I will be returning to college this summer to continue my degree after a couple of years off but I have been wondering lately if it’s even worth finishing anymore because of my transcripts. My current GPA is a 2.28 with a couple of D’s and one F but I have very many W’s. The W’s are withdrawals from dropped classes where I chose to drop the class instead of getting a poor grade. I am a sophomore and my completion rate is currently at 40% which means the option of financial aid is null so paying my way through is what I plan in doing.
When looking at my transcript I can tell when I started out I was doing good. I was getting B’s and things were going swell but then things started going south. That’s when I began to drop a lot of classes and I can recall being very depressed and anti social at the time but not because of that.
My main concern is how will I look to an employer when I finish? I can theoretically bump up my GPA to 3.7 if I get an A in every single class I need and up to 3.1 if I get all B’s. I have considered switching my major, but I did qualify for financial aid at one point so I have thus far paid for part of the credits I currently have. Switching majors would mean flushing more money down the drain.
You need to continue the degree. For many jobs it is a minimum to have a degree. Does not matter what it is in or what your GPA was. Will you be hired by Google or Microsoft with a 2.2 GPA? Probably not. But that does not mean you should just stop your education.
Hard question to answer. For entry level jobs, many companies will screen by GPA. Even more will screen out anybody without a degree. So getting the degree with a low GPA will trump no degree. However, you will be likely be looked at as a non-traditional student. Hopefully, if you find an enlighten employer, they will see you as someone who matured and was able to overcome a bad start and turn things around. Hopefully, you also have a decent job history. So if you can pull off a decent GPA for the remaining years, it will likely be worth it. A lot depends on what your major is.
I plan on retaking the classes I got the poor grades in. How do employers look at non traditional students? Are they frowned upon? It is a technical major, BSEET. On the bright side I am currently working in a somewhat related field, but I don’t plan on staying with my current employer, there just aren’t many opportunities to move up.
I have a bunch of W’s on my transcript. I withdrew two semesters due to depression. I have to retake a class from last semester. You can retake classes and raise your grade. I retook a class last semester. Raised a C to an A.
You should definitely finish your degree. I came back at 43 to school again.
My point was that since you have worked and are older, hopefully a future employer also consider the value of your work experience. Like I said, very hard to say. However clearly, a BSEET will take you way farer than no degree. If you have the ability to earn that degree it makes no sense not to. Many student stumble and recover.
IMHO, GPA is way over emphasized. Yes it will be a MAJOR factor for the first job. However after that is all about what you bring to the job. If you apply yourself to that first job and develop that skill set that a employer/market needs then your career will be successful even with a low GPA. In your case, if you can get an good internship/co-op/job during school breaks to show what you can do that also will help an employer overlook the lower GPA.
A lot of W is warning sign but if they see a year years gap followed by a consistent couple semester of good grades that should indicate that whatever happen is the past was corrected is no longer a issue. It will be an issue but not one that should stop you from getting a degree.