Hey, those of who have graduated from college, how important do you think grades are? Lately, I haven't been able to find any motivation in doing better in my studies or getting good grades. So, I need some motivation. I wanna know if grades really matter when I look for job in future. Any suggestions?

Someone in need of motivation :(

यस ऐ नो वाट यु आर टकिङ्ग अबाउट, फिलिप फलप। सो बेटर इस्टार्ट प्रैक्टिसिङ्ग नेपाली, नो वाट ऐ मिन?

I was thinking of doing a project to lift up my grades in math but your suggestions have made me think twice. Maybe all this hard work ain't worth it, so I think I will go out tonight and have fun before my finals are over. There's not much difference between B- and B anyways.

Indisguise,
I have experienced the magic of a couple of C's. Those are just superb. But I have had enough. Hopefully I won't get any more C's.

Thanks to all!

Now we're talking. That's the spirit.

Reminds me of good ol'days. :)

Well I hung around B+ and B most of my life...not impressive yet I do admit that what I learned from textbooks were not the most interesting things nor were they exceptionally useful for me.I was interested in reading and learning stuffs like Military History, Aviation technology, Military Hardware etc which was well way beyond the subject matter of my formal education.

I became a professional in a field that I never imagined because it was deeply interesting. I guess I'm very glad to see that I passed without any grades at all.

i wonder what the correlation is between those who say grades dont matter and their gpas...jus a thought.

ok ok .. grades do not matter huh.
Lets c....
1. If you want to apply for graduate studies @ University of Wisconsin Madison [ Electrical Engineering]. pre application selection criterion : MINIMUM GPA: 3.85
2. AT&T research Lab Internship application. GPA criterion 3.8

these are facts. and I am sure connections and other will take away lot of requirements but if you have to sell yourself for any position then it is better to have everything one can harness [ including GPA].

Just my 2+2 cents
====================================================
but as always
what do i know (O:
hoina ta !!!!

matter or not i 'll take 100% anytime

A student who shall aspire to earn such scholarship, or who harbor the ambition to get into some fine grad school should know that grades do play a part to fall into the zone, in whatever percentage that be. If one aspires to have the best bite at the pie, every loose screw has to be tightened for the "best shot."

However, notwithstanding some inevitable exceptions, I am more or less comfortable "suggesting" that, "based of the information/reviews the universities themselves provide for "public" viewing on their website," most graduate school do not have 'fixed' GPA requirement. All they present is the "mean," the average of all the accepted applicants. The same applies to GMAT and GRE. How much of these can be offset by experience and other extra-curricular roles of some merit; not to mention recommendations, are vague but "significant."

Thus, making it "more" of an art than science.

Having said that, it does not hurt to have two warm coats in the winter now, eh'! One or the other shall keep us warm, and to top if off, it is more appealing.

My argument is, it's grades do not matter, is does. But it is overrated.

IndisGuise:)

P.S: Does University of Wisconsin Madison [Electrical Engineering] really have 3.85 as GPA criterion? Random audit showed entirely different information which significantly differed from the above statement.

- For the internship in business field at AT & T stands at 3.5. (Source: AT&T website.)

"My argument is, it's not that grades do not matter; it does. But it is overrated.

Also, if I could have it my way, I'ld take 4.0 aka 100% everytime as well ;)

*Ignore the typos.

good grades----> can bring smile in parent's face
-----> helps in self esteem and self motivation( bit/more)
----->as said earlier( resume is not trashed as first second they get it)
= few step forward thn people with poor grades!


offccourse its overrated!but i guess its sometime worthy!whereas in few cases its worthless!

just a thout!

Grades are everything. Believe me or not. Grades give you easy going through college by making you elegible for scholorship. When you are in college you will have an enternship and when you graduate you will have a job, all becuase of the gpa. Having a good gpa you have better standing on proving yourself that you do not have any sort of learning disability and you can learn things fast. People who say grades are not important often say that experience is important. However, how can one have expirence if he doesn't even get a job after his college. Grades are very very imp. If you just want to learn and be educated then you don't even need to go to university. You can spend time on a local library and read and learn on your own.
We all go to universities to graduate , so we can find a job. What the point of going to school and graduate with low gpa with no option to go to grad school or find a job.

