Two Degrees vs Grades

[MOMO]

Originally Posted by carajo

Depends on where you are applying.

Some of the big well known places (Boeing perhaps?) have minimum GPA requirements. And they are high - I'm talking 3.7 ish.

holy ****, that seems too high.
i know when i applied to med school, they wanted high gpa but for everything else, experience mattered more. i dont know. but it is good to have a double major. i got major boost from having chemistry biology double major when i applied. Of course my gpa helped too. 3.83

[sonza68]

Originally Posted by MOMO

holy ****, that seems too high.

Definately. That may be the case at other places, but definately not at Boeing. In engineering, 3.0 or higher was considered good enough to find a job with relative ease, but not a minimum by any means.

[carajo]

Originally Posted by sonza68

Definately. That may be the case at other places, but definately not at Boeing. In engineering, 3.0 or higher was considered good enough to find a job with relative ease, but not a minimum by any means.

I can't remember which companies they were (damn, my short term memory is shot..), but I remember thinking, '****. I'm glad I wasn't trying to apply there.' But with the number of 4.0's I graduated with at RPI, having those kinds of minimums isn't going to dwindle the pool to nothing.

[frenchblueC2]

Originally Posted by MOMO

Of course my gpa helped too. 3.83

hai me 2!
s-m-r-t

[deliveryguy]

Thanks for everything guys. I'll concentrate on my major and take a few computer science courses as they fit into my schedule; I would have to take about 40 additional credits to satisfy the CS major, so I'm a little worried about the workload. I AM genuinely interested in the knowledge, so taking a few courses without having the second degree will still be beneficial.

I'll have to keep my eyes open for internships. There isn't exactly a plethora of extracurriculars readily available, as far as I know. Maybe I'll start one .

[diddy]

even look for jobs with your school's IT Dept.

[carajo]

Have you considered a co-op? My boyfriend in college was a comp sys engineer, and he did a co-op for Quantum in Lowell, right near where you are. What school do you go to?

One of my sorority sisters worked at Bose, which might offer internships or co-ops and internships as well.

[deliveryguy]

Hmm - that's definitely another thing I'm going to look into. I'm going to UMass Amherst. I would be surprised if I couldn't find some sort of co-op or at least an internship. Thanks again!

[sonza68]

When I was in school, they had an office dedicated solely to helping students find co-ops/internships, so I'd check to see if your school has something similar.

[carajo]

Originally Posted by sonza68

When I was in school, they had an office dedicated solely to helping students find co-ops/internships, so I'd check to see if your school has something similar.

Mine too, that's why I was asking. My guess was UMass Amherst, though - I'm not sure what resources state schools put into finding you internships and co-ops. Private schools are big into that - for some, it's even required for graduation.

Does Amherst have alumni chapters? They would be a good group to contact. I unfortunately don't have any personal contacts in comp engineering any more. And I don't know how receptive the RPI alumni would be to helping out someone from one of our rival hockey schools.