Grades in College

montanapilot

Well-Known Member
ok so I'm working towards my 4 year degree and i was wondering how much do the airlines care about the grades you got in college.

My reason for asking is that i have a midterm tommorrow that i will probably completely bomb. so i ll probably end up with a D or hopefully a C in that class. would it be worth it to drop that class to keep that grade from being put on my transcript? would the airlines care or not.

thanks
 
I dropped a class that I had a C in, but only because I was pretty sure I was going to screw it up later. I really doubt the airlines are going to look and/or care that closely to one class if your gpa is decent. Again I speak with no knowledge...my bad.
 
I can't speak for the airlines, but I believe as long as your GPA is at least somewhat respectable, they're not going to care so much. Any reasonable person should know that people in school struggle with some subjects and excel in others. That's why I don't think overall grades really mean that much. Granted you should still try to get the best grades you can always, but its not a coincidence that I'm getting higher grades in my computer/programming type classes than I am in business core stuff because computers are what I enjoy doing the most.

All you can really do is your best.
 
Probably not what you want to hear...but I'd say continue with the class and don't worry about it. The primary thing the airlines look for is if you have a degree. They care a little about your grades but I would say not to worry about getting a few bad ones. If I was an interviewer I'd look for your worst grades and specifically ask you about that class to see how you react. But the important thing is you have the degree
 
Guess what? It doesn't matter. Bad grades happen. There are distractions in college that can cause you to roll over on a subject. As long as you graduate with a degree and a somewhat respectible GPA, you'll be fine. I actually failed one class, and got a few Cs and like two Ds in some classes, but excelled in others to cause me to graduate with a B average. Don't stress about it. Just stay focused on the end goal.
 
All depends on supply. When supply (of flying airline pilots) is high, and available slots are low with large demand, then the mins/quals can go up....ie- looking better than the other guy. And vice versa.

I got a 2.4 out of college, and I am where I am now.
 
Good question, I hadn't really thought about that much. I hope they don't care too much. I started out really bad in college, but then I took a couple of years off and have done a lot better since. I'll graduate with just about a 3.0. I hope that wouldn't limit my opportunites too much. I would think that if they looked at my transcript and saw that I improved a lot they would like that.
 
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Good question, I hadn't really thought about that much. I hope they don't care too much. I started out really bad in college, but then I took a couple of years off and have done a lot better since. I'll graduate with just about a 3.0. I hope that wouldn't limit my opportunites too much. I would think that if they looked at my transcript and saw that I improved a lot they would like that.

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Truthfully don't think your opportunities will be limited at all, GPA-wise. Current condition of the industry....well that's a completely differnent cat altogether.

What will make a difference will be meeting the hours/quals/experience mins, or not; and attitude.
 
I think it's safe to say that one should at least TRY for a 3.0 or better. Like MikeD said though, its all about supply and demand. I currently have a 3.1, but personally, I could care less at this point if I graduate with honors next month or not. I am so tired of all the nonsense that is associated with being a college student. At this point, I feel like its all about flight experience, life experience, and just having a generally confident attitude.
 
In my 12 years of work, I have had one interview where they asked about my college GPA. That was for my first job out of college. Ever since then, well, hell, they don't even ask about college. All they ask about is what I've done professionally.

I've never interviewed for an airline job but if it's like the rest of corporate America, they don't give a rat's ass about your GPA. All they care about is that you graduated.

Some companies, though, are starting to ask about SAT scores. If I went on an interview like that, I'd be like, I have no clue what my SAT scores were. If you really think it's important, then let's end the interview right now because I don't want to work for a company like yours.
 
Good grades = $

Thats pretty much my motivation. Also, depending on how competitive your school is, it could mean internship and job opportunities.

Here at ASU there's really no excuse to get below a 3.5.
 
The only time good grades equal money is for scholarships. An internship "may" look at grades. As well as a job that tends to hire straight out of college. Once in the real world...noone cares. If you have the piece of paper, that's all that matters. I think that requirement is even BS but that's another story.
 
Somewhere I heard that CoEx asked to see transcripts and were looking at grades. But I only heard that once so it could be totally false.
 
Mike D, I would give up my left nut to be where you are in your career. I know you probably have had to put up with a lot of BS, and I'm sure there are days you don't like your job....But stil, I'd give up my left one!


Smokey.
 
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Mike D, I would give up my left nut to be where you are in your career. I know you probably have had to put up with a lot of BS, and I'm sure there are days you don't like your job....

Smokey.

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Try almost every day. The flying is fine, but I don't care much for today's military lifestyle. Going to the crappiest places in the world for long periods of time does get old. Having people in those places trying to kill you gets old too. Dealing with incompetant military leadership that's more interested in making themselves look good and getting promoted as quickly as possible, versus taking care of their people.....gets old. Dealing with some of the egos I ahve to deal with.......old.

But, we'll see how the change goes when I leave the A-10. From what I hear, the F-117 is a better community to be in: More laid back, more experienced people, less ego competition since everyone is from a different primary airframe background anyway, etc. Time will tell.
 
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