What was your GPA?

[thyme4change]

They say 10 years after you graduate, no one cares about your college GPA.  Although that is technically true, I wonder if our GPA kicks off a chain reaction.  People with the best GPAs get the best job straight from school.  People with the best first job are set to get the best second job.  With those two jobs on their resume, all their jobs might be a little better, a little higher on the ladder, come with a little more pay.

I think I graduated with a 2.8 or 2.9, and now that I'm 44 and been in the workplace >20 years, I am at a lower management position.  I will never be a CFO, probably never even a VP.  No one sees me as a "up and comer."  I'm a solid performer at a lower level, but better than the worker bees, who are often younger than me.  I think I rate about a 2.8 on the 4 point scale for career, too.

What was your GPA and how do you line up with your peers in your industry?  Have you overachieved, underachieved, or was your GPA an approximate indicator of your professional success?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

3.8 at IWCC and 2.8 at Simpson.  I have no idea what that averages out to be.  That's been one downside of transferring, having to explain two different GPAs.

I don't think it's a huge indicator for me personally.  I barely passed my chemistry classes at Simpson but currently work in an analytical chemistry lab.   Applying the knowledge and spitting out memorized facts on a test are apparently two different things for me.  Never in a million years would I have guessed that this would end up as my profession.

I wouldn't be able to do this job if I hadn't understood the material but my grades sure as hell don't reflect that.

Physics, those grades are probably spot on.

[muttleynfelix]

3.5  I graduated 9 years ago.

I've only worked for small companies in a relatively small city for my industry.  Am I "management"? No. But I don't care to be. I have a really good reputation in this town for being a good engineer that comes up with a good set of plans and does the job right.  I'm not sure how that stacks up to my peers because frankly we all very different things and work in different aspects of the industry.  My college BFF went to work for the engineering department of a major power company.  When she comes back from maternity leave, they will move her into a management position. 

I wasn't really sure how far up the corporate ladder I wanted to go when I left college and I have learned that I'm fine being the "junior" engineer of a small company.  When the boss is gone, I'm in charge. But there are days I'm also the low many on the totem pole. So, it is the best and worst of all worlds.

[The Captain]

Undergrad was around 3.0 carrying a full course load and working more than full time.

Grad was 3.9 while managing a department.

As far as the rest, it depends on whom you consider your peers.  Of the cohort I started with in public, some made partner, and some never even made it to manager.

I will never be a partner in a big 4 (and frankly, don't want to be).   I manage a high risk function in a fortune 500 company and am a VP.  I would say I've gone further than the undergrad GPA would indicate.

In my case I was very fortunate twice in my career to have folks who mentored me and truly invested some extra time to enable me to take on bigger roles.  In my field it's not so much what you learn in school, but what you can learn on the job that counts.

[Deleted]

3.6 overall (but i have been told the classes we took overseas were easier than at the brick and mortar schools)

only class in accounting field that wasnt an A was statistics (hated that freaking course)

Top 3% in my field in the USA

so better than the GPA.....

[Deleted]

Around 2.8 I think.  Keep in mind I earned a .44 my freshman year.

[thyme4change]

Jul 9, 2013 12:16:07 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

Around 2.8 I think.  Keep in mind I earned a .44 my freshman year.

LOL - at least you showed improvement.  I think I was consistently a 2.8~2.9 every semester.  

[Deleted]

 I think I was consistently a 2.8~2.9 every semester.  

You're ruining my day.  I thought my adult underachievement was due to my GPA but apparently I could have gotten a 6 figure job.  Crap.

[steph08]

3.79 for undergrad and 4.0 for graduate degree (and working at my current job). I've always taken school very seriously.

I have a pretty cushy job, but sequestration is hitting us hard and once again, I am sure I won't get that promotion I've been promised for three years. I'd go elsewhere, but there aren't a lot of job opportunities around here and it's hard to give up a decent salary and 5 weeks of vacation a year!

[mrsdutt]

Funny how I can remember that one.  3.7.  There was a male in my class that always did better than I did.  Just once I wanted to beat him.  It never happened.

I still have the original transcripts.  A bit yellowed, but I have them none the less.

But I cook better than he does!

Did I do well in the job market?  Extremely well, but I'm not sure my grades had anything to do with it.  Maybe it's the competitive personality.  I think I just knew when to be competitive.

I will also say I put my career on the back burner while raising 4 children.  I worked weekends as a grunt in my field, while DH worked during the week.  I'd do it all the same way if I had to do it over.

[Deleted]

I work 2 whole days a week and make $30k/yr.

That is a fantasy job for a lot of working parents.  What do you do?

[Deleted]

Mine was 3.28 in 1975, but there's been a lot of grade inflation since then!

