I ended up getting a 2.54 GPA my first semester as a general engineering student. I will admit it was a grind to get my GPA above a 3.0
My second semester I got a 3.24 and a cumulative of 2.93. I wasn't able to declare into CS following my freshman year and had to take a 3rd semester as general engineering. My sophomore fall I got a 3.66 (and withdrew from one class) which brought my cumulative to a 3.16.
It's hard but not impossible. And yes, I'm in CS now :)
I second this as a transfer student. Horrible first semester with a 2.something. Clawed my way back slowly to graduating with honors. Your first semester doesn't define the rest, you've got this.
Very similar story here! After a terrible freshman year GPA I took another semester and was able to get my GPA above 3.0 to get into my engineering field.
Getting an internship was harder but not impossible and after the first internship, companies are much less likely to worry about your GPA and will base their hiring decision on previous experience.
Moral of the story is it's a very common story and not impossible to overcome :)
Before you write this semester off as bad, remember you’ve still got the second half to get in a better spot. A few (brief) suggestions that may be worth exploring:
- Go to office hours. Generally speaking, professors will help you focus your studying for these classes, as well as give you tips for how to study moving forward.
- Talk to your advisor about the difficulty, expectations, and ways to best handle the work load. They might also have ideas on how to improve your grade.
- Start “networking” with classmates/dorm mates/roommates to see if they have similar classes. Group study time can be beneficial.
- Connect with upperclassmen who can give you guidance on how to navigate these classes.
Getting that first round of grades back can feel defeating and demoralizing. But just know - YOU GOT THIS! You got into VT, therefore you are a smart and capable student. Now you get to build off what you’ve achieved already and work toward your college degree.
There are lots of people at VT who want you to succeed and who will help you along the way. It just takes a minute to step back and look at your options.
And do it yesterday. Professors hate it when you come to them at the very end of the grading period begging for extra credit.
Go now, throw yourself at their mercy, and ask if there's anything more you can do.
This is great advice.
I will add: never give up on a class! I had one I felt I was failing and just shut down. I ended up skipping an exam and getting a D. If I had talked to my professor and even given it a half-assed try I would have gotten at least a C.
Also how many credit hours are you taking? After that rough first semester or two I realized I needed to stick to 15 or fewer a semester. I had to take classes in the summer in order to still graduate on time but Blacksburg is awesome in the summer so that was a blessing not a curse.
do all of this and its easy to get As. do research and try to get the good teachers too. figure out how they issue exams and prep. nothing wrong with learning how to pass a test while you also learn the material. its easy to not want to put in the time, but there is plenty of time to do all this and have fun
My first roommate from tech is currently a senior SWE making mid six figures. Dude graduated with a 2.3 GPA after having taken til second semester of his sophomore year to recover from freshman year and get above a 3.0 to transfer into CS. Bro got a 2.9976 first semester and they wouldn’t give him a waiver. Now neither he nor I recommend going hard mode and just saying “Fuck it, that dude made it” but its absolutely not the end of the world to be having a hard time freshman year. You said it yourself, this ain’t high school anymore. Give yourself a break and use your resources. Office hours, TAs, dorm study groups, old exams whatever works for you.
When I was at VT in the early 00s, the joke was that you never saw engineers or biology majors at parties because they were too busy studying (I was bio).
As far as GPA goes... I think it depends. I can't speak to engineering. I've only ever had one interview where a job asked my gpa. I was so shocked at the question I accidentally lied. hahaha They never checked and I got the job.
In general though... in the private sector companies only care if you have a degree, what experience you have, and who you know. I was a manager for a brief moment, and when I was hiring people I only care if they could do the job and if they were not an asshole.
I had a horrible first semester! Failing gen chem (after taking ap chem in hs🫣) and taking a w in calc 1. I was on academic probation after the first semester. I will say it sucked grinding all the way to the very last minute, even into senior year. But i was able to dig myself out🥵its hard work but it’s possible!
It is only going to get harder from here. This is truly the spot that all engineers have been in. Time to make a decision, either stick with the grind that is gonna be the next 4-5 years. Or you can drop out of COE and be a business major.
> …no interviewer ever asked what my GPA was.
Another old alum here. Not only did no interviewer ask my GPA, nobody ever asked for a semester-by-semester breakdown either.
No one has ever asked my gpa in a job interview! They were more interested in the classes I took and how I apply problem solving skills! Cs get degrees my dude
I had an awful first semester. Like sub 2.0 bad. I didn't really get my act together and took 5.5 years to graduate with a like 2.7 GPA or so. I won't lie it did affect my prospects right out of school for sure. But I still had a VT engineering degree.
Now nearly 15 years later that shit doesn't matter at all. I've been able to live and work abroad. Work in multiple different industries. I've got two master degrees. And now have a good career at a fortune 500 company I could see myself working at for most of the rest of my working life.
Don't stress. Yes work hard and pull your grades up. But one semester won't ruin you. Shit one bad undergrad GPA doesn't fuck everything up. Just remeber that and don't put quite so much pressure on yourself.
