How badly can your GPA affect your career goals?

Good question Tiffanie! I graduated from high school with a 2.01 with no college prep or thought of going to college. I spent 4 years in the Air Force and enrolled in college at age 23 almost 24. I was both on social and academic problem my freshman year with a 1.6 GPA. My grad point out of college was 2.4 and I was 29 with no clue of what I wanted to do. I had 6 jobs my 1st 2 years out of college in an extremely poor job market in Seattle. Can you recover from that? I did! It was was not pretty but it all added up to offer me a different perspective that added value to a personality that thrives on random, desires little structure, dances well with uncertainty and loves to dance on lily pads. My point is meeting others expectations (parent, cultural, school) may not be as important as discovering what floats your boat, and nurtures your uniqueness. I never liked school yet loved learning. I'm a personal transformation junkie. My job title is a Master Catalyst. I made that title up! And that is what I've been good at both in organizations as well as with individuals once I developed a broader mindset and a varied skill set (21). No one has ever asked me what my grade point was in college or high school. Relax, enjoy the trip and have fun.

As a counterpoint to the other folks in this room. It definitely matters.

Imagine you are a recruiter at a big company, you are looking at 100s of resumes. If are looking for some way to get that list down to something that the company could reasonably interview. GPA is ONE way that they do that. You don't need to have an amazing GPA but you need to have at least a decent one.

If you don't have a great one, you will need to A. get lucky with a job taking a chance on you and then B. you need to CRUSH that job. People who had low GPAs dig themselves out, and can be very successful but you need to play a lot of catch up to prove that your GPA isn't reflective of you.

Short answer. It's not great but if you work REAL hard and get lucky you can overcome it!

I agree with Mohan. I do believe you should be able to articulate why your GPA is low if asked and should also be prepared to answer questions related to what you have learned from the early days, what you have done to improve and how you now focus your efforts towards the future. Given equal qualifications, a very high GPA will serve well in the final choice however, how you present yourself, your experience and your willingness to become a contributing member of the organization may still give you the edge. I have hired many people over many years and don't actually recall asking about GPA. I have regularly asked people how their higher education has influenced their lives and how it has prepared them to succeed in the future.

Good Luck

Almost none at all, except to the extent that it actually reflects your ability and willingness to learn, or at least work hard to achieve a goal. Once you have been working a couple of years, nothing will affect your career nearly as much as what you accomplished in your work so far.