25 years old and deep in debt

[garbon]

Grades don't matter except for scholarships and gradschool.

And jobs after college.

Probably mixed on that.

Totally depends on the field you go into, and only for the first job. After that, no one cares anymore.

Yeah. Well when I briefly thought after my first job of going to a management consulting company - they asked, but then that's to be expected.

[crazy canuck]

Grades don't matter except for scholarships and gradschool.

And jobs after college.

Probably mixed on that.

Totally depends on the field you go into, and only for the first job. After that, no one cares anymore.

Yep, but depending on the field you choose grades will likely impact the type of first job one gets which in turn has an impact on the career path one might have.

[Martinus]

Parents' Financial Support Linked to Lower Grades

"Parents saving for college costs, take heed: A new national study has found that the more college money parents provide — whether in absolute terms or as a share of total costs — the lower their children's college grades."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/education/parents-financial-support-linked-to-college-grades.html

I think this is more of a correlation than a causation. People from richer backgrounds can afford/consider going to college even if they are not as brilliant as people from poorer backgrounds, so they will be less intelligent (and thus get lower grades) on average than people from poorer backgrounds. This does not mean that giving your kids cash makes them dumb.

[Martinus]

Grades don't matter except for scholarships and gradschool.

And jobs after college.

Probably mixed on that.

Totally depends on the field you go into, and only for the first job. After that, no one cares anymore.

Yep, but depending on the field you choose grades will likely impact the type of first job one gets which in turn has an impact on the career path one might have.

I agree with garbon. At least as far as law firms here are concerned, having more varied stuff (extracircular activities, work experience, volunteering) will get you more points than straight As. Assuming your grades are decent, it pays off to work on developing your resume rather than on perfecting your grades.

[Brazen]

Some jobs I apply for still specify a "good" grade - a first or 2:1 degree.

[crazy canuck]

Grades don't matter except for scholarships and gradschool.

And jobs after college.

Probably mixed on that.

Totally depends on the field you go into, and only for the first job. After that, no one cares anymore.

Yep, but depending on the field you choose grades will likely impact the type of first job one gets which in turn has an impact on the career path one might have.

I agree with garbon. At least as far as law firms here are concerned, having more varied stuff (extracircular activities, work experience, volunteering) will get you more points than straight As. Assuming your grades are decent, it pays off to work on developing your resume rather than on perfecting your grades.

Thankfully in North America we get to hire people that have both good grades and have other interests.

[Ideologue]

Grades don't matter except for scholarships and gradschool.

And jobs after college.

Probably mixed on that.

Totally depends on the field you go into, and only for the first job. After that, no one cares anymore.

I've heard tell of (and I'm pretty sure I've seen postings for) law jobs for experienced attorneys that require top grades, or that at least consider grades as a factor.  There are some gub'mint jobs that award extra points based on GPA, but I can't remember if they were "entry level" or not.  Cannot speak for other sectors.

[Martinus]

I've heard tell of (and I'm pretty sure I've seen postings for) law jobs for experienced attorneys that require top grades, or that at least consider grades as a factor.  There are some gub'mint jobs that award extra points based on GPA, but I can't remember if they were "entry level" or not.  Cannot speak for other sectors.

While this may (but does not need to) be an indirect indicator of how hard working an individual can be so may be somewhat useful for fresh people with no experience, this is absolutely retarded when it comes to experienced people. When I am looking to hire a good tort settlement attorney, I could not care less what grades he got on international maritime law.

[garbon]

Generally I found early on that if you didn't mention GPA, they didn't either.

[DontSayBanana]

I think this is more of a correlation than a causation. People from richer backgrounds can afford/consider going to college even if they are not as brilliant as people from poorer backgrounds, so they will be less intelligent (and thus get lower grades) on average than people from poorer backgrounds. This does not mean that giving your kids cash makes them dumb.

Having been on both sides of the line, my GPA skyrocketed when I was on my own (I went from a 1.8 to a 3.2).  My girlfriend ended up valedictorian of her class, and she piled on most of the debt for her school herself- the trust fund kids there tended to have terrible GPAs as well.

It's a motivation issue.  When you're there on the family dime, you're thinking more about being social and trying for the "college experience."  When you're footing the bill yourself, especially with current school costs, you're intensely focused on ROI.

[crazy canuck]

It's a motivation issue.  When you're there on the family dime, you're thinking more about being social and trying for the "college experience."  When you're footing the bill yourself, especially with current school costs, you're intensely focused on ROI.

My two cents are that it goes a bit deeper than that.  Although I agree that it is a question of motivation, I dont think ROI is the prime motivator.  A lot of the people I went to university with were there because their parents wanted them to be there (and their parents paid for it) and as a result they didnt work all that hard at something they didnt really want to do.  Those who were there for their own purposes (regardless of financial status) tended to work harder and get better grades.  One of the hardest working and smartest people I met was also independantly wealthy (old money) and he married into an even wealthier family.   He continues to be a very hard working lawyer.

[merithyn]

It's a motivation issue.  When you're there on the family dime, you're thinking more about being social and trying for the "college experience."  When you're footing the bill yourself, especially with current school costs, you're intensely focused on ROI.

My two cents are that it goes a bit deeper than that.  Although I agree that it is a question of motivation, I dont think ROI is the prime motivator.  A lot of the people I went to university with were there because their parents wanted them to be there (and their parents paid for it) and as a result they didnt work all that hard at something they didnt really want to do.  Those who were there for their own purposes (regardless of financial status) tended to work harder and get better grades.  One of the hardest working and smartest people I met was also independantly wealthy (old money) and he married into an even wealthier family.   He continues to be a very hard working lawyer.

This falls in line with my experiences, too. When you go to college because it's what's expected of you instead of what you want, the only incentive to do well is ... well, there isn't any.

[MadImmortalMan]

The US spends $1,111,000,000,000 per year (2010) on education according to the census bureau.


GDP that year was what, 14 point something? I looked it up because I was trying to prove to somebody we spent more on the military, but that looks like it's not true. Only 700 billion for that, unless there are some non-federal military expenditures I don't know about.

[Ideologue]

And what a return on that investment.

[crazy canuck]

And what a return on that investment.

I agree, the US has many of the brightest and best including people who move their to attend the best Universities in the world.

Too bad all those smart people only move to Blue States.