grad school) because the gpa would only be that of the Junior and Senior Year (and these courses are typically much harder upper division courses), whereas someone who started as a Freshman at a 4-year university would have the advantage of “diluting” their gpa by the easier lower level courses taken the Freshman and Sophomore years?</p>
<p>victor- first, while I agree in principal with purduefrank, I would not be so categorical in saying your CC experience counts for nothing. Since you have to account for your time spent and report your CC education anyway, I don’t think it hurts to state your GPA also, while you’re at it- it might do you some good if it’s very high although I agree it won’t count for as much. Maybe GP, who seems to have more experience than I do reviewing resumes and conducting interviews, can weigh in on the best strategy. More importantly though I think your assumption about upper level vs. lower level GPA is not generally valid. On an average basis, anyway, I think GPAs remain fairly constant through all four years of engineering school (although individual results vary). This is because, although upper-level courses may be “harder”, you are now into your major courses (hopefully your strong suit), and further you will have the option of electing a number of your courses as opposed to fulfilling a lot of lower-level requirements. You also know a lot more about how the game is played.</p>