<p>Nah, but if you put in an application and your current employer is Exxon, that gets more of a look than if it’s Joe’s Tar Shack. People assume the industry leaders have things in order and recruit the best (sort of like how people will give a second look to a resume with MIT in the education section, just because of the school’s reputation). Also, the Exxon employees will have more headhunters calling, they’ll be targeted more by direct competitors, they’ll attend more conferences, and they’re more likely to be in a position to innovate or make a substantial impact on the industry.</p>
<p>Of course, the low GPA guy could take Joe’s Tar Shack from a $3 million operation to a multinational conglomerate and be one of the riches men in the world, but that’s probably not going to happen, and he’s probably better off at Exxon.</p>
<p>Except that Exxon hires plenty of low GPA guys.</p>
<p>For example, the engineers that provide on site support on the offshore oil rigs to help build them (or whatever work that is done on them). You don’t think those are some geeky engineers from college? You can say it’s not theoretical research, but it’s a job that needs to be done, and some college geek probably will get laughed at by the mechanics while the low GPA guy will relate to them and get more work done.</p>
<p>The point is, Exxon hires enough engineers to want both high GPA and low GPA guys. There’s plenty of engineering jobs to go around.</p>
<p>That’s kind of a misnomer. In the employment market the position of rig superintendent will attract applicants of a reasonably similar background. You’ll get the person who did similar work at Backwater Oil Production LLC and a similar guy at Exxon. The name will only help (and is a relatively small part of the equation, but it’s still there).</p>
<p>I think I can agree with what bigtrees was saying earlier.It is not so ‘end of the world’ to have a low gpa as long as it’s an engineering gpa. There are still jobs out there and they still are ‘engineering’ and people can have good and happy fulfilling careers with them and they did work hard for them; so it’s not soo bad. Sure it’s relatively bad in the sense that it’s not going to be a company like exxon or google, but not everyone cares about stuff like that and it’s not suchhh a big deal; I have a friend that graduated witha low gpa and he’s probably as or more happy with his engineering job than most people. It’s still relatively awesome in the sense that at least the OP went to school for engineering and studied hard and can work as an engineer. </p>
<p>At the same time I also disagree and was in awe with the part about just having fun and not worrying; I guess now that it’s in context I can see what was the intention. For instance the fact that ‘your only in college once’ to me should mean that you only have one shot at coming out with a high gpa that will affect the rest of your life so don’t take it for granted…instead of what it appeared to suggest that you should screw around.</p>
<p>Offshore rigs are designed on shore by civil engineers and fluid mechanicists LONG before a petroleum engineer goes out to the rig to supervise operations. Those guys sitting out on the rig are usually going to be every bit as qualified as the guys on land, and most definitely will be some of the top applicants. Rig jobs pay a ton of money and so aren’t exactly a punishment for the weaker applicants. If you think some “geeky engineer” would get laughed at by all the roughnecks on the rig, think of this:</p>
<p>Who do you think the laborers on the rig want at their side in a super harsh, super dangerous environment like an offshore oil rig? Do they want the low GPA guy who MAY be able to relate better to them (which is a big assumption) and who is going to potentially be less capable of handling the tough situations when they arise, or are they going to want a slightly more nerdy guy who is going to keep his cool and make the right decisions when it counts and keep that rig working? First off, Exxon isn’t going to hire people who they don’t think will be a match for their job, regardless of GPA, so this slightly nerdier guy is not going to be offputting to the laborers, just perhaps a little bit more into Star Wars than them. I would argue that the laborers would puck the smarter guy 100% of the time if they had a choice.</p>
<p>A low GPA is not going to permanently keep you from reaching your goals, but it can definitely set you back while you get experience that proves your worth to those highly sought jobs.</p>
<p>In fairness, this happened to be a relatively rare exception like those I mentioned earlier. My brother founded and ran an organization that has now spread across almost all major universities in the Southeast, had three internships, is a very social person, etc. All of these things lead him to success that he otherwise would have had to rely more on his GPA for. </p>
<p>In principle I agree with you, and trust me when I say that Im not that person who thinks people are defined by things like their GPA. I have no doubt that many people can and do end up very successful without such things, and I agree with your explanation. My point was geared towards the have fun now and dont worry about it comment, of which I think you have cleared up.</p>
