The College Thread

[Animeniax]

Go into college knowing that it doesn't really matter how well you do as long as you get the 4 year degree. Companies could care less what your GPA was or how long it took. Getting the degree shows commitment and dedication, and companies want to hire committed and dedicated people. In a lot of traditional companies, you hit a ceiling pretty fast if you don't have a degree. Most management positions at these companies require a degree, regardless of competence or skills.

When I was in college, we'd learn material for 3 months, take the mid-term, then forget everything and move on to the second 3 months of material, then the final, then forget everything in time for the next semester. This used to concern me back then, leaving me to wonder how I would apply anything I "learned" in these courses to my future job. The trick is, pretty much nothing you learn in college will apply in your future job, so don't worry too much about it, just learn the material long enough to pass the course.

[Ryllharu]

Companies could care less what your GPA was or how long it took. Getting the degree shows commitment and dedication, and companies want to hire committed and dedicated people.

You will not pass Human Resources screening at most companies if you have less than a 3.0 GPA. If you don't have an "in" some other way to get a recommendation that you deserve an interview, you'll have hard time.

Having additional skills like a minor in Business, a foreign language, or something else not common (not math for Engineering, english for Education, etc.) can counter the low GPA sometimes.

/personal experience

[complich8]

You will not pass Human Resources screening at most companies if you have less than a 3.0 GPA. If you don't have an "in" some other way to get a recommendation that you deserve an interview, you'll have hard time.

That only really applies to your first job. As you get further from college, HR and recruiters and such care much less about your GPA and much more about your work experience.

In fact, the same can be said of entry-level employees. My roommate did a double-major in computer science and aerospace engineering (in 6 years), maintained an impressive 3.9/4.0 in aerospace and a 3.8/4.0 in computer science, but he didn't do any internships or co-ops or anything like that. He couldn't find an aero job to save his life -- nobody hires an aerospace engineer who hasn't at least had two or three relevant internships or a couple co-op sessions. He's working as a software engineer for lockheed, for about 10 grand a year less than my 2.6/4.0 and my 6 years of relevant part-time experience got me.

Another former roommate of mine graduated in 4 years, with no relevant experience but a 3.7 in computer science, and it took him a full year to find a job. The pay for that job isn't as good as either me or my aero-cs roommate's, even after a his being in it for more than two years and having been promoted once.

Other people I know have had similar situations. If you're in a technical major and want to do it as a career, either having a relevant job or doing relevant internships gets your foot in the door a lot better than never working but holding a 4.0.

[KitKat]

I just wanted to completely agree with Ryllharu about taking different classes. College is a great time to find out what you love, and learn things you've never had an opportunity to learn before. I completed my degree in 5 years, with a major in Engineering Physics and a minor in Linguistics. I found that often engineers get trapped into a certain way of thinking, and having different courses helped give a little more perspective. Likewise the training I received in tackling problems logically from my engineering classes definitely gave me an advantage in linguistics. Don't be afraid to try different things. I know too many people who are completing Masters degrees, finding that they've pigeonholed themselves into one specific area and are discovering that it's not the area they want a job in.

As for me, after my year of working, I'm starting my Masters in Linguistics very soon. I'm actually really looking forward to it. I might go back and do an Engineering masters later, but at the moment the thought of it makes me feel a bit ill. I can't wait to register for my linguistics courses and start classes! Between now and then though I still have to move to BC, which hopefully is uneventful.... (And all irc jokes aside, I'm not ragequitting Ontario because of Assassin :P )