The current world is overly obsessed with a person's GPA. Because graduate schools and employers look for high GPA, having a low one is a nagging fear in the minds of most students. The main question to ponder about this is whether GPA is the right metric for judging someone’s academic intellect and work ethic. I was talking to a friend of mine a few days back, and he told me that he got a few interview calls from a technology giant; however, after asking about his GPA, they backed off from hiring him, even though his interview had gone well. This is extremely disheartening.
The problem, I believe, with GPAs is that a student can actually plan their GPA. There are always courses at every university which have the reputation of being an 'easy A.' Then, there are courses that are curved pretty harshly and almost everyone gets a bad grade no matter how hard they try. This can swiftly pull a GPA down. And, in my opinion, there is no real way a prospective employer or graduate department can differentiate easy courses from those that actually challenge a student, enabling them to grow. Because of this, students are usually faced with the challenge of choosing a GPA-boosting course, albeit one they may not enjoy, or one that they love but that challenges them in new and exciting ways.
One day, a professor in the computer science department at UMN and I were discussing this dilemma. In his humble opinion, he believes GPA is a very bad indicator of future success in graduate school or any specific industry. Moreover, he believes that every country has a different metric for GPA. Some countries, like Britain and India, base the entire GPA point contribution of a course off of its final exam - one test to decide the fate of your GPA. I have gone through this my whole life. In my opinion, it is brutal and unfair. Nonetheless, this pattern is followed by many countries and universities around the world.
But then I asked this same professor whether or not he had any suggestions for solving this particular problem. He stated that the education system has to be more accommodative of the students. He then went on to explain the complexity of the whole situation: not every student is good when it comes to written tests, but there are some who excel at oral examinations; there are some who prefer the cumulative grading option, but there are some who like to base their grade off of a single test. Each student should have the option of choosing what they are comfortable with. But then, I asked him, "Won’t this grading system increase the already huge workload on professors and teaching assistants?" His response: "That’s the trade-off. You can’t have everything easy."
I thought I would reach a conclusive answer to the question - is GPA the only deciding factor for a recent graduate? - but I didn't. I don’t have a definitive answer to the convoluted GPA predicament, nor do I know if there is any better basis for judging so many people in an applicant pool. GPA makes life easier for recruiters, I suppose. Boil each person down to a number. Take a look at that number and decide whether to keep or throw the application. An easy process, painless for recruiters but often painful for students. The world is harsh. No doubt about that.
