<p>“The consensus is that without the GPA it’s going to be hard. The GPA is the baseline.”</p>
<p>This applies to all fields, not just specifically to engineering.</p>
<p>Since there is no specific GPA threshold that anyone can agree on, how do you know that it is ALL about the GPA for getting a job in engineering? You have proposed that a 3.0 GPA is hardly enough to get you in the door, but yet most engineers, who have below 3.0 GPA, don’t have a hard time finding jobs in engineering. How does this show that the GPA is the baseline if there is so much variability?</p>
<p>“but yet most engineers, who have below 3.0 GPA, don’t have a hard time finding jobs in engineering.”</p>
<p>Prove it…</p>
<p>Hahaha just kidding. You sure do love to argue though. ;)</p>
<p>“There’s a very high employment rate of engineering grads from UCSD. The average engineering (CS anyway) GPA there is around 2.75 or so which means less than half have above a 3.0. Employers are clearly hiring many UCSD engineering grads with below a 3.0 GPA.”</p>
<p>Regarding GPA - yes, it matters. I was trying to throw a reality check on it though. Having less than a 3.0 GPA makes it more difficult (not impossible) to find internships since some companies publish that as a minimum. It also is the bottom threshold for a number (but not all) of schools’ grad school admissions. With engineering though, graduate degrees are often less important than in some other fields since practical experience is more important and the grads are directly employable in their field at the Bachelor level.</p>
<p>The reality check it that at UCSD, UCLA, and likely other UCs and other top engineering schools that don’t practice grade inflation the average engineering GPA is below a 3.0 which means that over half of the students are below that threshold. Meanwhile, certain engineering disciplines (such as CS) are in high demand and people are able to get decent high paying jobs with good companies despite not having a 3.0. Remember that engineering courses at some of these schools grade heavily on a curve and that curve is to a B- or C+, both of which are below a 3.0. Other schools might curve to a higher level and some other schools are simply easier to obtain a higher grade and thus a higher GPA. This is why the school attended does make a difference to employers despite the GPA. Anyone who can even make it through the engineering program at Cal, UCLA, UCSD, CalTech, Harvey Mudd, etc. has a lot going for them and many employers know this. There’s also a lot more to a job interview than GPA - actual knowledge (which doesn’t always tie directly to GPA), experience, personality, ability to communicate effectively, etc.</p>
<p>Obviously students should try to maintain as high a GPA as reasonable but they still have plenty of good opportunities if they don’t happen to be in the top 30-40% of the class.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that much of the discussion in the engineering and other threads on CC is from students - most of which don’t actually have any experience in the field they’re discussing. A number of those expressing their opinions were in HS less than a year ago. This doesn’t make their opinion invalid - just less backed by direct experience.</p>