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When I studied an ample amount of time for tests I would score in the top 10% easily. I just found a lot more things to do in my free time than study. Now, being older, I wish I would have done better because everyone is so geared towards one freaking number.

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First of all, the number really matters only when you are first coming out of school. It shouldn't matter as much now that you are 3 years out unless you are still trying to get your first job related to your degree.

Secondly, companies (and professional schools) use GPAs as a gauge of not only intelligence and hard work but also maturity. It looks like it took you a few extra years to figure out that maybe studying for tests was a little more important that a night out with friends.

It sounds like you should go back and get the masters if you really want to work in the biology field.

"yes you can get accepted to a masters program with a sub 3 GPA and a high enough GMAT or GRE. Checked on that already"

Yes you can get into one, but not a Tier 1.

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Yes you can get into one, but not a Tier 1.

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The recruiters at the McCombs business school seemed to think I should give it a shot.

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It's just that I feel I am a harder worker and have done a lot more than the typical 3.5 kid that I knew

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I just found a lot more things to do in my free time than study. Now, being older, I wish I would have done better because everyone is so geared towards one freaking number.

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Here's your problem, Ivan. These 2 things do not compute. You believe you "work harder than all these kids that didn't have anything to do". Yet you self admittedly didn't work hard at studying. In the mind of employers, if you can't work hard at studying, what's to say you will work hard at your job?

That's the problem with people with low GPA's saying they "are hard workers". They had a chance to prove it, yet "found better things to do." But trust them, they really do work hard.

And it's not to say you don't. But you better be making connections through internships, jobs in college, etc to make up for it. These people can hire you or speak to your work ethic, because they've actually seen it. But you can't put "I work hard" on a resume. You have to actually prove it. And in most cases, a good GPA is a very good way to prove you can work hard. And a low GPA generally means you either don't or are completely clueless about priorities.

[This message has been edited by 20ag07 (edited 11/3/2010 9:55a).]

Hard work, and opening a book are two different things by the way (not referring to manual labor).

I already do have a job, have had it since a month after graduation. Just didn't get the one I wanted. And for the record I'm doing better than half of the people in my position that have been working here for 20 years.



[This message has been edited by IvanAg07 (edited 11/3/2010 11:34a).]

[This message has been edited by IvanAg07 (edited 11/3/2010 11:35a).]

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Hard work, and opening a book are two different things by the way

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No, they aren't. Hard work is doing what it takes to get the job done well.

In college the job is to learn and to score well so you can prove you are willing to do what it takes to succeed. You are bending the definition of the word work just because you didn't care to do it at the time. Lots of people in your situation try to pretend that working hard to get good grades isn't work...employers overwhelmingly disagree.

Your not getting in mccombs with a 2.9. Not gonna happen. They probably want your application fee.

^ - (meant for 20ag07)

So by your definition of hard work:

Holding jobs throughout college, paying for every cent of your college career and living expenses through this and loans, and taking challening course work, is not hard work?

[This message has been edited by IvanAg07 (edited 11/3/2010 11:55a).]

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They probably want your application fee

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This may be true. It also wasn't for full time on campus, it would have been the weekend program here in Houston.

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So by your definition of hard work:

Holding jobs throughout college, paying for every cent of your college career and living expenses through this and loans, and taking challening course work, is not hard work?

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It's not hard enough work. Do you have any idea how many people do this? I did. Most of the people I know did. It's called time management...and it is yet another key skill employers are looking for in potential employees, along with intelligence and work ethic.

You are evaluating the equation as: College = Studying + Fun, or College = Working through School + Fun. You forget that there are tons of people for whom College = Studying + Fun + Working through School.

The question asked was- does GPA matter on an entry level resume? For employers, it is the easiest metric to tell if someone will apply themselves to the job at hand. If you chose to apply yourself to an out-of-school job rather than the classroom, you better hope the people who you worked for will hire you when you graduate, or have connections to people who will and put a word in for you. You can't write "I work hard" on a resume, and employers do not have time to call every reference on every resume they receive.

On a piece of paper at the entry-level, GPA is the most accurate way to determine candidates who work hard. And generally, a 3.4+ is equal to a 4.0, as long as the gap is appropriately filled with work and extra curriculars. In this day and age, if you are below that threshold, you are going to have a tougher time, because there are plenty who do.

