Why do colleges hand out so many degrees?

[Imdmn04]

GPA does matter, at least in some industries for your 1st job. After that, it gets taken off the resume.

Hard to judge a person solely on GPA, a 3.0 in an engineering class is much more difficult than a 3.0 in any liberal arts class. Shit, when I was in school, the liberal arts electives I took basically handed out As like candies, while engineering classes made you work for it.

 

[KK]

IMO--Degrees are toilet paper.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Because they are giving the Uni money and because GPA doesn't matter in the real world?

Think about it for a bit. Just think.

Absolutely wrong. Many companies won't een look at a resume without a minimum 3.0.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
Work experience + general common sense > degree

Work experience + general common sense + degree > Work experience + general common sense

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: spidey07
Because they are giving the Uni money and because GPA doesn't matter in the real world?

Think about it for a bit. Just think.

Absolutely wrong. Many companies won't een look at a resume without a minimum 3.0.

For the first job or two out of college. Once you have 2 or 3 years of experience under your belt it no longer matters.

 

[James3shin]

How is GPA not important? Say it's unimportant to those that have below a 3.00 and don't note it on their resumes. Say GPA isn't important to the kid that gets a scholarship so his parents don't have to get a second job. A degree is important, so is GPA, so is experience, and who you know - real life is multifaceted.

 

[herm0016]

gpa is only a metric of how well you can get good grades. not on how well you learn or what kind of worker you will be.

 

[Uppsala9496]

When I review resume's to determine who to interview, I don't look at the GPA. I could care less. As long as they have a degree or enough related work experience, it makes no difference to me.
I graduated a member of a national honor society and still think GPA's a pointless when it comes to determining if someone can do a job.

 

[eve]

everything is about money

 

[Babbles]

I wonder how many of these posts are college students who yearn to whine about GPA. The simple matter of fact is that GPA is a benchmark of how well you know the material. I think it is fair to say that most college grades come from exams. Therefore if you are tested on the material in an exam and you bomb the exam, chances are you do not know the material. It's really that simple. People can whine and moan that being able to take a test is not 'learning' but I think that is a load of bull. Again, if somebody asks you a question (either on a test or on the job) and you can not give the correct answer than you don't know the material.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Because a degree doesn't tell the whole picture - its not like the GPA is meaningless after the degree is obtained.

 

[Koing]

The bigger finance/ accountancy/ law firms stipulate minimum grades and often don't accept below a 2:1 in England and whatever in gpa. Other less competitive areas aren't as stringent.

Grades aren't all of that but good luck trying to even get an interview with a firm with a minimum grade that you don't meet.

Koing

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: Babbles
I wonder how many of these posts are college students who yearn to whine about GPA. The simple matter of fact is that GPA is a benchmark of how well you know the material. I think it is fair to say that most college grades come from exams. Therefore if you are tested on the material in an exam and you bomb the exam, chances are you do not know the material. It's really that simple. People can whine and moan that being able to take a test is not 'learning' but I think that is a load of bull. Again, if somebody asks you a question (either on a test or on the job) and you can not give the correct answer than you don't know the material.

For liberal arts majors that isn't really true. A lot of the classes I've taken the grading seemed arbitrary.. a "B" on your paper or on your essay exam with little or no explanation as to why. It seems the professor read it and came up with "B" and wrote it on the paper.

Also GPA does not tell the whole story. I screwed up my first year of college and then was a great student the final 3 years of college. My GPA is still going to be 2.9 when I graduate. After 3 years as a 3.5+ student is that really indicative of the person I am? I don't think so, but that is what my GPA will tell you.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: jmebonner
What do you call the med student who finishes last in his class?









Physician.

Fixed.

A doctor is someone who has defended a dissertation. Only in recent history has the AMA's lobbying gotten to the point where physicians were called doctors. Now people think that they are the "real" doctors.

 

[her209]

Minimum GPA requirements for graduation should be 3.5

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
Work experience + general common sense > degree

That's the real catch. Most places won't even look at you unless have a degree. You need a degree, or some kind of paperwork, to get considered. And you need personal connections, networking, to get your foot in the door. You can't get the experience you need without the degree, can't get hired without the experience, need personal connections to get in the door. Balance is the name of the game.

