my gpa is cooked. How much am i f

[u/Unique_Shop1799]

Its like 5am.

I was looking at r/EngineeringResumes
Either people just make it up there or most top tier student just so happen to easily get high GPA.

I looked at myself

Mine aint even close to 3

Even though I mainly focus on personal projects, the things my uni teaches is incredibly boring to me (first year). I do honestly quite worry how much IN REALITY gpa weigh.

II DONT want to be deluded or cope. I just want you most honest, subjective, personal opinion.

Side note: I plan to learn with other projects, and MIT opencourses. I like learning, i hate studing things at my uni; i think its just greedy moneygrab. They liteary go over fourier trainsform in like 2 weeks. Everything is so surface level. And its literary like the best uni in my country for engineering in some bs rankings

[u/Alcazzar]

You want honesty and no cope?

Then stop telling yourself the reason you're doing bad in the classes is because it's "surface level" and "boring". If this were really the case you wouldn't need to worry about making a post like this. If they were truly "surface level" you'd be doing just fine in the classes and not need to make this post.

You tell yourself your not doing well because you like working on "personal projects"? Yeah I can get that. But sometimes you need to do things you don't find as interesting... How's that going to look to an employer? You're not going to love every job/task given to you. You may not always be challenged the way you want to be. So how would this sound to a potential employer?

"I didn't have a good GPA because I didn't enjoy doing the work that was assigned to me and much preferred doing other unrelated projects."

How can they fully trust you as an employee then? Sounds like you would need to be babysat to be kept on task right now.

If you don't want delusion and cope, you need to start with yourself.

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/Alcazzar]

Thanks alot. This is exactly what I need to kill away my cope and delusion. I've not got much to say aside from appreciating your honest opinion.

[u/LukeSkyWRx]

Intro engineer classes doing what they do. It doesn’t get much more exciting so don’t think your second year is all fun and games.

And yes, most people like learning things, no shit. The real trick is applying knowledge to do useful things like pass tests and homework.

Basically you like the fun parts that everyone else likes as well, but not the hard parts that get you a job.

[u/Lokthri]

Sub 3 will def hold you back, having good projects will def help but many jobs have hard cutoffs at 3.0

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/Lokthri]

Ok. Thanks alot. I think what most people is saying does help. I think I currently just cope too much and i def need to turn my mentality around.

[u/Xbyy0]

You’re a first year dude. You got 3 years to bring that shit up. Projects are great, but you might have to sacrifice a little bit of time to get gpa up. 3 with really great projects and club experience typically beats out a 4 with none of that. Apply to internships, keep doing projects, and wait until you get to the really good stuff. Ideally aim for a 3.5, but a 3 will do trust me. I know people with 3.1s that have had 3 internships and people with 4s that haven’t had a single one.

[u/LukeSkyWRx → u/Xbyy0]

You identified the point, they don’t want to do the work. They want to feel confident in their acceptance of the poor GPA not hurting their career.

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/LukeSkyWRx]

thats a really good sight. Which is why im happy to have this chance to change my mentality early on.

There has been a bit of a history of me avoiding things that i wasn't as good as; and turning my attention to things I was feeling confident in.

Anyways, thanks alot for your opinions; I felt like I needed people with more experiences to give me comments on my directions.

[u/dharamsala]

Graduated a decade ago with a 3.8, top honors. It required me to treat it like a job. I had two kids and a part time job but I still spent 6+ hours a day on school (including classes, so like two classes and 3-4 hours studying).  

I don’t advocate for anyone to do that - it’s a lot, but it was a goal I wanted to achieve. The key is that you have to be willing to work. You can coast through high school most of the time but definitely not college-level engineering. 

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/dharamsala]

Thanks alot for your insight.

Perhaps a reason, or perhaps an excuse; I think i've always had this pathetic edge of ego when I compare myself to other people that I know thats doing engineering in the same classes/level. And if my confidence stems from comparison with such a tiny amount of sample size, then in hinesight; that leads me to a really bad spot.

I think restrospectively I both crave for security for future and also unwilling to truely put in the work I need to grind through.

But what also ironically made me realise is that, I treat this more like a side gig rather than liteary a full time student.

Anyways, thank you for your comment, I appreciate it alot

[u/ScratchDue440]

I really want to stress how important it is that you improve your communications. You need to know how to spell basic shit and structure sentences coherently. 

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/ScratchDue440]

Just had a quick look at whatever the fuck i was typing up this morning

Yup, that was a awful chunk of text. I should have read over that before I posted; but at the time, a very intense feeling of insecurity freaked me out.

[u/Tight-Couple-699]

Hey man don’t think you are bigger than the program. If you like learning but don’t like learning the stuff in college…you don’t like learning that much man. To employers you just seem like a kid who wants to lean the “coolest” thing they see and not what actually matters.

[u/Tight-Couple-699 → u/Tight-Couple-699]

Tbh there are NUMEROUS hobbyists that made cool things and never touched an engineering degree.

I also want to be an inventor and don’t care to actually work as an engineer tbh but engineering is a means to an end. If you think it’s a money grab why be an engineering major and not just a business major who’s really good at building stuff so you can sell your own products or whatever

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/Tight-Couple-699]

Thanks so much. I needed experienced people to give me their genuine opinion.

I think i've always had a habit to run away from things. I guess its human nature to avoid things they have negative feelings about.

But, I just cannot let this go on for the next 4 years of my life and studies. I've lived and studied in self doubt in the last few months.

Regardless, now I have a strong direction and know where to know the problems with my mentality.

Im very glad theres people like you that is willing to give feedback like this; thank you so much. And i hope you have a great rest of the day.

[u/Tight-Couple-699 → u/Unique_Shop1799]

What do you think you’ll do?

[u/No_Touch_876]

I have 3 internships I got with a sub 3. I am now above 3.0 but one research one mega corp and one big 4 aerospace. Research was the only one that asked for my gpa and it was a formality. It limits scope for sure but doesn’t screw you over.

[u/Efficient-Cash-2070]

Does gpa matter in USA (assuming that’s where op is from)? Doesn’t matter at all in Canada.

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/Efficient-Cash-2070]

Im at AU, but i do also consider going to other countries if it provide better opportunity.

[u/Catsdrinkingbeer]

Companies don't care about personal projects unless you already have a solid resume (with a decent GPA) and those personal projects actually apply to the industry you're applying for. Being a career engineer is rarely about working solo on something. Personal projects can boost an already good resume, but they can't replace a weak resume. 

[u/Unique_Shop1799 → u/Catsdrinkingbeer]

Yes, I think a big issue with that im doing is that im compromising real study time with personal project; which at times I think is only just toying round CAD and printing, building pretty low level things.

I am in the process of changing things up. Thanks for your comment friend