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This thread is about the OP wanting to get into grad school.
His comment is relevant because 95% of the time somebody posts a thread about getting into grad school with a low GPA, it is with the purpose of getting into a prestigious graduate program and a high paying career.
At the point that you have an abysmally low GPA, it's better to just start working and learning your industry if salary is your goal because the 'high paid' paths will be closed off to you for the most part. The reason is that they want to hire you on your potential and if you have a 2.1, well ... your potential as far as they can see ... sucks.
If you want to go to school to learn, for knowledge or for the degree itself, that is very doable with a low GPA. Some of the very best Masters programs (for low paying careers) are pretty easy to get into with a low GPA. If that is the question, then I have good answers.
Not to discourage the OP but even with a 3.1-3.2, I felt I had no real chance of getting into a grad program.
That, in part, made me take a step back and think, "Is this what I want to do with my life?"
Going to grad school in Philosophy would mean, even if I got accepted, I would have to, 1. Move, possibly across the country 2. Take out student loans, 3. Teach, 4. Write a very long and difficult dissertation.
After graduation I would then have to find a job. And in my case it would be very difficult and I'd probably would be an adjunct professor at either 1 school or multiple schools until I was lucky enough to get on a tenure track somewhere. And that somewhere could be anywhere.
So first, I think you should ask yourself if this is what you (OP) really want to do.
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If you are taking some time off in between, if I were you I'd volunteer in the field you wish to apply in...and do an awesome job. The good thing is that you can blame the 2.1 on youth if you come back later. You'd be amazed how experience and a good letter, plus some good letters of rec., can do to tip the scales in your favor.
I lurk here and I have read posts of people saying that work experience, test scores, and other things are going to somehow make up for a poor GPA. Now poor varies in the eyes of many people but when I say abysmal I mean barely graduating and below the cut offs for a lot of grad schools.
We are all not the same person as adults as we were in college but regardless, even if you're years removed from college and have work experience, that GPA is still going to haunt you if you apply to grad school. I just cannot see any type of graduate program that is reputable and respected in a given field taking a student who graduated college with a 2.1 regardless of whether he is applying years down the road or right out of college.
Now the common advice is work experience and high test scores will help but I do not see how a respected masters program or grad program can overlook a low GPA even years down the road, it will hurt their ranks on US world news and report. The GPA will always read as a low or mid 2 for example.
So I ask this, is there anything that can be done about the GPA part of your undergrad GPA when going for a masters years down the road?
You can't change your undergrad GPA after you have graduated and it will always appear so for me, it seems like screwing up in undergrad = permanently screwing yourself out of prestigious and respectable grad programs.
I graduated from a difficult engineering program with a 2.9 GPA in 1987. I worked for two years and took the GMAT and scored high on it (95th percentile). I applied to an MBA program and was accepted on probation, meaning I had to do well in my first semester.
Now a 2.9 is not the same as a 2.1 and most of my low grades occurred during my first two semesters of college. My GPA was much better in my last two years. I went to UCONN for my MBA. Not a top school, but not a terrible school either. I think that if you have a good work record and good standardized test scores you may find a grad school willing to take a chance.
His comment is relevant because 95% of the time somebody posts a thread about getting into grad school with a low GPA, it is with the purpose of getting into a prestigious graduate program and a high paying career.
At the point that you have an abysmally low GPA, it's better to just start working and learning your industry if salary is your goal because the 'high paid' paths will be closed off to you for the most part.
This is kinda what I was getting at with my thread. Is there any way you can get into high paid career paths with a bad GPA?
IMO, say I want to do business, it is unfair to use my 2.1 in hard science classes against me if I can show them that I can ace business classes.
This is kinda what I was getting at with my thread. Is there any way you can get into high paid career paths with a bad GPA?
IMO, say I want to do business, it is unfair to use my 2.1 in hard science classes against me if I can show them that I can ace business classes.
At this point, if you would like to make a lot of money, the best course of action is to go into finance. I would put all of my time and effort into trying to get hired by a financial firm where they pay high salaries if you can advance to management. You're now part of the rat-race, and high salaries will come by separating yourself from everybody else who is trying to make high salaries too, which is essentially ... everybody.
Once again, nobody gives a crap about your degree. Getting a Harvard MBA at age 23 doesn't give you the skills to succeed. It just shows that you can separate yourself from your peers.
BTW, there is a belief around these parts that when you get a MBA or JD from a prestigious school, then you are set for life with high salaries. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have to keep separating yourself from your peers to reach management, otherwise you will be kicked off that track.
Does a bad college GPA pretty much close off most paths to a lucrative career for good?
I guess bad meaning not even making the cut offs or barely graduated bad.
Now I've been looking into it and it seems like outside of starting your own business or just becoming rich an famous (rockstar, actor, etc.), a bad college GPA means that you will not be able to get into a profession that pays a respectable annual salary.
MD/Surgeon/Physician:
Anything below a 3.5, you're not getting an MD in the US and anything below a 3.0 means you aren't even getting into Caribbean med schools. Do not see how you can ever make it here.
Law:
Not as big as it used to be and law school prestige matters quite a lot when it comes to working for the best firms. Most law schools that are tier 1 will never consider someone with a bad GPA.
Finance:
Wall Street Firms that pay well seem to only employ higher GPA students from prestigious universities and they care about GPA/resume a lot.
I've lurked and read that college GPA does not matter that much but it seems like if you are aiming for most lucrative careers, it is highly important. As much as we tell college kids that they're young and have a lot of time, it seems like screwing up that GPA in college means permanently closing yourself off from most lucrative professions.
Really, the only "good" paying jobs are to be an MD, lawyer or to work on Wall Street
Yes, having a bad college GPA is going to hurt your chances for getting your foot in the door for most jobs. Once you get a job, however, your job performance will determine your advancement opportunities. I still don't understand why people think you walk out of college after four years and earn $200K. It's just not happening with ANY GPA/MAJOR/FIELD. There are entry level jobs for a reason and that is what you get when you graduate from college. Those jobs, on average, start in the $48,000-50,000 range, get used to it.
Really, the only "good" paying jobs are to be an MD, lawyer or to work on Wall Street
Yes, having a bad college GPA is going to hurt your chances for getting your foot in the door for most jobs. Once you get a job, however, your job performance will determine your advancement opportunities. I still don't understand why people think you walk out of college after four years and earn $200K. It's just not happening with ANY GPA/MAJOR/FIELD. There are entry level jobs for a reason and that is what you get when you graduate from college. Those jobs, on average, start in the $48,000-50,000 range, get used to it.
Apparently these people have seriously unrealistic expectations and have never spoken to people who have professional careers.
This is kinda what I was getting at with my thread. Is there any way you can get into high paid career paths with a bad GPA?
IMO, say I want to do business, it is unfair to use my 2.1 in hard science classes against me if I can show them that I can ace business classes.
You can take some graduate classes relevant to what you want to do or what program. Make sure you ACE those classes (get As). Then you're a much better position to apply to top level graduate programs.
Basically what you did in your late teens and early 20s doesn't define you for the rest of your life academically or professionally. Just focus on doing things work wise and class wise that show you as a much better person than you were at the time of the low GPA.
Apparently these people have seriously unrealistic expectations and have never spoken to people who have professional careers.
I think what happened is the dot com boom late 90s/early2000s skewed the market all out of proportion for new graduates. They were throwing around six figure salaries like popcorn to new grads. Then that boom busted. Followed by housing bust, 2008, and years of a dragging economy. So starting pay is way down from what many learned to expect then and the education counselors haven't adjusted.
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Does a bad college GPA pretty much close off most paths to a lucrative career for good?
