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Location: Monterey Bay, California -- watching the sea lions, whales and otters! :D
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Wow, I didn't realize GPAs suddenly were looked at. I don't recall anyone ever asking for mine, and I didn't put it on a resume, although I did state that I graduated Magna C u m Laude (so maybe that helped).
Or maybe it's because even colleges have been dumbed down, just like high schools, and employers may want to see how you did now, compared to when education was more difficult (or so it seems to me, but I'm probably a few generations ahead of the students on this thread).
I have to admit, I often have the thought when I am on a highway with a merge lane that doesn't give you enough room to merge at the designated speed, or if a roadway is poorly designed, or things of that sort -- and I say to myself, "Well, they were probably a "D" engineer!" or "They didn't do too well in Algebra!"
And I do agree that doctors, lawyers, many professionals can be toward the bottom of their class and still get a professional job, especially in areas that need them. That professional degree seems to be more important than what the GPA was. In fact, if I do have to see a different doctor, I look to see where they went to school and if I can find out if they were honor students, or whatever. I want to know that the individual I am working with has some smarts. That still doesn't discount that many professionals get jobs just based on that professional degree. As long as they can pass their exams for certification, that's what counts. I've known some pretty shoddy lawyers who didn't have great grades, but passed the Bar Exam, and that's all they needed.
There are some top-notch companies who do look for high GPAs, well-rounded activities, experience, etc., (and if they could ask for IQ, they'd do that, too), but that's more in places like Google, Microsoft and Apple -- they know the whiz kids might bring them their next great idea. It probably depends on what you want to do with that degree.
But generally speaking, unless you're a super high-achiever, and overly ambitious, the GPA doesn't seem to be the focus IMHO.
It is NOT that simple, this also goes for the person who said "What do you call the person who came in last in medical school?"
What you call people who graduate last or with a sub-par GPA is UNEMPLOYED! You would never get into a decent residency program if you came in last in medical school and students who graduate college with less than a 3.0 are fighting an uphill battle trying to get interviews because of their low GPA. Doing poorly in college is basically rendering your education and degree useless because employers don't want to hire 2.0 students.
People just need to face facts and realize that a college GPA above 3.0 isn't always attainable for all students. I had a high school GPA of 3.75 and that has turned into a GPA of 2.8.
Not all of us have come from rich families that can afford to pay for their kids' tuition, books, room and board, and give them a little spending money. Many of us have to work jobs in order to pay for our living expenses, which means that we don't have the time to spend 8+ hours a day studying.
Companies need to focus on what a students' GPA was in their major(s)/area(s) of concentration. My combined GPA in my major in minor is at 3.15 right now, and could go up in my last year of school. I'll admit that I didn't put as much effort into useless classes that the university thought would make me more "well-rounded" like "Music Appreciation," "Visual Dynamics," and "Principles of Biology" because quite frankly, I wasn't interested in those classes. So, did what I needed to do so that I would get a C and get the gen-ed requirement out of the way.
Question-- if your final cumulative GPA was literally something like 3.99 or 3.98, can you "round" that up to 4.0 when it comes to your resume, or does that count as a 3.9?
I guess you could, but I personally prefer to quote mine as 3.75, which is the lowest of the 3 figures, and if questioned point that out, and note the 4.0 institutional score.
The same way Porsche quotes horsepower. Round down, not up. Avoid any hint of exaggeration. This works if you don't need to exaggerate, of course.
(BS Phyics, BTW)
I'm not certain you can get a 3.99, unless you have all A's except for one "miniature" course, where you got a "B"?
your GPA can be an important factor in your post college hiring process. Most employers think that a strong GPA shows a strong work ethic and so forth. Personally, when I’m hiring people I look for 3.5 ish. I believe grades in that range show not only a strong academic drive, but also they are not book worms. I don’t want a employee with a 4.0 gpa, with bad social skills. The true point of college is not only learning, but to broaden you social skills.
That kinda offends me! I completed 3 associate degrees, and a bachelor's degree while working 50 hours a week and spending almost every Saturday doing volunteer work. I have a large set of friends, work great with others, interact with many people during a day, and have no lack of social skills because of my GPA. I graduated with a 4.0 from each one of them. In fact, I have never had anything other than an A since High School.
