<p>We have a friend who went to college to be a high school history teacher. She liked the social life, got involved in SGA and didn’t give the required attention to her courses. In many of her major courses, she had B’s and even a couple of C’s. She even got an F in an economics course and said, oh well, I’ll just take it again. Unfortunately, all of that counts. She graduated with a 3.1 and has gotten very few interviews and no job offers. She asked my husband (who deals with history teacher candidates) to review her credentials. He had to tell her that her transcript was killing her. </p>
<p>Knowing her, I believe she would make an excellent teacher, probably better than some my kids have had along the way that may have had higher gpas. But when you are applying with so many other people, there has to be some way to weed them out. I guess one of the first ways is the gpa.</p>
<p>I think that job and internship experience can trump GPA in some instances. If you have good internships, connected to what you want to do in your chosen field, you work hard, you make good contacts, they’re more likely to think of you when it comes time for them to hire entry level people, no matter what your GPA is (after all, they don’t really care what you do at school so long as you perform well in the office). </p>
<p>BUT in the instance that you don’t have a strong work experience, a strong GPA can to a certain extent compensate (though it doesn’t work as well this way as it does the other way. GPA tips the balance less than experience). </p>
<p>AND even if you didn’t get a great GPA or you didn’t/weren’t able to intern, you should network. If you don’t know what you’re going to do next year and it’s too late to raise your GPA the spring of senior year, go to your career center and start networking. Build those contacts while you’re still in school, do informational interviews so you know what it takes to get into the kind of field you want to get into (so many people graduate without a clue of the entryway into jobs that they want or the skills required). Networking can make up a lot of ground lost over years without internships or good GPAs. </p>
<p>Major I think still counts less. No matter what you major in, if you have internship experience or skills or a good GPA even in a rough economy you have a leg up on getting jobs.</p>
<p>If you can’t get a job, you can still volunteer and intern while you’re looking for a job. That will add to your resume and if your employer is happy with your performance may find a way to hire you or recommend you to someone looking for a good worker.</p>
<p>The GPA/marketable major are both good points…</p>
<p>I know of a Brown Univ grad who can’t find a job and is working retail at Banana Republic…
NOT what the parent have bargained for…</p>
<p>OTOH 3 kids of another family
1 grad from PRinceton-- did internships–had a job waiting after graduation
same for a sibling at Georgetown
and another sibling at Holy Cross…</p>
<p>Internships and career office at the schools helped alot (as did a great GPA)</p>
<p>I think the right internships matters more than the GPA. Still in order to get the internship you might need a reasonable GPA but I don’t think any job resume ask or list GPA. </p>
<p>Major does matter and demands for different major differ drastically.</p>
<p>So in my view what matters in the order of importance for a college senior is
A strong placement office at the college (This is where the college matters)
<p>Great post morrismm,
We are concerned about our son’s employability in these tough times. His GPA is just under 3.5 but he comes from a lesser known state school (Virginia Commonwealth). We have been nagging and nagging him to get a job or a volunteer position within his field before he graduates. (He has 3 semesters to go.) And yesterday, he called and informed us he got a paying job with a professor in his field!!! Wooo! Hoooo! The whole family here was screaming with excitement. He will be doing data entry for 10 hours/week. Even the professor said the job was not too exciting but that he would be able to meet people in her lab.</p>
<p>It might not be much but we think it will help him have a better chance at landing a job after he graduates.</p>
<p>GPA and internships are important. But I agree with the poster who said that connections matter more. In our circle of friends and family, I have seen kids get internships and entry level jobs with companies “in the family”. A s of one friend is spending this summer interning in Rome -in a free apt with his girlfriend…thanks to her Uncle (both the job and the apt provided to both of them…nice). </p>
<p>It seems like some kids have to fight hard for what they get and others have a much easier route. Getting your first break is hugely important. And tough to do without connections. Yes, alums help, but they’re not like family. And certainly, without connections, the GPA becomes even more important. My thought…don’t blow it…do your VERY best. It can’t hurt!</p>
