Does GPA matters?

[Anessa]

I know a lot of bank tellers without a degree. They just had a well placed family member to do their bidding.

[bigphil]

You dont need a degree to be a teller, I dont see why you would want to if you had a degree anyway.

GPAs are important for applying to grad school, not really so much for finding a job/career.

[RLP06]

GPAs are important in some professions, and it does seperate people. I think when you say GPA doesn't matter, you should mention the profession, and whether its hearsay or actual experience.

GPA means whether you graduate with honours, distinction, high distinction etc, so every year matters for things like that. In the end, it does seperate you from the pack.

[ericyjh85]

When exactly will employers realize that sometimes stupid people get high grades. High grades can be achieved by copying, memorization of material right before a test, and simple luck if its multiple choice.

There are far too many people in University who have no idea what they are writing down on a test, but they know when to put it down. That gets them the high grade. Ask them to repeat what they just did in a scenario that's a little different, and they're screwed.

There are always old tests/midterms and exams floating around, it's not too difficult to memorize 75% of the answers and guess on the other 25%.

Lots of courses are subjective and if the prof does not feel good that day, you'll end up with a low grade. Perhaps you'll write a good essay that does not fit with the profs views, you'll get a low grade.

I wonder when employers and scholarships reviewers will start to take those things under consideration.

In university, stupid people don't get high grades period. Stupid people are the ones that don't prepare for exams. THey don't look over the old practice exams, they don't spend an extra hour or two every day to go over lecture material. People who spend time studying and less time going out to bars/socializing are not stupid. Of course, some people copy notes from their friends and end up with a good/decent mark, but they are few and far between and they can only go so far before the bad habits catch up with them.

Shortcuts can only get you so far, in the long run, the "smart" people who take the easy way out will not be able to maintain their GPA. There is no shortcut to a stellar GPA, you have to earn it and I am speaking from personal experience. Hope that helps.

[caliente]

People who spend time studying and less time going out to bars/socializing are not stupid. Of course, some people copy notes from their friends and end up with a good/decent mark, but they are few and far between and they can only go so far before the bad habits catch up with them.

Shortcuts can only get you so far, in the long run, the "smart" people who take the easy way out will not be able to maintain their GPA. There is no shortcut to a stellar GPA, you have to earn it and I am speaking from personal experience. Hope that helps.

I went to school with some very intelligent people who studied very little. All achieved excellent marks. There will always be people like this. On the other hand, I was always thankful I wasn't one of those people who had to study super hard in order to get just good, but not excellent, marks.

I also speak from personal experience when I say it's not necessary to go to class all the time nor do all the things people say you should do to prepare. If a class (more likely the prof who is lecturing) is a waste of time, don't waste your time attending! You can find better uses for your time. Copying notes is not a crime -- just make sure you get them from a good note-taker!

People, programs, and schools are different. It is definitely possible to get a stellar gpa without extending oneself much; it is also possible to extend oneself to the edge of exhaustion and achieve only a respectable gpa. C'est la vie!

[RLP06]

People, programs, and schools are different. It is definitely possible to get a stellar gpa without extending oneself much; it is also possible to extend oneself to the edge of exhaustion and achieve only a respectable gpa. C'est la vie!

Very true about schools and programs. There are definately programs/schools that people could easily get a full GPA in without even trying...won't name any names.

There are defiantely programs out there that you have to push yourself to the edge to get the GOOD GPAs, and in these programs, GPA does matter...

[g5cubed]

When someone says they have 3.8 GPA, what percentage would this be. Do you simply divide 3.8/4=95%?

[SamInfinity]

When someone says they have 3.8 GPA, what percentage would this be. Do you simply divide 3.8/4=95%?

No, a GPA cannot be directly converted into an average, because GPA is weighted. That is to say that full year courses are "worth more". Also, all marks within a certain range will be given the identical GPA, so it's very useless to try and make such a correlation. For example, on a GPA scale for UofT, an 85-100% is the same GPA wise at 4.0. What you can deduce when they say they have a 3.8 GPA is that a large fraction of their courses were above a certain percentage point, but that's about it.

[jiongjunwu]

I don't think you divide by 4. Don't you divide by 5?

[ullyeus]

Nah, no one cares but they will notice if you speak or write poorly.

[dmdsoftware2]

When someone says they have 3.8 GPA, what percentage would this be. Do you simply divide 3.8/4=95%?

3.8 is 78-82% at uoft.

[ziptron]

I went to school with some very intelligent people who studied very little. All achieved excellent marks. There will always be people like this. On the other hand, I was always thankful I wasn't one of those ............

I fully agree.

I mean I was not promoting cheating.. but I was saying that grades shouldn't always matter. Because sometimes very intelligent people are left out of scholarships and jobs, and intelligence should not only be based on grades.

[SamInfinity]

I went to school with some very intelligent people who studied very little. All achieved excellent marks. There will always be people like this. On the other hand, I was always thankful I wasn't one of those people who had to study super hard in order to get just good, but not excellent, marks.

yeah, there will always be people like that, but keep in mind, marks aren't everything. Great marks != success. If you take a look around you, it's not always those that are most intelligent bookwise who get ahead. I'd say the really intelligent ones are those who are well-rounded. They reap the scholarships, the jobs with professors, and those lucrative references. Some people may study very little, many obviously know how to work hard too, because university is all about networking.