Originally posted by: her209
Minimum GPA requirements for graduation should be 3.5

That would also exclude 90% of ATOT, who lives in their own little fantasy world, where they all make 1 million+ per year, drive Aston Martins and date Maxim cover models.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

GPA doesn't matter, lol.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
Work experience + general common sense > degree

That's the real catch. Most places won't even look at you unless have a degree. You need a degree, or some kind of paperwork, to get considered. And you need personal connections, networking, to get your foot in the door. You can't get the experience you need without the degree, can't get hired without the experience, need personal connections to get in the door. Balance is the name of the game.

Originally posted by: her209
Minimum GPA requirements for graduation should be 3.5

That would also exclude 90% of ATOT, who lives in their own little fantasy world, where they all make 1 million+ per year, drive Aston Martins and date Maxim cover models.

so youre saying if i let mine drop under 3.5 i can get an aston martin?

/i didnt take the logic class

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Babbles
I wonder how many of these posts are college students who yearn to whine about GPA. The simple matter of fact is that GPA is a benchmark of how well you know the material. I think it is fair to say that most college grades come from exams. Therefore if you are tested on the material in an exam and you bomb the exam, chances are you do not know the material. It's really that simple. People can whine and moan that being able to take a test is not 'learning' but I think that is a load of bull. Again, if somebody asks you a question (either on a test or on the job) and you can not give the correct answer than you don't know the material.

Depends I guess. I've taken several classes that I remember NOTHING about just months later because I learned enough to get an A or B, and brain dumped it all afterwards.

 

[episodic]

Yea, I had a kid that graduated college (don't know how) work under me at a job I had years ago. He could not complete a shift report without major grammatical and spelling errors - every time.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: episodic
Yea, I had a kid that graduated college (don't know how) work under me at a job I had years ago. He could not complete a shift report without major grammatical and spelling errors - every time.

I'm taking my last classes to graduate now and one of them is Sociology 101, so there are over 100 students and a lot of them first timers in college I assume. We have to write online responses to questions and I cringe thinking these people are going to end up with the same degree as me.. for example, I can't decipher this:

This is segregation and racisism. I realize that is not the intent, but moving students based on there race or ethnic background is the same no matter why they are being moved around. It is not ideal to have an all "upper class" white school, but is the educational level increase because there are minorities around and when everyone knows they "don't belong" at that school. This is improper.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
GPA doesn't matter, lol.

exactly....

no in the real world gives two shits about. Once you had your first job, you can no longer ride your GPA or i went to this college card.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

You guys saying GPA isn't important are pretty funny. If you look at our school's job board at least for CS jobs, the majority have a GPA requirement. In interviews, they look at the GPA and maybe talk about it.

I will say that co-op or internship experience is better though. They can feel safer hiring you knowing you succeeded in the real world at some company than knowing you succeeded in the classroom. BUT the GPA still isn't ignored. GPA requirements and all.

If someone has a high GPA, an employer can feel safer hiring them. It's not that hard to have a high GPA if you have the ability and passion. If they have a low GPA, that's a red flag. MAYBE they would still be a good fit but just never put forth effort in every class they didn't care about, or maybe they're just really lazy or just not capable like people I know with low GPAs.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Koing
The bigger finance/ accountancy/ law firms stipulate minimum grades and often don't accept below a 2:1 in England and whatever in gpa. Other less competitive areas aren't as stringent.

Grades aren't all of that but good luck trying to even get an interview with a firm with a minimum grade that you don't meet.

Koing

LOL....my gf fell well below avg grades....an she ended up getting jobs at the big 4 and working uner CPAs at non big 4 firms.... now that she has graduated, she has been getting calls from all these firms, but she hated working at those jobs, so she ended up working for a software company.

I am jealous, but it is the shocking truth about business (as well as other majors)....no one knows wtf they are doing upon graduation.

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: Babbles
I wonder how many of these posts are college students who yearn to whine about GPA. The simple matter of fact is that GPA is a benchmark of how well you know the material. I think it is fair to say that most college grades come from exams. Therefore if you are tested on the material in an exam and you bomb the exam, chances are you do not know the material. It's really that simple. People can whine and moan that being able to take a test is not 'learning' but I think that is a load of bull. Again, if somebody asks you a question (either on a test or on the job) and you can not give the correct answer than you don't know the material.

This is pretty much how I feel as well. People who do poorly on exams tend to have trouble learning on their own. These people tend to ask a lot of questions that pertain to specific questions but don't know how to apply the answer to a broader set of questions. They might not even see the implication of the answer to their own question.