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Do you have any idea how many people do this? I did. Most of the people I know did.

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That's really good that you did and there is, according to you, a large population that still does this. That, however, is not how I saw it in school. I was actually told during an interview to put this on my resume because it is something that he doesn't see that often.

Back to the OP - GPA does matter, I'm still upset that I didn't focus more on it so bring it up while you can because there are a lot of people that do the hiring that are similar to the people on these boards.

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And generally, a 3.4+ is equal to a 4.0, as long as the gap is appropriately filled with work and extra curriculars. In this day and age, if you are below that threshold, you are going to have a tougher time, because there are plenty who d

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not to beat a dead horse, but that's the truth

yes, it's admirable to have worked thru college...IF you actually got good (not "good enough" or "I'm well rounded" ) grades

[This message has been edited by Scimitar (edited 11/3/2010 6:17p).]

GPA is important, but I think who you know is more important.

Most 22 year olds don't know anyone of consequence

Working hard in school does not translate into working hard in your occupation, and vice versa. And yes, most 22 year olds don't know anyone of consequence, but Mommy and Daddy do!

This all depends on what field of work you are in also. If you are a rocket scientist, yeah, you probably want someone with an excellent GPA. If you are in oil and gas, you probably are more interested in experience and street smarts.

Another thing about GPA is a lot of it depends on the professor. Some professors curve out the ass. Some professors don't. Some professors are incredibly easy and don't change their old tests. Some professors have 5 projects/multiple HWs/multiple quizzes/lab reports/pre-labs and really hard exams.

I've gotten an A in a class without the curve but the prof decided to curve the class practically 1.5 letter grades and turned my best friends D into a B.

Masterplan, that is accounted for by takin they entire career of work into account vs just a subset of courses. If you want to get into that lone of logic then every Corp members GPA is inflated by about .5 GPA points due to military science courses having a near 4.0 avg per class. Again, it's not hard to get above a 3.0. It really isn't.

Roper, your poor would be worth noting except the O and G industry is the industry I would say that hires most off of GPA and work experience. Most of the big conglomerates won't interview under a 3.5. I can tell you they have spent millions analyzing their hiring practices and the research shows 3.5+ as the best workers on average. Doesn't mean people don't slip through the cracks, it just means they have found interviewing a 3.5 gpa limits those type 1 errors.

nnichols,

If you are going to disparage the academic integrity of milsci classes, at least spell Corps correctly.

Disparaging academic integrity? Where are you getting that from? I was I the corps, but re fact of te matter is MILs courses don't give out many b's or c's especially at te u2 and u2 level. Look at the MILS course grade distributions for multiple years back. You will see an avg GPA well above 3.5. Not disparaging, just pouting out a fact.

The Corps-bashers find pleasure in spelling it wrong on purpose. So when I see someone mispell it, I assume it's a backhanded slap at the Corps. And neither of us took upper level milsci courses, which are a bit more difficult.

If you were in the Corps, and are still in cs, I would very much like to buy you a beer some time at the bird.

It's pretty hard to get a 3.0 in the college of engineering.

And the corps spends the time that non-corps people use to study for getting their ass kicked by upper classmen or vice versa.

Dont find many corps peeps in engineering. And if they are, they're usually sleeping in class.

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 11/5/2010 1:53p).]

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 11/5/2010 1:54p).]

If you have a bad GPA but have shown a lot of improving especially when you get into the more advanced classes in your degree it doesn't really matter. Ex/ having a really low overall but a 3+ on your last couple of semesters

Frattyag, that theory works when you apply to grad school, but not a job. They don't give you that much time when reviewing your application.

I beg to differ on that one i got hired with exactly that when every other person hired had a 3+ GPA

What do you do?

I agree FrattyAg. You can trick the reader into reading your last 30/60/90/whatever hours GPA first by how you present it. If I saw a resume that showed:

Overall GPA: 2.9
Last 60 hours GPA: 3.5

Then I would treat that person like a 3.5 GPA. I had a very fun time my freshman year and luckily I decided to start trying after 1 year instead of after 2. Had I waited another year to start trying, it would have been very difficult for me to get my GPA up to a 3.5.

Im a manufacturing supervisor for a pharmaceutical company

I have no idea what that means

you supervise an assembly line of sorts?

basically yes