<p>Hello more-mature generation,
Just a brief intro to myself: I’m a junior/3rd-year engineering major at a top 10 (courtesy of USNews) university who’s been struggling since end of freshman year. As most college students have probably experienced, I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to mature socially, but at the same time, I can’t seem to settle down academically. I continually change my mind on what I want to study, I envision the ideal route and ideal study habits, but I can’t seem to actually sit down and do it. This term has been better, but my GPA has taken a beating since the end of my freshman year (from high 3 to a low 3.1). </p>
<p>It’s disheartening, frustrating, sapping away my academic confidence. While I know that I can do much better - that I have the ability to do so (as many students do) - when it comes to it, I have trouble forcing myself to do it. It’s like waking up in the morning for an early jog when you only had 3 hours that night of sleep. Right now, I’ve changed my attitude towards academics, and I think it’s working. My mindset before did not breed motivation, so I am now working on my motivation, which I think is key. </p>
<p>So, just in short, how have your college GPAs affected where you are now? I’m curious what “low GPA college success stories” there are out there? </p>
<p>First, don’t beat yourself up. You’re hardly flunking. And you’ve chosen a demanding major at, apparently, a demanding school. I’m not an expert, but I’d guess that you’re not doing as badly as you think compared to engineering majors nationwide. But there others will come along who can shed more light on that.</p>
<p>What caught my eye is your academic restlessness. What would you think about taking a leave of absence for a year? Some time away from the pressures of school might help you to clarify your thinking. And a year behind the counter at Mickey D’s might give you the needed motivation to hit the books just a little harder. </p>
<p>Finally, keep this in mind: Your GPA is not going to follow you through life. The “GPA effect” – to whatever extent it exists – disappears the moment you’re hired for your first job. After that, it’s all about your job performance.</p>
<p>My GPA from undergrad was quite helpful to me at getting into my preferred law schools with significant merit & FAid. GPAs of 3.1 or so are not that unusual in top engineering programs, as it is considered a challenging field.</p>
<p>I also agree that once you have done an internship or two, perhaps some research, and a job, the GPA becomes increasingly less important. I agree that you may wish to consider taking a leave of a term or two after sharpening your focus, if you think that would help you do better. A decent GPA can help you get through gatekeepers so you CAN get those internships and jobs.</p>
<p>Things were different back in the old days when dinosaurs roamed the world and we were undergrads. There was something considered a genteman’s C back then, and also, a lot less people went to or graduated from college.</p>
<p>That said, I have heard that it is a good idea these days to try to graduate in the 3.2 arena, for job interviews. So, you’re doing all right. You’ll be fine by the time you start to interview. Engineering is a tough major and has the least grade inflation of any major. Though, I know for top students it can feel brutal.</p>
<p>Also, this is good advice, if you really can’t seem to focus:</p>
<p>I was a special ed major from a second tier state U, so yes, my high GPA got me into law school.</p>
<p>With that said, it seems like so many jobs involving having contacts. I hate to say it’s who you know but these days, that is such a factor…Internships, faamily and professional connections. If you don’t think you will significantly raise your GPA, work on raising your profile. Join a professional organization…not a campus group but an org. of adults in the professon. Most have student rates for rmembership dues. Meet everyone you can in your field.</p>
<p>I had an academic scholarship in college that motivated me to keep my GPA high because it was renewable each year based on my grades. My college GPA also enabled me to go to grad school on a full scholarship. Grad school was instrumental in landing my first job. Afterwards, my GPA was never an issue in my life. If anything, I wish I hadn’t put quite so much pressure on myself regarding grades. They really were only significant for that short period of my life.</p>
<p>I had a full-ride scholarship that I lost after too much partying my Freshman year. I think I probably graduated with about 3.2. Not nearly good enough to get into the PhD programs I wanted. So, I ended up in a Master’s program first, had a chance to prove myself, retook the GREs (and scored 400 points better), got research experience, then got into the PhD programs of my choice. </p>
<p>So, I ended up exactly where I wanted to be AND had a fantastic time in college. I really believe perserverance can easily overcome college gpa in the long run (although my graduate level gpa had to remain higher).</p>
<p>I consider myself a success. I’m doing the same job as my Ivy cohorts and kids with 4.0s.</p>
<p>My advice- stop partying so much and start focusing on your academic. Three hours of sleep is not going to cut it for you. Even if you are manage to get a job someday, you are going to have to show up at work on time with 8 hours of sleep. I have a good employee who is going out every night (his reputation is getting out there), and I am going to have to have a talk with him about curbing his social life if he wants to move ahead in his career. This employee is doing fine right now, but every time his name came up for a promotion, someone would say, “He parties so much, do you think he would be able to do more?”</p>
<p>No, your GPA is not going to follow you, but your work ethic and partying habit would.</p>
<p>I agree that it would be helpful to make some professional contacts. I have heard that participating in some of the engineering student groups helps to land internship preferences.
One student was head of concrete canoe, a CE extracurricular. When he interviewed for his internship, the engineer had fond memories of being head of concrete canoe “back in the day.” That connection got him the internship. Internships often lead to job offers. Look around campus for ways to participate in some meaningful ECs especially in engineering.
Many masters programs require a 3.25 GPA for entry. You are close to that.</p>
<p>What I notice about your post is that you say you’re trying to study more but not succeeding. I would suggest taking that in small chunks. Sit down for an hour, phone off, email off, then reward yourself for 5 minutes… Do the fun stuff to reward yourself for the not-so-fun stuff. Establish a rhythm and habit to your day and it will get easier.</p>
<p>BTW, did you pass Differential Equations on your first try? If so, you’re ahead of half the engineering students in the US.</p>
<p>No idea what my college GPA was, but I do know one thing: going to a LAC taught me how to learn and bounce back and adapt to many different industries (retail, banking, being an entrepreneur). College is (or should be) preparation for life and all it throws at you. Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but if you can develop a system of tackling new challenges and internalizing knowledge, you’ll get all you need out of school.</p>
<p>Gap year–you may simply need some recharging time. What student doesn’t, esp. a student who is doing engineering at a “top 10 university” and what it must have taken to get there. There is no harm in taking a leave of absence, even doing manual labor (working on an organic farm or laying cement or volunteering in a Peruvian orphanage). </p>
<p>It sounds as if you are experiencing some understandable burnout, and if your high school experience was anything like my daughter’s (really, a high school that was college, academically), then please consider a respite from academic life.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently doing the second half of a gap year, having deferred her college acceptance, for one year, and says she will be very eager and hungry to get back to studying in the conventional sense, come this Fall.</p>
<p>Look back to your experiences in HS and even earlier. How much of your current difficulty with managing your study time is truly new, and how much is an extension of previous patterns? It might be useful for you to pop by the student health center and chat with a counselor who can direct you to a study skills specialist. Many people get to college without all of the study skills that they find they need.</p>
<p>I agree with poetgirl that the world is probably quite different now than it was when we parents graduated from college. I would suggest that you meet with someone from your school’s career counseling office and find out how things are going for grads these days, from your school in your major, and what you can do now to increase your chances for success when you graduate (whether that’s focus on your GPA or something else, like an internship).</p>
<p>The longer I was in school, the better my semester GPA got … despite coursework of increasing difficulty. So add my voice to the chorus “You’re doing fine.”</p>
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<p>“What caught my eye is your academic restlessness.”</p>
<p>This caught my eye also. I’d vote for an internship rather than a gap year. But I think you’d benefit enormously from seeing what it’s like out in “the real world.” You’ll probably be a bit shocked … but at least you’ll feel a whole lot better about what you’ve already learned in that Top 10 engineering school!</p>