Yes, but in many such cases, classes may still be overcrowded, or even with additional restrictions on registration for those classes.
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Both first year engineering classes and specific major choosing are both appealing, and I should be able to keep a 3.5 gpa, so I donāt think either is a deal breaker. Being locked out of a major I want to take is very scary to be honest, and ME is considered a popular major.
Earning a 3.5 GPA in college is significantly more difficult for most students than earning a 3.5 GPA in high school.
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Is it the course difficulty, or is it the different style of teaching?
All of it. Many students drop a full grade point in engineering in college. Then sorta work their way back up. Many schools like Michigan was you to have a 2.0 to continue on. There is a reason for thatā¦lolā¦ Lots of schools avg GPA for engineering is around 2.7ā¦ Again, thereās reasons for that. Most companies have a 3.0 bar to reach while more selective ones want closer to 3.5ā¦ Depending on the school itās just not an easy task and while becoming part of the school community (getting involved), some want to work etc.
It depends on the kid and probably the school somewhat. Both sons graduated with over 3 5. One was a top high school student, the other not at all. And both very social and involved in college.
Colleges in general take 3.0-4.0 HS GPA students and spread them across the 2.0-4.0 GPA range. More selective colleges may have higher college GPAs in general, but even the most grade-inflated colleges have GPAs generally lower than the HS GPAs that the students had.
Also note that first year college grades tend to be lower than overall college grades, as new frosh adjust to how college differs from high school (for example, students are much less supervised than in high school, and must therefore be better at self-motivation and time management than in high school).
A bit off-topic but I have to say: I dare someone to go find a better responses to this question somewhere else. Iām often floored by the knowledge, care, and thoughtfulness that goes into the responses on a CC thread. I will now pick myself up off the floor (again). What a community we have!
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Itās also the pace in which the classes move and the depth that is covered. Also, there isnāt a rehashing of what is learned in class but figuring out how to use the information you know to solve novel problems under a time constraint. Itās not unusual for means on exams to be in the 40s.
A 3.5 for an engineering student is not a no brainer.
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Took the words right out of my mouth. I tried talking to my dadās friend whoās a civil engineer, wouldnāt take his eyes off the tv and answer my questions. Itās amazing how so many people here take time and effort to answer so many questions, even though we donāt know each other. I havenāt seen this kind of community online ever.
Yeah, Iām a little worried that Iāll go from high school classes of around 20 where the teacherās 2 feet away, to huge lecture halls with hundreds of kids. Itās a huge change, at least for me. Is this only common at large schools like UCB?
Jeezā¦2.7? Wow, I never wouldāve expected such a drop.
That is the average graduating engineering GPA at Cal Poly. My son graduated with a 3.7+, but the year he did, another student graduated with a 4.0. It made the news. It happens about once a decade. For a ME at Cal Poly 3.5+ is rarefied air.
The key is to go to every office hour, all the review sessions, join study groups, do all the assignments, extra credits, etcā¦ Even if you think you know everything and are confident, go anyway. If you start being a little shaky, go to the help rooms for tutoring.
At Purdue all the big classes have mandatory small group recitations. They help reinforce concepts, answer questions, etcā¦ Each dorm has in building help rooms with tutors for all the freshman courses. There is a ton of support but students need to seek them out.
I think the average engineering GPA is something around a 2.8/2.9 so not that far off from what eyemgh is reporting at Cal Poly. 3.0 is the goal for most engineers.
That said, my D and her friend cohort in honors are all in good standing (3.5+) so it is possible. Just nothing like getting a 3.5 in HS.
In general, lower level courses will be larger than upper level courses, since students in many majors may take the same courses (e.g. calculus, linear algebra, physics, etc.). Upper level courses generally get smaller. However, class size does vary depending on the size of both the school (mainly for lower level courses) and major (for upper level and major-specific courses).
At research universities, the larger lecture delivered by a faculty member is typically supplemented by smaller discussion or recitation sections with TAs. A student can visit any of the instructors (faculty or TA) during their posted office hours for additional assistance (best done at times other than just before or just after a test).
Many colleges have class schedules where you can see the class capacity and number of student enrolled (which will change during the registration period as students sign up).
Does the college GPA also in turn impact job offers?
Indeed, it can. Some cut at 3.0. Some at 3.5. The highest Iāve ever seen was 3.7. That doesnāt eliminate all options tough and only is applicable to your first job.
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Employers commonly use GPA as one of the criteria to prioritize college applicants for interviews. Commonly, this is done with a cut-off GPA, most commonly 3.0 (though some employers may use higher or lower cut-off GPAs).
Indeed, the frequency of the 3.0 cut-off GPA means that the difference between 2.9 and 3.1 GPA may be greater than the difference between 3.1 and 3.5 GPA for getting job interviews out of college.
Wow. This thread has given me a lot to think about. I guess current students werenāt joking when they said engineering is the hardest major. Thank you everyone for all the insight and advice, I really appreciate it!
Here are some links to college web sites showing grade distributions by course:
Remember, college students were mostly 3.0-4.0 HS GPA students, more selective colleges have mostly 3.5-4.0 HS GPA students, and the most selective college have mostly 3.8-4.0 HS GPA students.
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