I’m a computer engineering student and i have a 2.9 GPA yes I know its bad but I would like to poinr out that I have only just finished my freshman year so I have time to improve it. I had a rough first semester but second semester went much better and hopefully it will continue to be that way. However my school has this co op requirement for the first semester of sophomore year. We have to be in a paid full time co op/internship then. I don’t have any real internship or work experience. I’m aware that most top companies have a 3.0+ policy. But is every company like this? Do I have zero options? What can I do to improve my chances of getting a co op since I have to? I have until August to find something. I’ve applied to 40 positions but I’ve only heard back from 5 so far and its just been rejections.
You said you don’t have any prior internship or work experience, but were you in any engineering or computer science extracurriculars that you got some experience from? Did you go to any hackathons? Do you code during your free time? And if so, are there any interesting projects you’ve been working on? These are all things you can include on your resume (well, I’m not entirely sure about hackathons since they’re one time events, but I think you can at least talk about any hackathon experience in an interview). I also think it’s a good idea to have a skills section, tell them what programming languages you know and what engineering skills you gained and any other technical skills, both learned inside and outside of the classroom.
Actually when you said 2.9 gpa for computer engineering I didn’t think it was that bad. CMPE is a tough major, and based on my conversations with employers in career fairs and an interview, being around other computer science and electrical and computer engineering students in my classes and extracurriculars, and looking stuff up online, I have the impression that engineering and computer science employers care A LOT more about skills you have, experience, and ability to work in a group setting than really grades. Actually, I personally think computing majors (electrical engineering, computer science, and computer engineering) are especially fields where the gpa doesn’t matter that much and even if you have to retake a class or two it wouldn’t be the end of the world. And I know a electrical engineer major with a gpa lower than yours that was still able to get some engineering experience (electrical engineering, but sort of similar to CMPE depending on what type of position you are looking for). I still think you should try to get that gpa up, but I wouldn’t lose hope. And if the top companies you have been looking into have a 3.0+ gpa rule, maybe you should try companies that are not as big/hard to get into.
Also I think it would be a good idea to be put this on the computer science and/or engineering major forum, you might get some better answers.
CS (not CE), but was able to secure some Fortune 500 internship offers with a sub-3.0 GPA. Things would have been a lot easier if I had a 3.0, however.