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Due to some mental and physical issues in the past, I have ended up with a terrible GPA. Prior to the last semester, I had a 1.8. This semester, I managed to get a 3.5, which is ok, but now my GPA is only 2.2. I feel like my most recent semester's GPA shows that I am a decent student, especially as the previous semester I had tried to complete was Spring of 2016. However, I feel like my GPA is going to scare any potential employer or summer program away. Because of registration issues, I've only been able to complete 1 class in my Economics major (back when I started college in Fall 2012). I don't feel like I'm competitive for anything. Should I suck it up and do an unpaid internship? I'm willing to do anything that would help me obtain gainful employment by the time I graduate. It doesn't matter how much it costs; finances aren't a problem for me thankfully. EDIT: I have to add, I'm not a STEM major and I didn't fail my classes because they were too hard or anything like that. Right now I don't have many tangible skills. Nirvikalpa fucked around with this message at 07:22 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 06:30
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If finances aren't a problem, can you ask your rich family members for a job when you graduate? Alternately, what kinds of jobs are you looking for? I'm thinking of something like actuary work, where all you need is to pass your exams and that's what they care about.
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Jan 5, 2018 07:12
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moana posted:Alternately, what kinds of jobs are you looking for? I'm thinking of something like actuary work, where all you need is to pass your exams and that's what they care about. I'm thinking of working in something like marketing or sales. I like the idea of data science but I don't know if I'm qualified. I like making and interpreting surveys, but I might need more statistics classes before anyone cares. Doesn't being an actuary require a Math degree? I don't have that kind of skill.
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Jan 5, 2018 07:22
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Okay, well I'm not qualified to answer how to get a normal job in your shoes barring nepotism. If it were me, instead of doing a lovely unpaid intership, I'd start my own marketing company. Read, read, read, learn how to do social media campaigns and try to book some companies for cheap or free to get experience. At worst, you learn a lot about business, entrepreneurship, and some specific internet marketing strategies, plus a great resume booster. At best, you start making big bucks and you have a job without needing to get hired. But that's me, I like entrepreneurship. when you're young, it's easier to go balls to the wall in a startup and failure doesn't mean disaster. Right now the most important thing you can do is build your skillset, and learn learn learn as much as possible. I doubt a intern position will do that for you, but if you're not a self starter then you might need the structure. You know your strengths, what do you think?
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Jan 5, 2018 07:42
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Nirvikalpa posted:I'm thinking of working in something like marketing or sales. I like the idea of data science but I don't know if I'm qualified. I like making and interpreting surveys, but I might need more statistics classes before anyone cares.
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Jan 5, 2018 07:49
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moana posted:Okay, well I'm not qualified to answer how to get a normal job in your shoes barring nepotism. If it were me, instead of doing a lovely unpaid intership, I'd start my own marketing company. Read, read, read, learn how to do social media campaigns and try to book some companies for cheap or free to get experience. At worst, you learn a lot about business, entrepreneurship, and some specific internet marketing strategies, plus a great resume booster. At best, you start making big bucks and you have a job without needing to get hired. I have a little bit of entrepreneurial spirit but not that much. If I did I probably wouldn't be in college right now. I just want gainful employment. moana posted:Also pull your head out of your rear end about being "qualified", nobody cares about how many stats classes you take. Can you do useful things with surveys? If so, charge for it. If not, learn what you need to learn to do useful things, then charge for it. No class in the world is as helpful as the internet in learning how to do useful things. What businesses need surveys? I dunno, go ask some business owners what they need. Google that poo poo. Don't expect college to spoonfeed you the answers, it won't happen that way. How do I get in contact with business owners? Do employers not care about coursework? That's a surprise. I'm also looking to see what the result will be if I apply to internships with Cisco or Red Hat or something. Are employers going to throw my resume into the trash if they see my GPA?
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Jan 5, 2018 07:58
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Nirvikalpa posted:How do I get in contact with business owners? quote:Do employers not care about coursework? quote:I'm also looking to see what the result will be if I apply to internships with Cisco or Red Hat or something. Are employers going to throw my resume into the trash if they see my GPA? Get thee to your college's career services department and start begging them for help finding a internship.
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Jan 5, 2018 08:08
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Look for internships or jobs that don’t look for gpa, you’d be surprised how many don’t. I got hired as intern with a 2.6 GPA out of college. They never asked and I never told and I still work there many years later. You seem to be under the impression that every prospective job gives a poo poo, I guarantee that’s not the case. Does your school have a career center? If so, go talk to them and see what’s out there.
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Jan 5, 2018 08:14
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You're a student, everyone expects you to be an abject idiot with no skills. You should do something related to a future professional field, but if you do not get a job you need to work somewhere (working experience is useful even if it's not in your professional field since it signals to prospective employers that you are motivated enough to do work and that you can show up on time and do poo poo as requested), or do something that is developing and improving your skills.
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Jan 5, 2018 15:46
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I've never had any employer give a poo poo about my GPA, just that I had a degree. With that being said, can you maybe retake some of the classes you did poorly in and get a better grade to help boost your GPA if it matters that much?
