<p>I don't know. I guess I just feel hopeless right now. Yes, I did fine in my classes this semester (lowest grade is going to be a B), but when people see my GPA, I know they won't understand how well I did since they're unfamiliar with my university's grading system. (The grading scale is more strict than other schools in my area.) They'll think, "Oh. She must have gotten something lower based off of her GPA." My respose: Ummm... NO, I didn't. I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than where I am for college, but it seems as if people only recognize the difficulty of your college if you attend an Ivy, MIT, Stanford, etc. It's a little depressing. Now I'm worried that when it comes time for me to find a job, no one will understand. If it's going to be this way with the people that I live near and/or know, how can I be sure that employers won't be the same way? I honestly wouldn't be worrying about all of this as much if I knew that I could get a job once I graduate.</p>
<p>Reeses, I work in HR for a global company and have done college recruiting at several other places. I could count on two hands (and a foot) the employers who will care about your gpa.</p>
<p>If you are not interested in Investment Banking or Strategy Consulting don't worry about it. If you don't understand what I just wrote you really don't have to worry about it.</p>
<p>If you are in a technical field (aero/astro, M/eng) than what you've learned, the quality of your internships, and what your professors say about you is much more important than GPA. If you are interested in Sales then the leadership you've shown in non-academic subjects is much more important. When I recruited for a sales training program we would joke that a 3.8 was the kiss of death. We loved college kids who were busy setting up businesses and getting other students to pay them to deliver hot home baked cookies and starting tutoring programs in homeless shelters and could care less about their grades.</p>
<p>So-- I have no idea what you're interested in doing with your life, but other than your parents I can't imagine discussing your gpa with anyone else right now.</p>
<p>Finished your first semester at Michigan? People are asking you your GPA? Focus on the important stuff! How many home football games did you attend?</p>
<p>NJres, LOL. Oh, of course I attended football games! I can think of four that I went to off of the top of my head. :) In my case, you should probably ask how many Dance Marathon events I've been to this semester. Now that's a pretty big number! (Dance Marathon is an organization that I personally love because I know I'm doing good by helping to raise money for pediatric rehabilitation programs, and I can personally relate to it because I'm physically disabled myself. Plus, I love making new friends!)</p>
<p>blossom, thanks for the reply. I'm currently thinking of going into history, but I don't want to declare it too quickly. (I'm just easing out of doing a lot of math and science since I went to a math and science magnet school in high school, and it feels awesome. I can do those subjects and do them well, but do you really want your life or whateer else in MY hands? In all honesty, I just don't think those subjects are for me.) Yes, people are already asking me about my GPA, and I can't get around it. My brother seems most interested in it (probably to compare mine to his since he's in college as well... Not at Michigan though...), but I can usually dodge his questions for the most part. ;) He makes me nervous though since he's going for premed and has to worry about it all the time (which is something I don't need to do). Also, other family members are asking about it. I also have a four-year renewable scholarship so I need to report my grades as well as extracurricular activities (no problem there) every semester to the foundation, which awarded it to me. Unfortunately, I can't get around that one, but I'm doing fine in that respect so I should be all right (though I wish I didn't have to tell them anything about it).</p>
<p>Reeses, thanks for the clarification. Assuming that you aren't in danger of losing your scholarship, I think you can safely forget about your GPA and focus on learning as much as possible at a wonderful place like Michigan.</p>
<p>reese: As you sort out your identity at university, your grades will rise and rise and rise. You are studying new subjects. It will take a few semesters to figure out how to perform well in those assessments--but you WILL figure it out. You are SUPPOSED to flounder a bit at first. If you didn't, you could assume the college was a poor fit, not challenging enough. Personally, I floundered something terrible in freshman year. My lights didn't flicker on until second semester sophomore year. </p>
<p>History is a fantastic subject but heed blossom's advice about internships etc. I recommend you augment the History with another skill set, sales experience, mandarin, Arabic.</p>
<p>Blossom, do employers care what school you graduate from?</p>
<p>dstark-- many do. Depends on the company; depends on the field.</p>
<p>Well Blossom, you have seen threads where we have argued whether it matters where you go for undergrad? So what do you tell people? </p>
<p>If it depends on your field, you may change your field of interest. So should you go to one of the top schools no matter what?</p>
<p>At what point does it no longer matter? Out of the top 10 schools? top 25? 50? 100?</p>
<p>Michigan is kind of the best of all possible worlds, isn't it? Academics will respect it, people that like football will have heard of it, you'll get a fabulous education ... what better?</p>
<p>reeses414: Go Blue! You're just getting started on a great journey at UM. Attend some hockey games too, they are truly an experience not to be missed! Our S was a history major at UM, and he also added a poli sci major. He didn't think a whit about what his GPA would "stand for" down the road. He was passionate about his history courses, and particularly engaged by UM's excellent poli sci profs. We were quite surprised that there were only 199 history grads his year (03). No wonder he had small classes and terrific teachers. Late in his junior year, S announced he'd like to try law school for the doors the "credential" might open. He had not purposefully structured his undergrad experience, nor worried about his GPA, with this in mind. S was admitted to many fine law schools, some with merit awards, with A's, mostly B/B+'s and a few C's dotting his transcript. Do what interests you and the grades will take care of themselves. S wouldn't trade his education and experience from UM for anything and those in the know understand why! And who are these "people" that are asking about your GPA (aside from your scholarship foundation or your parents)? Haven't they grown up yet and realized that it's none of their business?</p>
