Is your college GPA reflective of your potential? 24 AnswersNo, I had to adjust to the rigor of my colllege and started an upward trend. Hardly. A GPA is based on what you have achieved rather than on what you could achieve. I'm not saying the two are unrelated, but a GPA could also reflect the ability to work hard or to be a smooth talker. Three people might get the same GPA, while one is working hard as hell, the other is average but compensated with good social skills and talks his way out of everything and the third one is plain lazy but smart by nature. The potential of the three would be different in real life than in college. Not in the least. It reflects your ability at that time and place to attain scores in chosen subjects. Show More Responses If you had a bad GPA, say no--find examples of where you excelled or how you adjusted. If you had a great GPA, say no--its just a silly number that is hugely inflated anyway. Point out things independent of your GPA that you're proud of and think better represent you potential . Totally agree with GBAD. Good advice Also agree with GBAD and John. While I think this is a better question than "What was your GPA" (which interviewers shouldn't be asking for anything beyond pure entry-level jobs anyway), the fact is that your GPA depends as much on where you went and what you majored in as on how much work you did. Even then, it's not necessarily a good indicator of future professional performance, since soft skills that have nothing to do with studiousness are at least as important to your success. Definitely answer in the negative and respond by drawing attention to more relevant characteristics. If you had a great GPA, play it up. Say it is a very common, but not always perfect, way of gauging yourself against your peers. It shows success as judged by a usually impartial instructor/professor. Then show how well balanced you are with extra-curricular activities, including successes that were not graded. Finally, you might give an example of something learned from a class, despite a subpar grade. What do you mean GPA? In Canada we dont have that kind of score. GPA is reflective of your desire to excel. Does not matter what the situation is, a person with a high GPA should correlate with the higher motivation and/or resourcefulness. It may not, however, reflect on your ability to succeed in a professional setting. Because the desired skillset may be different. But it clearly reflects on a person. Me: Unfortunately no, it does not take into account my failures outside of school, you may want to look at my financial statement for that information. Logically, no, since history indicates that some of the world's greatest achievements have been accomplished by those having flunked out or dropped out of colleges and universities. Truly not. My GPA's is a grade point average of my teacher's understanding of my potential. My current/past earnings is the true understanding of my potential. Orijit is very correct! GPA does correlate to the person's desire to excel. Look at Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger--they certainly have no desire to not excel! Show More Responses No...my GPA was greater than zero which is more than I can say for my potential. What does GPA stand for???? GPA stands for Grade Point Average. US high school and college courses are typically associated with a max of 4. That is, top grade is 4.0 (A+), while 1.0 is a very poor grade (D/F probably). Usually there are 2 decimal places. typical gpas - 3.85, 3.29, 2.94, 3.98 and so on. If your GPA is below 2.5 or sometimes 3.0 folks usually don't want to talk about it. Kind of irrelevant to the initial conversation, however I can certainly remember the most from the classes I did poorly in. Absolutely! You have no idea how much tenacity it required to maintain a 2.3 average while getting drunk and stoned on a regular basis. Just think of what I can do while sober. Depends on the job I guess. GPA is important in some ways, or it wouldn't exist. If it said high school, I would almost definitely say no, but since it says college I think it matters a little. Most people are taking classes they want to take in college, not classes forced on them. If you can't even do well at something you like to do, how will you deal with a job that probably deals with a ton of things you don't want to do such as getting up at 6 AM? However, when you're 40 and applying for a job, your ability to take in facts and put them back out on a piece of paper when you were young probably won't be what can make or break your chance of getting the job. I would say not exactly b'coz a GPA is a not only a refection of your potential but it comes due to a combination of luck, professors mood while checking the paper, personal situations in your life while your exam time,your team or group in your project and much more. Soo things can be both bad or good at different times leading to a good or a bad GPA. Soo i feel it is only a number making you qualify to apply for a position today but what can u make yourself tomorrow totally depends upon your determination and hard work... No. The people with the highest GPAs in my classes were the least social. They did nothing but study. I believe more rounded or social individuals are better for any job. An elderly Biochemistry professor said, "The best pharmacists are the C students." definitly yes...i never went to college, so my gpa is zero....i'm better than that. School teaches you how to learn. If you know how to learn then you don't have to be confined by one profession. Also, I know of no college that teaches you how to collaborate, schmoosh with people, time manage, show initiative, get along with diverse personalities. All these things are either in your makeup or learned over time by experience in the workplace.. Show More Responses (If GPA is good) Yes it is. In given amount of time with available resources I made a best product and as you know the environment is challenging and one's potential in college is judged by the strong scores so I followed the parameter. (If GPA is bad) Not really. There's a huge different between actual and classroom setting. It's not necessary that the person weak in Mathematics would be weak in decision making. Natural phenomena of opportunity exploitation works in mysterious ways. |