How much do school grades matter? (engineering)

I'm in 3rd year computer engineering. Ever since I got into Uvic, I've been sort of slacking off, and go with the "just get by it" attitude.

I know there's been a lot of engineers with just a degree who are very successful.

The only point in getting good grades in my point of view is to get into graduate school or scholarships.

If I were to continue school at all, I'd do something related to business after some work experience.

what are your thoughts?

It becomes quite evident after school that it is all about who you know, and how skilled you are at both finding out about, and positioning or presenting yourself for potential positions. But that being said, good grades is just another thing to add to your credentials. So, do what you want, but you should make sure you can be good at the first part for sure, it is the most important by far.

Here's why:
- no they won't get you a job, but they are a quick and dirty filter when recruiters have 100s of resumes to sort through. They can get you in the door.
- If you ever want to apply to school later (and trust me, you aren't in any position to decided that now).. they will make things easier.
- why not get scholarships? That's free money man.

Sure it's nice to have scholarships.

I hate to admit it to myself, but I'm just not smart at all. I only get by through working hard. I can figure things out here and there… Sometimes I can pull off some amazing grades and I feel really good about in a sense that my effort paid off. Other times, it's the complete opposite.

It's just extremely hard for me to be consistent in that manner.

Maybe right now, I have a false sense of financial security.

Sure it's nice to have scholarships.

I hate to admit it to myself, but I'm just not smart at all. I only get by through working hard. I can figure things out here and there… Sometimes I can pull off some amazing grades and I feel really good about in a sense that my effort paid off. Other times, it's the complete opposite.

It's just extremely hard for me to be consistent in that manner.

Maybe right now, I have a false sense of financial security.

shrug up to you. As you get older, grades matter less.. but when you're fresh out of school (or applying to grad school).. the grades do matter… so work your ass off.

I'm in 3rd year computer engineering. Ever since I got into Uvic, I've been sort of slacking off, and go with the "just get by it" attitude.

Perhaps an employer will think that this is indicative of how you would behave as an employee?

Sure it's nice to have scholarships.

I hate to admit it to myself, but I'm just not smart at all. I only get by through working hard. I can figure things out here and there… Sometimes I can pull off some amazing grades and I feel really good about in a sense that my effort paid off. Other times, it's the complete opposite.

It's just extremely hard for me to be consistent in that manner.

Maybe right now, I have a false sense of financial security.

I think im in a similar position as you. 3rd year of mech engineering. Sometimes my grades are awesome and other times they suck. It depends on if i think the course is interesting or worth some effort. Keeping completely on top of 6 or 7 courses a semester is enough to drive some people insane. I certainly want to enjoy my time here and not only do work. Im just trying to keep a half decent average, so far 74, could be better.

I dont think grades will matter as much as having experience, so a summer co-op or internship is a good asset. But to get those having grades could be a factor.

Goodluck

It depends if there is demand for you in the workplace.

I'm in mining engineering. I could fail out of Uni and still get a job with my eyes closed and only leg tied behind my back wearing a monkey suit.

A large part of engineering is simply surviving. If you can present a transcript with no failed courses you are already ahead of a lot of engs. For most jobs in your field, being a articulate person with good social skills will be a bigger asset than high grades. However the high grades never hurt.

the farther along i get in school the dumber and dumber i feel relative to my peers.

I'm an engineer - I am now at a point in my career where I manage a branch office, hire/fire staff and own part of a decent sized company. My average in the last two year's of uni was 75%. No one has ever asked me and no one has ever cared - it is enough that I can put the letters "B.Eng." behind my name.

As long as you pass - good enough. What is FAR MORE IMPORTANT is attitude, social skills and your overall presentation as a professional. At our company we NEVER ASK FOR TRANSCRIPTS. Waste of time.

So - have fun, go to partys, PASS - then go get a job. Employers will be far more interested that you juggled your course load with, say, volunteer time at something like Engineers Without Borders or the SUB Council. Shows more than just math skills.

(Some big companys do screen by grades - but personally I wouldn't work for a big company anymore - they suck…)

So - have fun, go to partys, PASS - then go get a job. Employers will be far more interested that you juggled your course load with, say, volunteer time at something like Engineers Without Borders or the SUB Council. Shows more than just math skills.

Thanks for that advice man, seriously, it's good to hear that from someone with experience.

Another UVic mech grad here, about 1.5 years away from my PEng, working as an engineering consultant which I lvove. Almost everyone in my class was in the "just get it done" by 4th year. You've just hit your stride a bit earlier than most. :)

You might want to look into how your "average" is calculated. For us it was from our best 12 classes from your 3rd or 4th year, something like that. I just focussed on the classes I was interested in, and did the minimum to pass other ones. D's and E's spell degree…

Other people have pretty much said what I would say, but I would just add that your own interest in your field is what's going to make or break your career, at least in my opinion, so don't let the struggle for perfect marks take away from your interest in the subject. For me, around third or fourth year was when I figured out about what I could expect out of myself, and it wasn't high enough to set me apart from everyone else - more like average, but that's the best I could do without wanting to quit. The day you get your first job is probably the day your marks stop mattering. Doing the co-op program was the most important thing for me - contacts from that got me my first job after grad, and the experience from co-op jobs was a lot more relevant to my actual work than most of my course work. Good luck.