<p>Ohio_Mom: Yes, Michigan certainly does seem to have the best of both worlds, which is why I enjoy it here so much. I know that I'm getting a good education, and I know that I can also have fun in the process. :)</p>
<p>Maize&Blue: LOL. On the issue of my brother... Meh. He's just being a brother so I forgive him. It's his job to torment me. (What brother wouldn't be curious how his little sister is doing in college? There's a competition at stake here! ;)) I actually want my parents to know what my GPA is so there is no problem there. <em>sighs</em> I guess it's okay for my brother to know as well. However, outside of those three people, I really don't want people to know. I remember my brother being asked last year even at Christmas what his GPA was. (He was a freshman last year.) That's what scares me. I really don't want people other than my immeadiate family to know because it's, as you said, none of their business. (Gosh. I'm using the word "people" a lot in this paragraph, aren't I? ;)) However, I'm not sure how to dodge their questions. I may substitute my GPA for my letter grades. I don't know. I really shouldn't even have to do that. On the issue of grades, I NEED to stay away from getting C's in order to keep that scholarship on Michigan's scale. However, I think I can hack it! :)</p>
<p>PS: I'm a little giddy right now because I just finished taking my last final(expecting somewhere around a B+/A- in that class... probably a B+... Don't quote me on that though! I may be wrong!). I'm DONE!!!!! I may add more tomorrow or some other time when my mind has rebuilt itself somewhat from being mush.</p>
<p>reeses, Your undergraduate GPA does matter if you're applying to graduate school or going for a professional degree. It can also matter if you're in line for a grant or a scholarship fund. The people who administer these programs do understand the relative rigor of individual colleges. UMich is VERY well known and respected.</p>
<p>After you're through with your education and are out in the Real World, you will find that although people still recognize and respect UMich, they don't give two hoots what your GPA was.</p>
<p>I graduated from UMich a zillion years ago. The name alone opened doors for me -- all over the world. My GPA which wasn't especially noteworthy was never an issue.</p>
<p>If you can, try to do internships in the field you are interested in. Actual "work" experience and the contacts you make can go a long way toward getting that first job.</p>
<p>And once you get that first job and look for the second, your GPA becomes irrelevant.</p>
<p>yea, gpas really only matter for getting your first job (especially, as mentioned earlier, in finance/consulting) and for getting into law/medical school.
whee</p>
<p>Dstark, it's not that it doesn't matter-- in some fields it matters a lot. The issue is that you can't tell several years out what a 17 year old kid is going to want to do, let alone identify the company he/she wants to do it for! So like so many variables in life.... it's just not worth worrying about.</p>
<p>Moreover, the kind of distinctions the kids make on the kids board (i.e. which is more prestigious.... Cornell or Princeton for Engineering) are ludicrous. The follow up is always, "which is better- a 3.8 in engineering from Cornell or a 4.0 in engineering from Rutgers or U. Illinois". Well-- I'd love to meet the 17 year old who is so confident that he/she can guarantee a 4.0 in engineering from anywhere, let alone from places like Rutgers and Illinois which draw upon a really wide, well-prepared group of engineering students.</p>
<p>My take is that yes-- for some fields it matters, but since you can't predict what you'll want, why worry about it? Go somewhere that will stretch you across many dimensions-- intellectually, socially, politically, artistically-- and then do the very best you can to maximize the opportunities there. You just can't go wrong with that recipe.</p>
<p>Blossom, I don't know. Your last post has too much commom sense. :)</p>
<p>reeses:</p>
<p>I figure my D's GPAs are their business, they are adults, I don't ask and don't know exactly, though I do know their grades in many classes, as they go through the process, they always talk about how it is going, but don't obsess on the running GPA.</p>
<p>I can understand your concern about family gatherings, we used to have one nosy aunt who asked women/girls how much they weighed, she was tiny, as was her mother and one of her daughters; she wanted to see whether other women were still under 100#!!! I think I opted out of that competition in 9th grade!!</p>
<p>When some one asks how what your GPA is, answer, "great." If they ask for details, answer, "why do you ask?" This may be enough to shut them down ;)</p>
<p>If your lowest grade is a B at UMich as a freshman, you're doing just fine. In the end, grades in your major, not in freshman required courses, will matter--but that's a long way away. You do not need to tell people your GPA if you don't want to; you can answer "just fine" or "better than I'd expected" or "good enough to keep my scholarship" or whatever vague answer you'd like to give. (My answer was always "I passed everything!") </p>
<p>If the person asking is someone you really need to answer, you can try the excruciating detail answer. "Well, I was taking calculus, and on the first quiz I got a 92, then the first problem set was a 65, but on the first test, which was 15% of the grade, I got an 87, so then I had a 86 average for the first third of the course, so I really started working then..." Then you fade out for a second, and say, "surely we can find something less boring to talk about? what have you been doing lately? do you still" (have that cute dog? make those great Christmas cookies? etc.)</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Don't try excruciating detail if the question is asked by a lawyer. You will have an excruciatingly long day.</p>