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C Students are the winners in life
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Sucks we have to pay a **** load to learn extra
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We have the Internet bro. We can learn pretty much anything for free at a pace that is perfect for you.
College leaves kids so burnt out from learning mostly pointless material that they don't have the energy to learn from the endless sources of information in the real world.
The biggest problem with education is that it turns learning into a chore. I have met hundreds of people who hate school but I have never met anyone who hates learning
College leaves kids so burnt out from learning mostly pointless material that they don't have the energy to learn from the endless sources of information in the real world.
The biggest problem with education is that it turns learning into a chore. I have met hundreds of people who hate school but I have never met anyone who hates learning
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Well said and agree but that free learning won't give you that piece of paper that will get you through the interview door.
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If you're competing for a job with 500 applicants, and only 50 open positions, best believe at least 150 will have 3.5's and up. And 100 of those applicants will have the networking skills, technical skills, etc. to excel at the job. So MAJORITY of the time (I know nt loves using outliers like it's the norm) the person with the 2.0 doesn't have a chance.
A 3.5 gpa displays with confidence to the employer that the student is competent and has a strong work ethic, MAJORITY of the time (no outliers again) and having those two traits are essential. Gotta remember, these HR people see thousands of resume's a day, GPA is the easy way to eliminate 50-75% of the applicants which ultimately makes their job ALOT easier.
A 3.5 gpa displays with confidence to the employer that the student is competent and has a strong work ethic, MAJORITY of the time (no outliers again) and having those two traits are essential. Gotta remember, these HR people see thousands of resume's a day, GPA is the easy way to eliminate 50-75% of the applicants which ultimately makes their job ALOT easier.
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Work experience > GPA
3.0 with community service, a somewhat relatable part time job, extra curriculars related to the job they want, already passed/working on any professional exams, etc. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> someone with just a 3.75. GPA is only one line in a 30sum line resume.
In cases where GPA matters, it really only matters for your first job. After being in a career for over 2 years you can remove that wasted line from your resume.
I have a friend who had barely over a 3.0 (the amount needed to graduate in my program). Didnt get the big 4 job out of the gate but worked for a smaller company and joined the big 4 as a senior accountant instead of a staff accountant. Then he transferred to some small investment firm in Houston. Now he works out of the rockefellar center in NYC and has some big job.
His career >>>>>>>>>>> anyone I knew with a 3.5 or higher
Im on a similar path. Just need to find an investment related accounting job so i can make the transition. I filled out a pre screening questionnaire that Allstate sent me for an Investment Accountant job. So hopefully I get the call back. This could be the beginning of my transition to wall street. If not I will find a different company. I aint worried. My 3.02 dont phase me at all.
Im far more regretful that I didnt make the right connections at school than I am that my gpa aint stellar. Prefer the path I ended up on than to be an expendable at some corporation that just looks for high GPA students without people skills.
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I do agree with NTdG that GPA matters less and less every year after finishing your higher education. I also do agree that GPA is not a perfect metric for one's ability to learn new things and solve problems.
With that said, I have to take issue with the notion that "A" students work for "C" students. The implication of this is that mediocre students posses a magical sort of cunning and hustle and with those attributes, they dominate the business world and therefore "C" students are superior. In reality, the reason why so many "C" students become bosses, business owners or rich people is because they are bros whose parents are rich, they knew that fact, they did the bare minimum to graduate and they can be confident that their familial access to capital, social and financial, will give them a leg up in the work of business. The "A" students are usually first generation college kids who have to keep their grades up in order to maintain their scholarship and financial aid packages.
The real lesson here is that in our system, intelligence and hard work are not rewarded and unearned wealth and having the right parents are what rule the day in business. that is why being a boss or being rich are not indicators of any sort of superior set of abilities and that is why a "C" student's success in business is not any sort of vindication for mediocrity in the classroom.
With that said, I have to take issue with the notion that "A" students work for "C" students. The implication of this is that mediocre students posses a magical sort of cunning and hustle and with those attributes, they dominate the business world and therefore "C" students are superior. In reality, the reason why so many "C" students become bosses, business owners or rich people is because they are bros whose parents are rich, they knew that fact, they did the bare minimum to graduate and they can be confident that their familial access to capital, social and financial, will give them a leg up in the work of business. The "A" students are usually first generation college kids who have to keep their grades up in order to maintain their scholarship and financial aid packages.
The real lesson here is that in our system, intelligence and hard work are not rewarded and unearned wealth and having the right parents are what rule the day in business. that is why being a boss or being rich are not indicators of any sort of superior set of abilities and that is why a "C" student's success in business is not any sort of vindication for mediocrity in the classroom.
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I agree with how GPA is only important when applying for your first job, which is what exactly I'm referring to in my example above. Correct, after you land that first position GPA becomes irrelevant and basically erased from all documents.
You mentioned above "3.0 with community service, a somewhat relatable part time job, extra curriculars related to the job they want, already passed/working on any professional exams, etc. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> someone with just a 3.75. GPA is only one line in a 30sum line resume."
Well what about the 3.75 student with identical credentials, "community service, somewhat relatable part time job, extra curriculars related to the job etc." then 9 out of 10 times the employer will select the student with the higher GPA (when all other things are equal)
Saying "work experience >>> GPA" is way to vague of a statement and really depends on the timing in a person's life. A senior in college chance of securing a position at a firm may heavily revolve around GPA whereas a thirty year old far removed from any University should definitely be concerned with have some decent work experience.
Congrats to your friend though, looks like he's in a great situation right now. Climbing the ladder in another accounting/finance related job definitely is a good way to ease your way and make the transition in a reputable CPA firm. I start my first year big 4 in October.
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this is true
but i hate the perception that you need to have rich parents to come out of college with a great network
i spent my entire life growing up in shanghai. when i came to vancouver for university i literally did not know a single person in the city
now, just from being active in going to events and proving my worth I know a bunch of key players in the industry i'm in as well as a bunch of professors and high level school admins
its really just figuring out how to stand out. what people dont understand is the only way to do that is by learning things not taught in class.
no one will give you a second look if you talk to a computer science prof and show him that you know the same html that the other 300 people in your class know. but if you really care about coding and took the time to learn something more advanced then all of a sudden this professor is interested and is willing to hold a conversation with you. conversation leads to getting invited to a research project and just like that you have work experience without even needing to get a grade in any pointless class.
building a great network around you is not about luck (although some people are born into great networks) its about figuring out what unique skills to learn and presenting yourself as someone that can do something your peers cant.
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its not that that piece of paper is super important, a degree only seems important because of how terrible the education system is. when most kids graduate college a degree is all they have to prove their worth, that's why degrees seem to be important (of course there are some areas where degrees are actually important, law for example) if the education system allowed and encouraged kids to build a portfolio of actual examples of talent then recruiters would not need to rely on a piece of paper and a number to determine ones worth.
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