<p>GP, regarding CC transfers and GPA drops upon arrival to University, would it be more advantageous (career wise) to graduate from a CC, lets say with an engineering tech. degree with a 3.75-4.0, or graduate from University with an engineering degree with a 2.5.? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all saying they’re the same thing. I guess what I’m asking is would someone be better suited in a field where they did good in college vs. a field where they did poorly in college? This is assuming that GPA is some indication of ability in the long run.</p>
<p>A 2 year engineering technology degree from a community college won’t be ABET accredited, so that person will have less earning potential and will qualify for positions that pay less than engineering positions. Now if that person then transfers to a University and graduates with a ABET-accredited engineering degree, it won’t make any difference in the long run as to whether the started out at a CC or started out at a university.</p>
<p>The key is getting a degree that qualifies you to work as an engineer. Engineering degrees obviously do. At some companies, engineering technology degrees that come from ABET accredited schools also qualify. But 2 year CC degrees and ones from technical schools (DeVry, ITT Tech) generally don’t qualify for engineering positions.</p>
<p>As you know, I put more stock into getting the degree than getting a high GPA. The degree will last a lifetime, the gpa maybe a couple years out of college.</p>
<p>Engineering at work doesn’t look anything like engineering in school, so I don’t make a direct translation between skill at engineering at school and skill at engineering at work. The fact that a guy has a hard time understanding Maxwell’s equations doesn’t mean that he will struggle at work.</p>
<p>I was referring to a 4 year, ABET accredited engineering tech. program. I just wasn’t sure if GPA was any indication of a level of success in the work place after graduation. And I’m with you as far as less earning potential goes for the tech. programs. I just wonder if a person who did good in a tech. program, even though they would earn less, would make a better technologist and therefor have a better career at that level, than say a person who went through an engineering program and struggled, and then tried to make it as an engineer.
And maybe CC was the wrong word. Let’s say a lesser state university than GT.</p>
<p>Eng tech degrees are not bad. A number of my good friends are tech majors, EET, MET, IET, etc. The starting salaries, at least here at Purdue, are high – around 50,000. The classes are quite a bit easier, which is nice. I would say that around 50% of the jobs available to engineering majors are also available to engTech majors. However, my advice would still be to get an engineering degree. I don’t know that the difference in GPA would be quite as pronounced as you say [3.7+ –> 2.5], I would say if you can get a 3.7 in EngTech you could get 3.0 in eng. In the long run an engineering degree will probably serve you better.</p>
<p>I was just throwing out arbitrary numbers. I can only speak to my GPA now, not what it will be a year after transfer. But I guess if I spend 2 years at my current school and maintain a 4.0, even if I earned all C’s in the 2 years following transfer, I would still have (roughly) a 3.0. Good to know. I just hear the horror stories and it’s intimidating sometimes. It makes me wonder if I should stay put or give it a shot.</p>
<p>sara, please re-read some of the above posts. From a hiring and recruiting standpoint your engineering GPA will not be determined by averaging the GPAs from the two different schools. Those GPAs are (and should be kept as) two distinct records, with the GPA from the BS-granting institution given a lot more (if not all) of the weight.</p>
<p>I’m a mechanical engineering technology graduate, so I’m familiar with the programs.</p>
<p>Sara, there are very good chances that you’ll make a high skilled engineer at a big company (regardless of your GPA) as long as you can make it through college and graduate. The big thing is - finishing school is the important factor, regardless of how high your GPA is.</p>
<p>If you can finish it, I’d go for the engineering degree as opposed to the engineering technology degree. But either degree is better than no degree at all.</p>
<p>I’m surprised to hear that 50% of enginering jobs are available to engineering tech grad’s. I’ve never once come a across a listing that also listed tech majors as candidates.</p>
<p>I can say, without any question, that there are quite a few. I mean I pulled 50% off the top of my head, but I’m one of those people that consistently keeps up with new job postings through our career site here at Purdue. A good amount of the time the job postings say something like</p>
<p>Qualifications: BS Mechanical Eng, Mechanical Eng Technology, Electrical Eng, Electrical Eng Technology… etc.</p>
<p>The caviat is that these are most likely, perhaps definitely, not the more prestigious design engineer jobs. They will be positions in manufacturing, etc.</p>