I unfortunately ended my first semester with a 3.691 GPA, but I genuinely did try my best. I have a B in Finite, B+ in Microecon, and an A+ in my other classes. I’m worried about how this GPA looks on transfer applications or to job recruiters at Kelley. Should I be so worked up about this? Can I get into a good MBA program with a GPA this low? Do most freshmen at Kelley have GPAs this low, and will it improve over time?
I’m sorry for sounding so paranoid by the way. In high school, I would’ve cried for weeks over a B, so I’m a bit disappointed with my grades this semester.
I think that you have two posts with the same subject. Most likely someone will merge them.
You are doing very well. You should read my response to your other post. Then relax. “A few Bs” is what happens to top students who attend top universities, such as the Kelley school of business. You are doing well. You are also at a great program and do not need to transfer anywhere. Rather than thinking about transferring, instead get to know your professors and over time (probably not right away) get yourself involved in an internship or two.
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The Kelley School of Business is a very good business school. You do not need to transfer anywhere to get a great job after graduation. You are already at a great program at a very good university.
At any great university, almost everyone comes in with close to straight A’s. Many, many students will have been the #1 or #2 student in their high school. However, top schools hand out B’s and C’s. Students who might have one or two B’s in their entire lives prior to attending university will suddenly get half A’s and half B’s, or even mostly B’s and a few C’s. This is normal. There will be a few students at top schools who will get straight A’s, but there will not be very many of them.
“In high school, I only had 2 Bs on my transcript”
Yup. This is normal at a top school. In my personal experience, throughout high school I only had three A’s in math and science classes because everything else was an A+. I got to university, and suddenly math and science classes were hard. I got some A’s, a few B’s, and even one C. This is what happens at a top school. I still got into a great graduate school.
Three A+ grades at a top school (such as Kelley) are impressive.
I think that you are doing very well. I think that you should stay where you are, work very hard, keep ahead in your classes, and do as well as you can.
You will probably want some work experience before applying for your MBA.
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Most students’ college GPAs are lower than their high school GPAs.
Colleges generally take mostly 3.0-4.0 HS GPA students and spread them across the 2.0-4.0 college GPA range. The most selective colleges or programs take mostly 3.8-4.0 HS GPA students and spread them across the 3.0-4.0 GPA range.
For first job out of college, many employers use a cutoff GPA (most commonly 3.0, but could be higher or lower depending on how competitive jobs at that employer are) as part of the criteria to determine who gets an on-campus interview. Graduate and professional programs vary in competitiveness; a high-enough GPA is typically necessary, but not sufficient, for admission to competitive programs.
Indiana University has grade distributions here:
https://gradedistribution.registrar.indiana.edu/
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