I deliberately took a lot of challenging Math and Physics courses because I was a geek.  I have to admit I didn't kill myself trying to get the best grades possible but I was pretty diligent.  I think I worked harder to get my one D, in Advanced Calculus, than I did for any other grade.  Fortunately, I got into my field at entry level in Cincinnati, which was a nice place but not one of the major markets for candidates, so they couldn't be picky.  The more actuarial exams i passed, the less my GPA mattered.

I leave it off my resume now.

[Tiny]

I had a 3.8 GPA during my Jr. College Days (first associates degree done after HS and then a second one done taking occassional night classes). I did not get a Bachelors degree until many years later - in night school at one of the local Universities. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA (or something like that... definitely NOT below 3.0 GPA).

I missed out on the whole "College experience" because I started a full time job after getting my Associates (way back when in the Dark Ages).


My friends were all in the 4.0 and above GPA range. I was the slacker in the group... 'cause it seemed like a lot of work/drama/angst to get the 4.0 and better GPA and then to KEEP it. It didn't really seem like the high GPA was worth the work/effort (since I wasn't motivated to attempt to get into a 4 year school right out of HS and wasn't attempting to get scholarships/money). I could have gotten A's and better - it was just that Bs were good enough. I discovered the wonders of "Good Enough" in High School and have applied the "good enough" idea/concepts to alot of things in my life - it's made my life quite happy and drama free.


How do I compare to my 'smarter' friends?   I think I'm doing ok - they are making more $$ than me - but then they have more ambition - they are in higher paying management positions or rocket scientists.   I don't have that kind of ambition - management is too much work and headaches for me.   

(FWIW:  I really wish I hadn't been so afraid of math/sciences - I wasn't encouraged to do those things - those were 'boy/men' type jobs/knowledge - but I think I could have done well in those areas if I had thought it was worth the effort (to get more than a B and to even take those classes).  

Of my coworkers - it seems all of them went directly to college after HS and when they've 'fessed up to grades and such quite a few of them were in the under 3.0 range - especially the first 2 years of college.   I did better grade wise than my manager    But, I think my manager does a great job of being a manager.  I'd rather stick a pencil in my eye than manage other people.     

I suspect being competant at a particular 'job' depends on more than just how well one applied oneself in HS and college.  

I think my oldest brother (the HR director type guy) summed it up best when he said that getting a degree mostly indicates that someone has the abililty to follow thru on something.   Their grades may matter right after college (since it may indicate how well they were able to navigate the structure of college - getting things done on time or retaining information or self disipline).     Being able to achieve A's in the classroom doesn't necessarily mean someone will survive/thrive in the work place. 

[Deleted]

I don't remember.  2.something.  maybe 4 or 6.

[movingforward]

Undergrad was a 3.35.  Grad degree a 3.46.  Not sure if I will ever make 6 figures but it is possible in my field once I move to the next level (which I am planning to do in the next 2-3 yrs).  The main thing I will have to decide is how much responsibility I want to take on.  I could probably take a job making 70K - 85K and not have extremely high stress or I could take a higher stress position for 6 figures.  Since 70K is plenty of money in my world AND I like my weekends, I will probably take a lower stress position. 

[Sam_2.0]

3.85. Got two Bs, one in Calc 3 and one in New Testament History (went to a Christian college). My dad teased me endlessly about the B in New Testament since I grew up in Christian school or home school. Double majored in math and sociology.

Now I work for a utility and handle escalated complaints. Considered "management", but not in a supervisory role. I like being an individual contributor, doing my job, and leaving it behind when I go home. My job is nice, but it's not my life. I've climbed up the ladder a bit since I've been here (started in the call center, moved up to supervising & training, then to my current role). I would be fine just hanging out here but apparently my boss thinks I need to keep training for more.

[sarcasticgirl]

3.7... school was always relatively easy for me without too much effort (though getting up for an 8am class after a night of drinking was pretty high on the effort scale.)

How do I compare? I don't really have a super well paid position, nor am I management- I don't care to be. I never felt a calling to any particular field other than photography, which I didn't pursue as a career as I learned quickly in college that you'd have to sell out to really make money. of course the digital age took over and everyone with an slr and a computer is ansel adams these days. 
I have a job that I like- well enough, I suppose. The biggest perk is 36 days of leave a year... which is the gem that keeps me here. 
I just don't want the responsibility of a position that has me checking my email and logging into work on the weekends or during vacation or even late at night. I want to leave work at work. 

[InsertCoolName]

What little time I did get in college, I kept it at 3.9. Which made me feel great. Sometimes I think about going back, but just not sure if it's worth it now. But it was fun, except the tests. I would get myself all worked up and sick over them. LOL

[aliciar6]

Undergrad at UNL 2.7.  Graduate degree at Steven's Institute of Technology 3.7.  both were in chemical engineering.  and my circumstances were about the same each time...national guard, work, and school (one or the other was full time)

I don't think anyone cared about my GPA when hiring me...the only thing it would have had an effect on was my starting grade. 

