Second Year, Low GPA, But Have Experience

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hi

I’m just finishing up my sophomore year majoring in Industrial Engineering with a GPA of around a 2.8. I’m not going to make any excuses for my GPA because I know all of this is my fault and I am extremely determined to make the absolute most of my last two years.

However, although I have a less than stellar GPA, I currently hold an executive board position at my school’s chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and I’m very involved in volunteering with the School of Engineering at my university. Additionally, I worked on a project last semester for one of my major classes which we entered into an international competition where it won third place. We will be going to Nashville to give a presentation on our project during the national conference for the Institute of Industrial Engineers. I am also a paid research assistant on a study in my department that deals with traffic regulation. Also, I will be interning with the Port Authority this summer as a part of their Operation Standards Division where I will be doing work that is very relevant to my major. Lastly, I am also yellow belt certified in the Lean/Six Sigma processes.

I wanted to know that if I manage to get my GPA up to at least a 3.0 by the end of senior year, or if I stay around the GPA I am now by the end of undergrad, will I be in a good or bad position to get a well-paying job after I graduate. Or what kind of companies should I target given my profile.

Thank you all very much for your help!

2

A 2.8 is not bad. It isn’t great and is almost certainly a bit below average for your school, but with a 2.8 you should be able to get a decent engineering job. Whether or not that job will be “well-paying” depends on your standards and a whole lot of other factors - at the moment, I think you could expect to be in the average range for new industrial engineers, I doubt you could expect to be much outside that range but anything can happen.

Certainly improving your GPA will help, as there are some companies that will have a 3.0 minimum GPA requirement. The fact that you already have an internship and some decent experience in school will help, and if you continue along that road it will greatly improve your job prospects. I think it is too early to talk about targeting companies, you still have a long ways to go before that can really be answered.