School is easy for me. And I have attended a couple different Universities, one of them a regional top 10 private school, so it's not the school. I am not a book worm at all, just that academics come easy for me. I've taken finals without cracking a book and aced them, I have written 20 page papers in an afternoon and aced them.
And you would hold this against me? I am the fastest person at work when it comes to writting correspondance, performance evaluations, and other such things...AND I am the person that everyone comes to to proof-read theirs and provide feedback... they must come to me cuz of my poor social skills.
Sorry for the rant- I just don't understand your logic.
What company do you hire for so that I make sure I never apply!
I guess you could, but I personally prefer to quote mine as 3.75, which is the lowest of the 3 figures, and if questioned point that out, and note the 4.0 institutional score.
The same way Porsche quotes horsepower. Round down, not up. Avoid any hint of exaggeration. This works if you don't need to exaggerate, of course.
(BS Phyics, BTW)
I'm not certain you can get a 3.99, unless you have all A's except for one "miniature" course, where you got a "B"?
I had to take a couple goofy 1 credit classes in college for various grad requirements (for example, 1 was a resume writing course that all business majors had to take). 120 credits at a 4.0 and 1 at a 3.0 is a 3.99 GPA.
Though really...if you can get A's in all the "real" classes, I question what the heck caused the issue in the 1 credit class.
That kinda offends me! I completed 3 associate degrees, and a bachelor's degree while working 50 hours a week and spending almost every Saturday doing volunteer work. I have a large set of friends, work great with others, interact with many people during a day, and have no lack of social skills because of my GPA. I graduated with a 4.0 from each one of them. In fact, I have never had anything other than an A since High School.
School is easy for me. And I have attended a couple different Universities, one of them a regional top 10 private school, so it's not the school. I am not a book worm at all, just that academics come easy for me. I've taken finals without cracking a book and aced them, I have written 20 page papers in an afternoon and aced them.
And you would hold this against me? I am the fastest person at work when it comes to writting correspondance, performance evaluations, and other such things...AND I am the person that everyone comes to to proof-read theirs and provide feedback... they must come to me cuz of my poor social skills.
Sorry for the rant- I just don't understand your logic.
What company do you hire for so that I make sure I never apply!
You forgot to add that you can also leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Question-- if your final cumulative GPA was literally something like 3.99 or 3.98, can you "round" that up to 4.0 when it comes to your resume, or does that count as a 3.9?
I was told to absolutely NEVER round your GPA...up or down...except to 2 decimal places (X.XX). I was also told that, no matter how high your GPA..never round up to a 4.0 unless you actually had ALL As. So if you somehow pulled a 3.9999, you would list a 3.99, not a 4.0
So basically round to two decimal places UNLESS it will give you a 4.0. Never give yourself a 4.0 that you didn't have...
That kinda offends me! I completed 3 associate degrees, and a bachelor's degree while working 50 hours a week and spending almost every Saturday doing volunteer work. I have a large set of friends, work great with others, interact with many people during a day, and have no lack of social skills because of my GPA. I graduated with a 4.0 from each one of them. In fact, I have never had anything other than an A since High School.
School is easy for me. And I have attended a couple different Universities, one of them a regional top 10 private school, so it's not the school. I am not a book worm at all, just that academics come easy for me. I've taken finals without cracking a book and aced them, I have written 20 page papers in an afternoon and aced them.
And you would hold this against me? I am the fastest person at work when it comes to writting correspondance, performance evaluations, and other such things...AND I am the person that everyone comes to to proof-read theirs and provide feedback... they must come to me cuz of my poor social skills.
Sorry for the rant- I just don't understand your logic.
What company do you hire for so that I make sure I never apply!
Thanks for the spell check...which I'm sure you'll realize that City-Data does not offer. Obviously I would spell check things at school or work, but not on an internet chat forum. I'm sure if I go check all your old posts, there are no incorrectly spelled words? :-)
You forgot to correct that I spelled "cuz" and that's not really a word.
You forgot to add that you can also leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Not trying to brag...read my other 100's of posts...that not what I do... I just wanted to make a point that having a 4.0 doesn't mean that you suck socially or that you are a nerd or that you should be overlooked for jobs.
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Round down, not up. Avoid any hint of exaggeration. This works if you don't need to exaggerate, of course. 