It all depends...If you are "C" maker than grades are important for you. But in my case "A"s and "B"s were coming easily (Its not because I am talented, its because my fellow Indian Scholars were busy making money working in Gas station and I had to compete with them...hehehehe...)and I never thought about calculating the aggregate grades and all. However, Its good to have good grade, but grade is only not the major thing.

I am talking about the world outside of the university. While working, your grades won't help you if you don't have enough knowledge to perform your work. In some cases, your grade reflects your knowledge so if you have good grade you have good knowledge.

Finally, Its knowledge you should have rather than running after the grades. My boss never looked at my Marksheet when he interviewed me. I got the job. If he had seen my grades then that would be more easy for me to secure this job.

I am sure he must have looked at your grades too. However, he might not have brought it up because he did not see a problem.
Grades are very important. Yes, knowledge is important but how can you prove them you have a knowledge if they trash your resume in a frist look.
I don't understand everyone who's received decend gpa is telling that grades are not important, why? if they were so not important why did you have them.. why not go fail some classes to prove your point.
Companies will train you before they give you job responsibility. However, if you have bad gpa then they won't even consider you.

"Grades are everything. Believe me or not. Grades give you easy going through college by making you elegible for scholorship"

Are you kidding me dyamn bro? As an international student especially in a state university, even if you have grades close to 4.0 noone really gives a damn! yes yes! they'll organize plenty of functions where they'll give a paper saying "u r academically superior" n what not. However, the plight of international student is getting through college and a paper praising you doesn't help at most times. I had got to a point that I told the vice president of the university that I'd rather get money used to make the certificate than the certificate itself :).

That's that. Grades do count. It is a criterion society has imposed in a subtle manner to distinguish the students per see. However, success of getting a job and graduate school has also a lot to do with being at the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. And if you have a big daddy like Bush, there's always affirmative action for the RICH that can always bail you out. :)

hey guys, like oys said, it is important to be in right place at right time to get a job or get in to a good grad school. i have friends with GPA 4.0 and close to 4.0, but they did not get job. they are really intelligent people. one of my friend with descent gre score, couple of publications, 4.0 gpa did not get into the school of his interest. he did not apply for MIT/berkeley/austin, which are considered best schools in engineering. on the flip side, i have also known few people with same major, relatively lower grade( around 3.0-3.2) from relatively lower ranked school getting jobs. so, i guess its luck too , or right place at right time.
about UW madison, that school is crazy. even people with 1450+ gre with good acads denied admission. i guess a lot of chinese students with great gre made that happen.

It comes in a package. When you are applying for the grad school, scholarships or jobs -grades DOES matter. However, grades are not the ONLY thing that is looked at.
Having good grades is important, very important.
There are some very successful people who did not get good grades or did not even graduate and they make the headlines however these are exceptions and should not be taken as role models for dropping out of school or for not paying attention to grades. If you look at the online salary surveys graduates make more than non-graduates. The higher the education the salary is better. There are exceptions on this as well I know a Nepali PHD professor who used to make little more than minimum wage for a long time, now he teaches at high school.
To sum it up - grades and degrees does matter, but that is not the only thing that matters.
-Shiv

Oys Chill bro, did you go through college without a scholorship? I don't think so. If you had received a scholorship , would you have received it with a bad grade also? please consider these questions before you bring out your frustration of being a foreign student.
thanks

and lower grade is not 3.0 to 3.2 , it's 2.0 to 2.2 around.

"it is important to be in right place at right time to get a job or get in to a good grad school"
True. However, being in right place at a right time is not enough. You have to do the right thing too. Getting a good gpa and securing your chances to enter into the possibility of succeding is one of the right things to do, when you're still on college.

I always have very hard time translating the grades as a measure of success or a potential for success.

Is it just me or all you'll..studing in USA is easy getting good grades is easy, since I came to US, I think I bought my books if I can remember 9 time rest I consulted the internet and attendend the class took notes....I don't know ~~- I am not here to boast but I think it was a fly - both bachelors, and masters degree wasn't like what I went thru back home, jussssst made 1st div and that was a what I called real studying...day in and day out..here I worked two jobs just to make an`meat pay the bills and the college..dang.. Wot do u all think?