<p>I got a 2.99 in grad school. </p>
<p>(I also got pneumonia, a dead kitten, a parental divorce, kidney stones, a long-distance relationship, an advisor who took a job at another school and left me without funding, a moldy office, a workspace in the hallway for six months, a dead grandmother, a department who occasionally forgot to pay me, a hit-and-run car accident, a broken elbow, blah blah blah… “I’ve never seen a thirty-mile radius gang up on a person before,” said a colleague.)</p>
<p>I’ve gotten about ten, fifteen offers since grad school. Only one potential employer asked me about my GPA–I hadn’t included it on my resume. I told him what it was, he tried to press me for an explanation, and his superior actually shushed him. I got an offer, and it was the highest offer I’ve ever received… I’m not convinced that this guy’s GPA was his only detractor… Maybe it was his sunny, optimistic demeanor that got him into trouble.</p>