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Old 05-19-2011, 11:55 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn,NY
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I had a 3.0 at the community college. When I transferred to a new school, my gpa was 1.0.
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Old 05-27-2011, 07:59 AM
 
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There is no such school as SFU, its USF. USF is considered a very good college for many areas of study, including the medical field.
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Old 06-01-2011, 12:09 AM
 
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For jobs right out of college the GPA number is what matters. Employers want to see a 3.0+ or they could be a name/reputation focused employer. Having people working for them who went to X university is better than 4.0 from state school only people from that state know of as opposed to barely squeaked out a 3.0 but you can say Mike here is a __ alum.

Now for graduate school, think of medical schools. GPA number is a huge factor but where you went is more important. A 3.5 from Harvard undergrad is going to look better than one of the SUNY colleges with a 4.0.

It's all about name prestige and knowing it's a harder school. You have to think about what you want then chose college based on that. If you're looking for a higher degree after undergrad go to the harder school and work hard to get a decent to good GPA over being stellar a lackluster school. It's kind of sad but the truth in a lot of cases.
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Old 10-11-2011, 04:07 PM
 
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I'm gonna have to say that GPA matters the most. I graduated from a school that believes in grade deflation with an above average GPA. Interviewers are lazy and few will consider your school much less your actual program difficulty. The situation is aggravated by the fact that most people know my school by a nickname rather than the official name (which is on my resume). I'm currently trying to head back to the region where I graduated from because it's reputation is known and I actually liked it better than my home town.
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Old 10-12-2011, 09:22 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 40,985,403 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Math Commando View Post
I'm gonna have to say that GPA matters the most. I graduated from a school that believes in grade deflation with an above average GPA. Interviewers are lazy and few will consider your school much less your actual program difficulty. The situation is aggravated by the fact that most people know my school by a nickname rather than the official name (which is on my resume). I'm currently trying to head back to the region where I graduated from because it's reputation is known and I actually liked it better than my home town.
I absolutely disagree. The school matters.

Most employers would hire someone from a good school (NYU) over a person from a low quality school (Florida State) assuming experience is relatively equal. You've already proven your competency by getting into NYU.
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Old 10-14-2011, 11:29 AM
 
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For grad school I hear the grade doesn't matter unless you fail of course. That it's the expertise you develop and the tailoring of your research assignments/work that matters.
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Old 10-14-2011, 08:21 PM
 
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For MOST jobs, GPA doesn't matter after 5 years or so of experience. Depending on the industry, the reputation of the school won't mean squat either.

For professional schools: MBA, Medical, Law, it's obviously a little different.

It's my personal opinion that people who have degrees from 'easier' colleges are getting a real bargain in a lot of cases.

A 3.0 in Biology from UC San Diego is SO MUCH harder to achieve than a 3.0 in Biology from say Kean University in NJ.

The 3.0 in Bio from UCSD probably won't be good enough to get you into med school, a lot of grad programs will look take both the UCSD and Kean U grad, and A LOT of employers won't differentiate that much between the two students.

Yet, the UCSD student spent so much more time studying in high school and college to end up at the same place as someone who studied way less.

Also, nothing against Kean U. It's an OK school, just making a point.
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Old 10-14-2011, 11:45 PM
 
24,488 posts, read 40,985,403 times
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Originally Posted by jobaba View Post
For MOST jobs, GPA doesn't matter after 5 years or so of experience. Depending on the industry, the reputation of the school won't mean squat either.

For professional schools: MBA, Medical, Law, it's obviously a little different.

It's my personal opinion that people who have degrees from 'easier' colleges are getting a real bargain in a lot of cases.

A 3.0 in Biology from UC San Diego is SO MUCH harder to achieve than a 3.0 in Biology from say Kean University in NJ.

The 3.0 in Bio from UCSD probably won't be good enough to get you into med school, a lot of grad programs will look take both the UCSD and Kean U grad, and A LOT of employers won't differentiate that much between the two students.

Yet, the UCSD student spent so much more time studying in high school and college to end up at the same place as someone who studied way less.

Also, nothing against Kean U. It's an OK school, just making a point.
It is worth noting that Kean U is in jeopardy of losing their accreditation.
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Old 10-27-2011, 12:01 AM
 
1 posts, read 5,698 times
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(I realize that this thread is old as heck, but couldn't resist adding my ten cents.)

Unless you are wealthy and already have connections with people in high places, I would suggest going to the school with better name recognition and a more established alumni network (within your field). Those types of schools tend to have well-connected alumni that can boost your odds of finding great (i.e., high paying) jobs.

For example, my husband and I have similar undergraduate GPAs. He attended an Ivy, I went to a regional state school. Both of us had "soft" majors. My LSAT score was higher than his by three points, neither of which were stellar. He was admitted to a top five law school. Me, top 50.

He and his law school classmates were courted by top 100 law firms. Yet, at Top 50 Law, only students in the top 10% could even interview for these firms. The fact that our law schools shared many of the same professors definitely added salt to the wound. Most of my fellow classmates had no choice but to pursue public interest positions, yet still faced heavy competition from Ivy League students with lackluster grades.

Now, six years later, I make a third of what my husband makes. Also, whenever he is interested in a particular firm/company, he can easily find an alum who either works or has worked there. And, many of my hubby's former classmates are now pretty successful in their careers so the same people he played Beer Pong with years ago, are currently employed at Fortune 500 companies and hobnobbing with the elite. I can't say the same.

For a poor Black man's son, my husband, despite his intelligence and overall charm, probably would not have had those same networks had he gone to a regional state school like his silly wife!
Then again, my school loans are nil and I had the smarts to marry an Ivy grad whose salary triples mine

By the way, I graduated from a top 100 undergrad, USF ranks 180. Not to knock USF because I started my undergraduate degree there. Go Bulls!
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Old 10-27-2011, 06:32 PM
 
12,098 posts, read 16,979,394 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stanny2012 View Post
(I realize that this thread is old as heck, but couldn't resist adding my ten cents.)

Unless you are wealthy and already have connections with people in high places, I would suggest going to the school with better name recognition and a more established alumni network (within your field). Those types of schools tend to have well-connected alumni that can boost your odds of finding great (i.e., high paying) jobs.

For example, my husband and I have similar undergraduate GPAs. He attended an Ivy, I went to a regional state school. Both of us had "soft" majors. My LSAT score was higher than his by three points, neither of which were stellar. He was admitted to a top five law school. Me, top 50.

He and his law school classmates were courted by top 100 law firms. Yet, at Top 50 Law, only students in the top 10% could even interview for these firms. The fact that our law schools shared many of the same professors definitely added salt to the wound. Most of my fellow classmates had no choice but to pursue public interest positions, yet still faced heavy competition from Ivy League students with lackluster grades.

Now, six years later, I make a third of what my husband makes. Also, whenever he is interested in a particular firm/company, he can easily find an alum who either works or has worked there. And, many of my hubby's former classmates are now pretty successful in their careers so the same people he played Beer Pong with years ago, are currently employed at Fortune 500 companies and hobnobbing with the elite. I can't say the same.

For a poor Black man's son, my husband, despite his intelligence and overall charm, probably would not have had those same networks had he gone to a regional state school like his silly wife!
Then again, my school loans are nil and I had the smarts to marry an Ivy grad whose salary triples mine

By the way, I graduated from a top 100 undergrad, USF ranks 180. Not to knock USF because I started my undergraduate degree there. Go Bulls!
Yea. That's for law. Law is by far and away the most elitist, excluding profession out there. Which is why I never went into it.
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