@ucbalumnus I don’t consider it grade deflation at all. It’s simply getting the grade you deserve. But IMO, there’s still some inflation at Wellesley. It just doesn’t show as much compared to most other LACs and the Ivies, which still have extreme grade inflation.
My eldest graduated with a 4.1 from MIT (3.1 equivalence). He’s gainfully employed doing what he loves (data science), but he knows that if he wants to go back to school for a PhD (stats or ML), his GPA won’t do him any favors. He doesn’t care where he would go, though, so it’s not a big deal.
I know someone who almost didn’t graduate from college, had a pretty lousy GPA, and took a meandering way to med school. After some years of work experience and several rounds of med school apps, he got into med school, and is now a doctor. He’s a brilliant guy, but he needed time to mature. I’m glad a low GPA isn’t an automatic deal breaker for med school.
Also, college tends to get more difficult as time goes by and grades aren’t as easy. So it is imperative that one front-loads the GPA a bit to have some wiggle room by senior year.
I can explain it very easily. My S graduated in the top 25% at u mich with a 3.7 When I went to school, top 25% was a 3.2
It’s a matter of context. HSs have so much variation in grading and different weighting systems that a 3.3 without knowing anything about the HS is not meaningful. However, I’m assuming you are talking about colleges. Different colleges have different degrees of grade inflation/deflation and various other relevant factors to GPA, but it also depends on what you are planning to do after college. For example, if a GPA cutoff is used for resume evaluation, it’s most likely to be 3.0. 3.3 and 3.9x both meet the cutoff, and after meeting the cutoff, hiring decisions generally focus on other criteria, such as experience/internships. However, if you plan on applying to medical school, the difference between a a 3.3 and 3.9x GPA becomes far more important.
It depends what they want to do after college. In reality, I know of no one at any level (other than very 1st) that even cares or speaks about GPA. That said, if you are in a competitive situation, (med school, top grad school, Big 4 or consulting interview, investment banking interview, etc.), you really do need at least a 3.5 to gain access to the game. Mckinsey isn’t talking to the 3.0 student when they can talk to 4.0 kids all day long. But, minus those amazing situations, a 3.3 won’t hurt you.
Trust me, in a few yrs, virtually no one will care.
I regularly scour employment ads looking for internship opportunities for my college daughter. Many well-known companies and institutions list 3.5 as their GPA cutoff. However, there are also plenty of other places that list 3.0, so I don’t think a 3.3 is the end of the world. Just don’t drop under 3.0 unless you’re in engineering or CS.
A 3.3 is just fine!! Heck I’d kill to have that GPA in college now!!! Well there was always so much pressure to always have to get A’s in school ever since that grading style started in 3rd or 4th grade. Perhaps students want a higher GPA to have a more competitive shot at being accepted to medical school or grad school or they need a certain GPA for a scholarship, etc. Really could be anything. Having a 4.0 GPA in college is one of the most difficult things to do and it almost means you had a lot of easy or light classes in your schedule, its not possible to do that there is going to be some challenges along the way! Sometimes I am barely surviving classes with C’s and I’ll take them if its a very tough class, etc. 3.3 is still good work though! I never was one that thought I needed all A’s because I’d be stressing out about them all the time!
High schools don’t prepare students for college. The more they inflate grades the better they look to the state. In college, a 3.3 is a very good GPA and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Cs get degrees right?
Cs get degrees, but Bs (GPA >= 3.0) improve chances of getting job interviews for the first job out of college*, and As make it more realistic to apply to medical to top 14 law schools.
At some schools, grades higher than C may be necessary to get into a popular major whose enrollment is capacity-limited.
*According to NACE, 70% of companies use college GPA as a screen for applicants from college, and 60% of those use a 3.0 cutoff GPA. See http://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/the-attributes-employers-seek-on-a-candidates-resume/ . So the 0.02 between 2.99 and 3.01 GPA can make a huge difference in interviews offered.
I really was just kidding and I don’t subscribe to that approach at all. It was just a saying I heard a while back. I actually work in higher education and know the importance of a good gpa. Where I work, we’ve had several Jack Kent Cooke scholars recently and yes, gpa was partially key to their success.
I am beginning to think that a C is the new D, and therefore and at some schools students aren’t allowed to earn lower than a B in courses in their major. A friend was just commenting to me she was surprised that her freshman son had gotten an A, A, A- and a B- and that wasn’t good enough for the Dean’s List, as Dean’s List at her son’s school is 3.7, not 3.5 as it was in the olden days.
The “Cs get degrees” is a very popular statement at the engineering school my daughter attends. A 2.5 GPA is the most common GPA requirement to keep a college scholarship.
Many of the larger scholarships do require a 3.0 (or even higher) GPA to renew.
Also, according to NACE, 70% of employers do initial screening of new graduate resumes by GPA, and 60% of those use a 3.0 cutoff GPA (probably around 20% higher and 20% lower). So that means that, for a given college GPA:
4.000: will not be screened out by GPA
3.000: will be screened out by GPA by about 14% of employers
2.999: will be screened out by GPA by about 56% of employers
2.000: will be screened out by GPA by about 70% of employers
Of course, passing the GPA cutoff does not mean that the applicant’s resume will pass other resume review criteria to get to an interview, or that an applicant who gets to an interview will be hired. The GPA cutoff is just one of many hurdles a new graduate applicant must pass to get hired. But a 2.x GPA student is likely to be rejected before the interview by GPA at a far higher rate than a 3.x GPA student.
It all depends on context - major, school and hiring company, grad school. Silicon valley companies will interview students with a 3.0 in CS from CMU or EECS from Berkeley. However a 3.0 from a lesser known school in any major is not going to do well at the top law schools.
When there is grade inflation and classes are not graded on curve, 3.3 is ok but not good anymore. It’s good if you didn’t study much at all and still got 3.3. Since my high school gpa was 3.0 with skipping school 30% of time, anything over 3.0 looks good to me.
FYI,
“New freshmen who are Colorado residents, recipients of the Mines Merit Scholarship and are determined through the FAFSA to be Pell Grant eligible will receive a scholarship to cover the remaining balance of tuition and fees for four years. Students are required to complete 24 credit hours (fall/spring combined), have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 at the end of the spring semester and remain Pell Grant eligible to retain the scholarship the following academic year. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for further information.”
Not sure why you needed to correct what i said reference GPA requirement for scholarships.
3.3 is a great gpa unless you want to be treated as if you have a higher gpa.
You mentioned that “a 2.5 GPA is the most common GPA requirement to keep a college scholarship”, when it is not obvious that that is the case.
Among the scholarships listed at http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21089443/#Comment_21089443 , the ones listing renewal GPAs most commonly list 3.0, though some list higher ones, and none lists a lower one.