<p>Make that consult a few more relatives. Or go to an engineering forum away from this board and ask if anyone got a job with below a 3.0</p>
<p>At some schools 2.8 could put you in Tau Beta Pi. I guaerantee there are people at those schools getting jobs that are ranked below the top fifth.</p>
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<p>Not in my cousin’s experience. Also, one side of my family is heavily populated with engineers who were in positions to hire fellow engineering/CS folks…including that cousin later on who struggled to find employment because of his below 3.0 GPA. They included his father…a fellow engineer who sympathized with his son’s predicament…but made it clear that the son made his bed with his GPA and now must deal with the consequences. </p>
<p>It seemed even in that field, there are strong perceptions in some engineering/tech firms a fresh college grad who didn’t maintain a 3.0 or above either lacked the intellect and/or decent work ethic to be suitable for their entry-level positions…especially when they had plenty of 3.0 or higher candidates from comparable or higher-tiered engineering schools. </p>
<p>I think the only exceptions they’d make are the Federal Service Academies…but then again, they’d almost always be hiring them 5+ years out from college which places them in a position when their employment/military track record would be weighed more heavily. </p>
<p>And some companies were worse. A former supervisor who was a ChemE major in the late '70s recalled Exxon and other companies like them openly announced to his junior/senior class during a career interview period that they’re only willing to hire the MOST QUALIFIED students and said if students cumulative GPAs were less than 3.5, to not bother asking for an interview with them as they won’t be interested.</p>
<p>Complete anecdotal nonsense. I really hope nobody believes this as some absolute cutoff… How about giving an actual datapoint people can verify other than seconhand stories from your relatives.
Here is how we hire. It,s a governmental agency and we hired around 40 engineers last year.
1, Have an ABET degree and apply.
2. Take a technical exam and score above a certain level.<br>
3. Answer 5 set interview questions on which you are ranked.
4. Have references that don’t say nasty things about you.</p>
<p>Nobody gives an iota about your GPA. We are not the only group or company who hires this way.</p>
<p>BTW - of course many places care about GPA. But many places don’t. This OMG don’t let your GPA dip below 3.0 or you’re completely screwed is CC anecdotal hysteria.</p>
<p>D who is graduated has a great job as an editor. I am not sure what her grades were in graduate school, but I know in undergrad at least one of them started as an F ( she retook the class at another school)
She also didn’t do any internships in college.</p>
<p>I dont think BYU could be a serious choice for many mini, it is pretty restrictive regarding dress & behavior even if it is pretty affordable.</p>
<p>[The</a> 5 Strictest Universities in the Country | Her Campus](<a href=“http://www.hercampus.com/life/academics/5-strictest-universities-country]The”>The 5 Strictest Universities in the Country)</p>
<p>Well, around here, maybe that’s what some of our employers want.</p>
<p>On CC I have read about employers having a GPA cutoff for interviewing - not sure if it was for summer positions or full time positions.</p>
<p>It seems like an internship is key, regardless of where a student attended college.</p>
<p>Of course some employers have a GPA cutoff. They often put it right in the job advertisement. But many others don’t .</p>
<p>For engineeering I think reliance on GPA is problematic. So much of GPA in some engineering programs depends on getting into study groups with access to old exams, learning which professors and which classes are easy, etc. People learn things for tests and forget it immediately. Some really have no real aptitude or interest in engineering. They seem to only have been interested in making it out of the class with an acceptable grade. There is a surprising amount of dishonesty at times. That’s why even if I wanted to use GPA as a screening device I’d still like to administer an employment exam or technical interview. That’s just my opinion based on my experience. And I do think a higher GPA is certainly preferable to squeaking by in most cases.</p>
<p>Well, let’s share anecdotes! I have a relative (not a cousin though), who had a sub 3.0 GPA, took 12 years to get a bachelors degree (which actually included flunking out of college twice), and never had ONE internship. Somehow he secured an excellent job (which he had before graduation) and is a well regarded engineer in his field and a project manager.</p>
<p>Here’s my anecdote, since we are going on non-data, non-statistical measures…
I (not a cousin, though) had a sub 3.0 GPA and got my first job in a “then” Big 8 accounting firm (now, Big 4 accounting firm).</p>
<p>You know, mini, my daughter works in your neck of the woods, and people do know that Brown is a school and not a shipping company.</p>
<p>Closing thread as it is a moot point; student is a spring junior transfer to USC. I have also merged his other 2 thread. thanks to all for your responses.</p>