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Jan 9, 2018 22:44
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Nirvikalpa posted:Due to some mental and physical issues in the past, I have ended up with a terrible GPA. Prior to the last semester, I had a 1.8. This semester, I managed to get a 3.5, which is ok, but now my GPA is only 2.2. I feel like my most recent semester's GPA shows that I am a decent student, especially as the previous semester I had tried to complete was Spring of 2016. My alma mater, a public school, ‘forgave’ a friends horrific grades for a semester or two after he received a mental health diagnosis. Worth looking into. He may have lost the credits but it gave him a new chance
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Jan 10, 2018 02:12
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DJCobol posted:I've never had any employer give a poo poo about my GPA, just that I had a degree. With that being said, can you maybe retake some of the classes you did poorly in and get a better grade to help boost your GPA if it matters that much? Yeah I am doing that right now What field do you work in? Some care more about GPA than others
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Jan 21, 2018 17:24
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Are you able to re-take courses where you got the low grades? Not all of them obviously, but if you skated by a course with a D, focusing on only that for a time and turning it in to an A would be a good boost. Assuming you're at 60 credits now, replacing a D and a C with As and getting all As and Bs for the rest of your program should bump you up to just under 3.0. There is still a lot of time to fix this. Moneyball fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jan 21, 2018 |
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Jan 21, 2018 17:39
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Nirvikalpa posted:Yeah I am doing that right now. What field do you work in? Some care more about GPA than others
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Jan 23, 2018 03:52
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I work in marketing. Employers care about experience > GPA. Do internships.
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Jan 23, 2018 17:23
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Adding to the chorus here but the only thing most employers (especially in non-STEM fields) give a poo poo about is "do you have a degree?" Mostly they don't even care what kind of degree you have (much less what your GPA was) as long as you have a degree. The rest is selling yourself through your cover letters/resume and your interview. Internships are legalized slavery but there's no way around it, they're the best resume builders at the transition from student to employee. Get one if you can.
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Jan 23, 2018 18:13
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I got accepted to a somewhat prestigious private school summer language program. It's a lot of money but my professors who knew about the program congratulated me for getting in.
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Feb 21, 2018 06:21
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Nirvikalpa posted:I got accepted to a somewhat prestigious private school summer language program. It's a lot of money but my professors who knew about the program congratulated me for getting in. Congrats on gettin' grifted.
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Feb 22, 2018 04:46
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Yeah, you're not going to learn any language in 12 weeks. Unless you're going on a scholarship or the language is very specifically related to exactly what you want to do after college I wouldn't recommend it.
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Feb 22, 2018 22:47
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Like, a program just to learn a language? Here's a loving crazy idea, take that money and buy a plane ticket and learn to speak the language by speaking the language. Jesus Christ, a prestigious language program? Nobody but nobody is going to give a poo poo.
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Feb 22, 2018 22:51
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moana posted:Like, a program just to learn a language? Here's a loving crazy idea, take that money and buy a plane ticket and learn to speak the language by speaking the language. Jesus Christ, a prestigious language program? Nobody but nobody is going to give a poo poo. Calm down. Yorkshire Pudding posted:Yeah, you're not going to learn any language in 12 weeks. Unless you're going on a scholarship or the language is very specifically related to exactly what you want to do after college I wouldn't recommend it. The program is actually eight weeks. And they claim to get you to novice high OPI by the end of the course, but I'm not sure what your definition of "actually" learning the language is.
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Feb 22, 2018 23:28
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Nirvikalpa posted:It doesn't matter how much it costs; finances aren't a problem for me thankfully. You have relatively rich parents that are paying for all this stuff, presumably? I hope for their sake that they are actually really well off - I have read so many horror stories of parents sacrificing their own financial security trying to help their kid, while the kid wastes time in school not learning any useful skills or even excelling academically.
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Feb 22, 2018 23:37
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If they let you in with a 2.2 GPA then it's not actually prestigious. I'm skeptical that "prestigious, paid language crash course" is even a thing that exists. I knew a guy in college that paid $500/month for an apartment in Spain and took free language classes they offered to the public (intended for immigrants I think). Do that if you want to learn language and your parents are paying. Don't give money to scammers. OctaviusBeaver fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Feb 23, 2018 |
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Feb 23, 2018 04:18
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Nirvikalpa posted:However, I feel like my GPA is going to scare any potential employer or summer program away. Because of registration issues, I've only been able to complete 1 class in my Economics major (back when I started college in Fall 2012). You've taken one class in your major in 5 years of college. Maybe college isn't your thing?
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Feb 23, 2018 07:10
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if you're doing summer school you need to get your poo poo together on your major GPA
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Feb 23, 2018 16:31
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Oh looked, something change. Despite my abysmal GPA, I somehow got accepted to a fellowship that pays for the summer and next summer. I don't think the stipend is that high but I get free airfare and housing for the summer. I will also be camping and white water rafting in national parks for free this summer. Because I no longer need to pay for tuition, my dad agreed to invest $5500 in my Roth IRA. Yay.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:00
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Nirvikalpa posted:Oh looked, something change. Despite my abysmal GPA, I somehow got accepted to a fellowship that pays for the summer and next summer. I don't think the stipend is that high but I get free airfare and housing for the summer. I will also be camping and white water rafting in national parks for free this summer. Because I no longer need to pay for tuition, my dad agreed to invest $5500 in my Roth IRA. Yay. I wish I had rich parents that don’t seem to care about me wasting their money. What’s the fellowship for that your “abysmal” gpa apparently wasn’t a red flag to them?
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Apr 12, 2018 21:10
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Nirvikalpa fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Apr 20, 2018 |
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Apr 12, 2018 21:34
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How long is the fellowship? It's Summer 2018 and Summer 2019? I don't understand your timeline here. And you're also going to be whitewater rafting and camping Summer 2018? As a (nonpaying) customer, not a (paid) guide, correct?
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Apr 12, 2018 21:38
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Nirvikalpa fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Apr 20, 2018 |
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Apr 13, 2018 03:13
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