# Has Your College GPA Ever Affected Your Job? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531 "2004-12-07T13:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/41 "2004-12-09T20:06:24Z")
Maybe you should refrase the question - "has your college GPA ever affected anything work-related… …AND you work in an investment bank or financial services company, or a prestigeous law firm, or a top rated management consulting firm, or you are in a Fortune 500 companies management trainee program? I can tell you that I did not get several jobs specifically because of a low GPA. I have to wonder. It’s one thing to not care about grades for an experienced hire, but what makes a company say “you know what? We have these Wharton and Columbia applicants with 4.0s and 3.9s, but lets take a chance of on this guy ‘Steve’ with the 2.5”. I think that people say it doesn’t matter because after they do finally get a job (as we all do) the only comparison they have is with other people at their performance level. I’ve often wondered who would call if I put my “super-me” resume out on line. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/42 "2004-12-09T20:25:58Z")
Asked for my GPA? No. Asked for a transcript? No. Seemed to even care that I had a degree? No. But I’m in a technical field where experience and/or certifications means a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/43 "2004-12-10T01:35:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I can tell you that I did not get several jobs specifically because of a low GPA. I’m curious to hear how you know that was the cause, because employers — or potential employers — rarely give a specific explanation for why you were not hired or promoted. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/44 "2004-12-10T01:43:24Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > What a stupid program! > > :smack: > > Most HR people probably don’t know about the unusual scale, so you were wise to use the “equivilent” GPA instead. I can’t believe that your school would use such a silly system. The obvious result would be for the graduates to suffer when applying because of the mis-understanding. My dad went to Purdue which has/had a 6.0 system. He graduated with around a 3.6, which translates into a 2.4/4.0 GPA but i’m sure nobody would check that. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/45 "2004-12-13T04:07:46Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I’m curious to hear how you know that was the cause, because employers — or potential employers — rarely give a specific explanation for why you were not hired or promoted. Because they said something to the effect of “your GPA is not competitive enough for this position.” There may be other factors, but basically I was applying for a program that typcially doesn’t look at GPAs below 3.7 and the only reason I even got an interview was that my dad worked for the company. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/46 "2004-12-13T04:35:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Because they said something to the effect of “your GPA is not competitive enough for this position.” There may be other factors, but basically I was applying for a program that typcially doesn’t look at GPAs below 3.7 and the only reason I even got an interview was that my dad worked for the company. But you went into business & finance (I assume), it may not be the same for other fields. I don’t think that it would matter at all in social work. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531/47 "2004-12-13T14:33:41Z")
_whew_ I’m glad GPA is not a tremendous factor here. I use to practically give myself ulcers worrying about my GPA, because every semester I totter between something right above a 3.0 and something right below. This semester I am trying really hard to get it back up to a 3.0, but it may not be possible. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-your-college-gpa-ever-affected-your-job/278531.md?page=2)