Importance of GPA as an Engineer, (I'm not doing so well)

[Abraham]

How important is gpa in college? How did it factor into you getting your current job?

I don't find learning material difficult, but testing is killing me. I was so rushed these first few college exams.

I understand the material very well. My style of working is carefully checking each result, organizing, and making sure everything is in order. But it takes me so much time just to think about the problem such as in calc II, that I hardly have time to write it out and actually solve it. Eventually I get the answer, but I always find myself short on time. I'm despairing just a bit.

I am determined and willing to work until results are produced. And I have no intention at all of switching majors, or giving up on engineering...but...

I just want to know from those of you who have been here before, how important is gpa? Will I have no future as an (aero) engineer if my testing abilities are so bad, my gpa is lowered?

 

[Topher925]

In my experience, most employers look for a 3.0 or higher. The difference between a 3.2 and 3.8 is nothing, but the difference between a 3.2 and 2.8 is huge.

Part of understanding the material is that you understand it very well in such a sense it doesn't take you a long time to solve the problem. Anyone can solve just about anything given enough time. You don't really understand the material until you can solve problems quickly without effort. If I were you I would do more problems and study the material a bit more if your GPA is below 3.0.

 

[kote]

In my experience, most employers look for a 3.0 or higher. The difference between a 3.2 and 3.8 is nothing, but the difference between a 3.2 and 2.8 is huge.

That absolutely depends on the job. I wouldn't say that at all. Some jobs ask for at least a 3.6 right on their websites. Some only ever take 3.8+. Above 3.8ish it's all probably about the same, but not until that point.

I agree that below around the 3 mark (probably higher actually) it becomes much harder to get into aerospace engineering, at least with a larger company. It also, of course, depends on the school.

If you keep your GPA up once you're primarily taking courses actually in your department, a strong major GPA is one way to make up for a slow start.