<p>A good friend’s D1 goes to a top school in the NE, a target school for many firms, has great GPA, but with no work experience. Every interview she’s had, it’s been the same feedback - not enough work experience. I pushed D1 to have a job on campus. The campus job led to summer jobs (not internship, but just a paying job). For many employers they do not like to hire a kid with no work experience. I know there are parents who do not like their kids to work while in college for fear of distracting them from their schoolwork. I think that is a mistake. Campus work tend to be more forgiving to its student workers. It is a perfect place to make some rookie mistakes. GPA is important, but as long as it’s above a B average it shouldn’t deter any employer from looking at you.</p>
<p>I will be the first one to say that I have given work to friends’ kids, as long as their credential is within range. I have also called up my friends to try to get D1 internship. Her one most important (relevant) internship came from a very good friend. I have also gotten internships for D1’s friends with my friends/relatives. The hardest part is to get the foot in the door, after that it is really up to the individual to do what he will with it. I helped D1 with her first internship last year, but she was able to use that experience to get a job on her own this year.</p>
<p>I think this is being blown a bit out of proportion. </p>
<p>Your son will have a problem if he can’t get a job anywhere. However, given his stats, and lack of connections, (nepotism and relationships trump any gpa anytime), he should be willing to work at a lessor position somewhere and start building a credible resume. He should plan on working no less than 2 years wherever he goes, because to have a troubled gpa, and short stints on the resume could really hurt.</p>
<p>When I go on recruiting trips for my large company, we have a 3.2 GPA cutoff and in talking with a number of other recruiters, they have pretty much the same cutoff. There are just too many good candidates out there with GPAs way over 3.2 so this helps cut down the number of candidates for the few positions we have. We also want to make sure we get the best candidates and GPA matters, together with internships, work history, etc.</p>
<p>This is such a great post. I recruit college students for public accounting jobs and am always dismayed when students get to the end of the line and realize grades and internships matter…and now it’s too late. This year we had over 300 applicants for the four entry level jobs we hire for. We had to narrow down the field with GPA and work experience.</p>
<p>aballard…good point. Keep in mind though, that with the rough economy last summer, many students tried but were unable to land internships. Don’t hold that against them…</p>
<p>I don’t know about other majors, but my major (engineering) a high GPA is great but a low GPA will still get you a job. It might take more work but it’s not like everyone at my company has a 3.2 or higher. We have people working here that have all types of college GPAs.</p>
<p>Wow! Just got back from visiting D1 at her school today. She told my H and I that yesterday her school had their third student suicide this semester and the second THIS WEEK! We (H, me, D1, D2-home on break from her school and very concerned about how she did on some tests last week-and D1’s friend from school) talked about it at length. We discussed keeping things in perspective and that failing a test, course or school was not worth giving up your life.</p>
<p>Then I thought about this thread. I orginally stated that GPA matters a lot. And most of you all agreed. Obviously, the parents of these three dead students would rather have their child w/ a low gpa than no child.</p>
<p>So, I would like to say GPA matters, but not at the expense of health or life. BTW, my son got a job. It’s entry level, but full time and has benefits. There is room for growth.</p>
<p>MorrisM, I was relieved in a way to read your insights in your last post, though the news of the suicides is so sad. All this pressure on kids! These days, it starts when they are really young and just continues right through their education. So many kids at top colleges are stressed and depressed…</p>
<p>Kids who major in areas that are not career-oriented, may “wander” a bit in their twenties, but they may also end up with better opportunities in the end, than some of the kids whose majors were focused on particular types of work.</p>
<p>The recession will end at some point, as well…</p>
<p>morrismm - congratulations on your son. I know you were very worried about him, but most kids from that school all seem to do ok. All I have to do is to open the Linkedin of my classmates, and they are all doing fine.</p>
<p>It is very sad about all those suicides. I just can’t imaging what those families are going through.</p>