About to graduate, low GPA....worried....

Princeton?

Grad schools usally have a minumum GPA of 3.0 for admission, and some even higher. Although sometimes it's just your upper level classes only so if your GPA is low because you screwed around as a freshman or sophmore, you might be alright. Make sure you do really well on the GRE, because Grad schools love it, even though like all tests it may not be a good indicator of sucess. If your looking for a job, wouldn't worry so much as you're an ivy grad, just make sure you get really good recomendations.

2.9 is a B... SUCK IT UP AND DON"T BE WORRIED! damn this world kills me with the stupid pressures people put on f***ing grades

I was in a similar boat (other than being at an Ivy) and I didn't have a problem - I had a 2.8, but I also had a 3.5 and 4.0 for my last 2 semesters, so I think that really helped. Had decent test scores and was able to make a good case for my low GPA being a freshman/sophomore problem. Went to grad school, pulled a 3.7 and the rest has been smooth sailing.

Grade inflation is rampant in the ivy league system. A 2.9 is probably a C from many state schools.

dude, just be happy with a degree period. I was happy to scrape by, a degree is a degree. You may not be a rocket scientist but who really gives a flying fck!

We need more information. Do you do research? Do you have a life outside of academics? Do you have any minority status? How well do you know the people who wrote your letters of recommendation? What are your standardized test scores like?

Letters of rec. tell a better story than grades and are given almost equal weight. In any science related field, research is huge.

Word. If you go to a big 'flagship' state schools it is tough. They have to weed people out because the intro classes have 500 people in them. At least you have a solid base of science classes. I would think you'd be more screwed if you'd studied a social science like sociology or economics. Think out of the box when it comes to jobs. Go exploring.

If you want to go to grad school, just be sure to have everything else together. Spend a decent amount of time getting ready for the GRE and get a solid score. Make sure you have some good references. Put a lot of time into your personal statement.

If you don't have a few profs who know you well enough to give you a solid recommendation letter, start working on that now.

I found the grad school application process to be much less of a numbers game than undergrad. They want to see a GPA and GRE that demonstrate that you will be able to handle the grad program, but mostly they want to see that you have a solid idea of what you want to do and why you want to do it at the specific school.

Of course, this all depends on the specific field you are going into and the specific school, and even the specific person in the department who happens to review your application.

DavidCarradine wrote:

Grade inflation is rampant in the ivy league system. A 2.9 is probably a C from many state schools.

Except that grade inflation is rampant in the state school system as well. I earned my undergrad at a state school and am now working on a master's at an Ivy. Obviously my experience is fairly narrow, but I found the state school to be just as bad, and probably worse than the Ivy in terms of grade inflation.

I graduated with a grade point of 2.26 back in 82.

I went out and got a "blue collar" job for several years in the business first, then climbed my way as far as I could little by little.

It really didn't take that long though because I had a degree.

It takes just a little longer than it takes the hot shots..

"What a long strange trip it's been"

Don't sweat it....From the bottom is doing it right.

I'm retiring in 2 years.

The problem with that is that the bottom these days is a lot crappier.

rest have grade inflation wrote:

Princeton?

Not if he's graduating in the winter.

I don't understand how you say grade inflation is rampant in the Ivies. I'm at one now, and my classes (math and science) are all curved to a B or a B-. Meaning a 2.7-3.0 is "average". Sure there are some humanities classes that are an easy A, but my degree only requires 4 of them.

When you have a class full of really bright people and you are competing against them to get a grade, believe me its not easy.

I feel no sympathy for the OP, if you're worrying about it now you should have been worrying about it three years ago.

Phil. wrote:

rest have grade inflation wrote:

Princeton?

Not if he's graduating in the winter.

Bummer for the OP. 2.9 at Princeton puts you in the bottom 20%, 2.9 at Harvard puts you bottom 5%.

Your gpa might have some influence in getting into grad school, but in the last 15 years, I've never once had any prospective employer ask what my gpa in college was.

I agree with the above post. I graduated in May 2008 with just above a 3.0 from a state school. I landed my dream job two months after graduation and was NEVER asked my GPA.

Often times GPAs are overrated anyway. EQ is often a better indicator than IQ when it comes to how successful someone will be in life. If you have a perfect GPA and are a social retard and can’t work with people you may have problems. If you have a less than perfect GPA but have a great personality and common sense you can go a long way.

Yup, there's definitely a balance there. If you IQ is about 160+ though, it really doesn't matter. I'm sure Isaac Newton couldn't have cared less about friends.

GPA is meaningless for anything beyond admission to grad school.