

Forget Your GPA - SparksZilla
http://refer.ly/forget-your-gpa/c/faf268f6885011e2bfbf22000a1db8fa

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Spooky23
It depends on what you want to do with yourself. You also need to be able to
be brutally honest with yourself.

If your goal is to be a doctor, attorney, MBA, you need to sell your soul to
get the best grades possible. A JD/MBA from a top tier school translates into
a high paying gig when you leave. The same degree from a state school means
you get to review contracts for some County or work at Starbucks.

I had a 2.2 GPA in CS -- mostly because I had to work full time through
school, was lazy, and didn't have enough time. I love computers and IT, but
didn't have passion for what I was doing. I was passionate about history and
writing, and ended up with a dual major that was fun for me (I had a great in
history), even with hardly any time investment. I stuck with CS because I had
no interest in academia/teaching/law or other things that a History degree
helps with.

I adopted a system like what this guy did... I was actually detained by campus
security in the final for one of my "E1" classes because the professor had
never seen me and thought I was taking the test for someone.

That meant that I wasn't going to be working for a top tier technology
company. So I got a job with a tiny company, built a network, and ended up
with a pretty awesome role.

If you're really struggling with the material and can't get an A after giving
it 110%, you're just not at the top of the curve. It's not the end of the
world, accept it or move on to something you are passionate about.

~~~
rscale
_If you're really struggling with the material and can't get an A after giving
it 110%, you're just not at the top of the curve._

This was me in my first collegiate art elective. I put in enormous effort, but
there was no _there_ there. It was a valuable and humbling experience.

I'd used the author's "technique" in high school by making sure to get As in
math and science, and simply not trying in the humanities classes. This plan
backfired terribly, and in multiple ways.

Backfire #1: I was accepted by my top choice (CS @ CMU), but I wasn't offered
any scholarships, and finances pushed me towards a less expensive option.

Backfire #2: it delayed recognition of the gaps in my abilities. I thought I
was getting 'B's because I wasn't trying, when I actually had (sometimes
serious) unaddressed gaps in my skill set.

Backfire #3: it delayed the realization that I really enjoy some of the
subjects I'd blown off.

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elchief
As a teacher in a top grad school, the grades matter somewhat, but if you show
yourself to be smart as fuck in class (by asking good questions/making good
comments), and get B's, I'm still recommending you.

Yes, teachers do get asked who their top students are by employers.

~~~
TheSpook
Having just served on the admissions committee for a top CS school, a
student's recommendation letters and publication record are weighted far more
heavily than his or her GPA. That said, the GPA is not entirely discounted---
especially for those applying from unknown or lesser known schools. It can act
as a red flag if the rest of the application is not stellar.

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rekoros
I had a professor in college who set the A at 93%. We didn't have pluses and
minuses. Going into the final, I was very close to an A, at 92 point
something. The final had, like, 200 questions. I did really well, but was
_one_ question away from 93%.

The professor suggested that I review the test to see if I can find an error
in the questions that I got wrong. I couldn't.

He said: "I'm giving you a B. I know it sucks, but guess what: if I give you
an A right now, tomorrow you'll forget about it. This B, you'll remember it
for the rest of your life. It's gonna suck right now, but you'll see that out
of everything I've taught you, this B is going to be the thing that matters."

That B, it made me a wiser man.

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ultimoo
As a grad student, this is especially relevant since I have three courses that
are mandatory to getting the degree. One subject on "Enterprise Systems" was
more of a history lesson in software, and another subject comprised largely of
unpublished material by the professor. I kinda feel foolish looking at the
effort I put in to study those two subjects, when I could have spent the same
energy in something else. Like learning lisp maybe, which I have been wanting
to for quite a bit. I also resonate with putting extra effort into obtaining
an A+ for a relevant subject that goes a long way, which I am now doing for a
course on Virtualization and another on TCP/IP Architecture.

~~~
jzwinck
You can learn Lisp on your own, outside of the curriculum. But you would not
learn that unpublished material from the professor outside of school. Unless
the professor's material was rubbish, maybe everything worked out for the
best. Once you get a job you'll have 25-45 years to learn about more practical
topics.

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astrobiased
This depends on which field of study you're in. If you want to go to grad
school for astrophysics, getting that high GPA score is important. But, I do
agree that halving your time to get a B+ versus an A is good. This type of
decision making shows that you're good at managing your time and setting your
priorities right.

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aidenn0
FWIW, don't opt for the E1/B1 part of the curve in that graph. I graduated
with a GPA around 2.2 and it made it very hard to find a job.