[Cookies Galore]

I graduated with a 3.6 GPA. Based upon the marked up feedback I got back earlier from my senior editor, I am terrible at my job. :-P

[Phoenix84]

My GPA was pretty low in college, about 2.6 if I recall, maybe 2.5.  This was largely due to me getting really depressed my junior year coupled with an online gaming addiction.  My first two years went okay, I got mostly B's with a few A's and C's.  Then my grades dropped like a rock my junior year.  In the fall, I got two D's and withdrew from two classes because I would have gotten an F.  I didn't do much better the following spring either.  I eventually got my act together and ended up taking summer school.  During the summer sessions, I got all A's. 

However, the damage had been done.  My GPA was trashed, and since science/math builds on previously taught concepts (which I didn't learn well), it put me at a disadvantage for the remainder of my educational career.  My senior year was a mixed bag, I got some poor grades and several A's. 

I think that's part of the reason I failed at grad school.  It sucks that one or two bad semesters in college can have such long and far reaching consequences.

As for how it's affected my career, it's hard to say.  It's all just speculation, wondering how things might have turned out differently.  I don't think my career has been negatively impacted by my GPA.  I'm where I envisioned myself being at my current age and experience.  I think my career was helped far more by my willingness to move and seek out opportunities than my GPA.  I was hired by the Navy, who at the time was desperate for anyone with a degree or knowledge in the physical sciences.  The pay was quite a bit lower than most college grads would accept, but I took it.  Once I was already a fed and had some experience, I was able to ply that towards better jobs.  Now I'm probably more advanced in my career than most people of my age range and experience.

Compared to others in my field, my GPA is likely lower.  Furthermore, a master's is considered standard, at least outside the government.  For whatever reason, inside the government they don't care that much about master's degrees or professional certifications. 

As I said, I think my relative success had more to do with dumb luck and a willingness to move around than anything else.

[kittensaver]

Another Type A here. My undergrad GPA was 3.7, and I kept it up as a matter of pride and because I was "supposed" to. But it DID get me into grad school without having to take the GRE.  A million years later (lol), nobody cares.

Grad school, on the other hand, was a different story. My employer at the time's tuition reimbursement program was based on grades: 100% reimbursement for A's, 80% reimbursement for B's, 50% reimbursement for C's. That was enough motivation for me to get my master's with a 4.0.

[Baby Fawkes]

Not sure what I would have got. We don't have GPA's where I went to school, but I got good grades and I would agree that it probably helped open up doors initially for that first job, but other than that nobody cares anymore.

[lynnerself]

3.7? 3.8?
It was 35 years ago.
It got me into a fairly competative internship/ training that launched my career.

DD was 3.95 or something. It got her a job that had 100 candidate, but still pays lousy.

DS graduate one is about 3.7 and he is still looking for work.

I am glad I am not entering the job market today.

[thyme4change]

DS graduate one is about 3.7 and he is still looking for work.

It seems like graduate degrees have a lot of high GPAs.  I was told that getting good grades in graduate school is a given - you have to work to get a C.  

[siralynn]

My undergrad was 3.8-something (13 years ago). Grad school was 3.1-something (8 years ago). I'm pretty on par for my peer group in my industry. My first company wouldn't even consider undergrads for an interview if the GPA wasn't at least 3.5. My current company is even more ridiculously stringent. My grad school GPA is probably low, but I was way burned out on classes at that point, and my math skills were pretty weak compared to the rest of my chemical engineering peers.

[sheilaincali]

I ended up with around a 3.5  I had a few rough semesters there- when I was pregnant with my son and working full time I really phoned it in that semester.   When I went back and got serious I made the Den's List every semester and had several 4.0 semesters which I was proud of.  But overall I ended up around 3.5.  Changing majors required me to take several extra courses with gave me a little more time build up my GPA.

I read a study once that talked about GPA and their relation to people's overall lives.  There are obviously outliers but for the article found that most people that had "A" honor roll GPA's tended to have "A" lives- meaning advanced degrees, good paying jobs, benefits, etc.  Granted they were talking averages so yes there is that guy that flunked out of college but invented the slip and slide and makes millions but for the most part that's not going to be the case for your average college drop out.  

[Deleted]

3.31 in college, but then again, I didn't take any "hard" classes...

[Formerly SK]

3.7 but I got a fluff degree (international studies).  I've been a SAHM for 8.5 years now so my career is basically in the toilet. 

[lurkyloo]

3.7 in undergrad, not sure about grad but probably similar.  It was all the easy classes dragging me down   Undergrad GPA+GRE + research record got me into pretty much my choice of grad schools.  I don't think anyone ever cared about my grad school GPA.

We interviewed a guy a couple years ago who listed his Harvard undergrad GPA on his resume.  He'd graduated in the '60s   That wasn't the primary reason he didn't get the job but it was kinda symptomatic.