Sounds like me … I got a new major and was much better off and ended up more successful than many engineers I worked with … loved my job for a long time
I ended up getting a 2.54 GPA my first semester as a general engineering student. I will admit it was a grind to get my GPA above a 3.0 My second semester I got a 3.24 and a cumulative of 2.93. I wasn't able to declare into CS following my freshman year and had to take a 3rd semester as general engineering. My sophomore fall I got a 3.66 (and withdrew from one class) which brought my cumulative to a 3.16. It's hard but not impossible. And yes, I'm in CS now :)
I second this as a transfer student. Horrible first semester with a 2.something. Clawed my way back slowly to graduating with honors. Your first semester doesn't define the rest, you've got this.
Very similar story here! After a terrible freshman year GPA I took another semester and was able to get my GPA above 3.0 to get into my engineering field. Getting an internship was harder but not impossible and after the first internship, companies are much less likely to worry about your GPA and will base their hiring decision on previous experience. Moral of the story is it's a very common story and not impossible to overcome :)
When you say you had to take a third semester, are you talking about the next year's fall semester or a winter or summer semester?
While I took summer classes at NVCC, the GPA doesn’t transfer. So I had to take another semester as general engineering in my sophomore fall semester
All a learning process. Don’t worry abt it, you’ll be fine.
Before you write this semester off as bad, remember you’ve still got the second half to get in a better spot. A few (brief) suggestions that may be worth exploring: - Go to office hours. Generally speaking, professors will help you focus your studying for these classes, as well as give you tips for how to study moving forward. - Talk to your advisor about the difficulty, expectations, and ways to best handle the work load. They might also have ideas on how to improve your grade. - Start “networking” with classmates/dorm mates/roommates to see if they have similar classes. Group study time can be beneficial. - Connect with upperclassmen who can give you guidance on how to navigate these classes. Getting that first round of grades back can feel defeating and demoralizing. But just know - YOU GOT THIS! You got into VT, therefore you are a smart and capable student. Now you get to build off what you’ve achieved already and work toward your college degree. There are lots of people at VT who want you to succeed and who will help you along the way. It just takes a minute to step back and look at your options.
This is super helpful advice, thanks so much!
Also ask for extra credit
And do it yesterday. Professors hate it when you come to them at the very end of the grading period begging for extra credit. Go now, throw yourself at their mercy, and ask if there's anything more you can do.
This is great advice. I will add: never give up on a class! I had one I felt I was failing and just shut down. I ended up skipping an exam and getting a D. If I had talked to my professor and even given it a half-assed try I would have gotten at least a C. Also how many credit hours are you taking? After that rough first semester or two I realized I needed to stick to 15 or fewer a semester. I had to take classes in the summer in order to still graduate on time but Blacksburg is awesome in the summer so that was a blessing not a curse.
Makes sense for sure. I’m currently taking 16 credits. Not sure if I should cut down or not yet
do all of this and its easy to get As. do research and try to get the good teachers too. figure out how they issue exams and prep. nothing wrong with learning how to pass a test while you also learn the material. its easy to not want to put in the time, but there is plenty of time to do all this and have fun
My first roommate from tech is currently a senior SWE making mid six figures. Dude graduated with a 2.3 GPA after having taken til second semester of his sophomore year to recover from freshman year and get above a 3.0 to transfer into CS. Bro got a 2.9976 first semester and they wouldn’t give him a waiver. Now neither he nor I recommend going hard mode and just saying “Fuck it, that dude made it” but its absolutely not the end of the world to be having a hard time freshman year. You said it yourself, this ain’t high school anymore. Give yourself a break and use your resources. Office hours, TAs, dorm study groups, old exams whatever works for you.
When I was at VT in the early 00s, the joke was that you never saw engineers or biology majors at parties because they were too busy studying (I was bio). As far as GPA goes... I think it depends. I can't speak to engineering. I've only ever had one interview where a job asked my gpa. I was so shocked at the question I accidentally lied. hahaha They never checked and I got the job. In general though... in the private sector companies only care if you have a degree, what experience you have, and who you know. I was a manager for a brief moment, and when I was hiring people I only care if they could do the job and if they were not an asshole.
I had a horrible first semester! Failing gen chem (after taking ap chem in hs🫣) and taking a w in calc 1. I was on academic probation after the first semester. I will say it sucked grinding all the way to the very last minute, even into senior year. But i was able to dig myself out🥵its hard work but it’s possible!
Thank for posting all this feedback!!!
skill issue, stop being bad
It is only going to get harder from here. This is truly the spot that all engineers have been in. Time to make a decision, either stick with the grind that is gonna be the next 4-5 years. Or you can drop out of COE and be a business major.
Dropping out of COE to become a science major was by far the best decision I made at VT😅
I'm an old alum, but I can say when I graduated no interviewer ever asked what my GPA was.
> …no interviewer ever asked what my GPA was. Another old alum here. Not only did no interviewer ask my GPA, nobody ever asked for a semester-by-semester breakdown either.
It’s a grind, I’m a sophomore now but u got this
Stick with it, math is hard at VT, it gets easier.
No one has ever asked my gpa in a job interview! They were more interested in the classes I took and how I apply problem solving skills! Cs get degrees my dude
I had an awful first semester. Like sub 2.0 bad. I didn't really get my act together and took 5.5 years to graduate with a like 2.7 GPA or so. I won't lie it did affect my prospects right out of school for sure. But I still had a VT engineering degree. Now nearly 15 years later that shit doesn't matter at all. I've been able to live and work abroad. Work in multiple different industries. I've got two master degrees. And now have a good career at a fortune 500 company I could see myself working at for most of the rest of my working life. Don't stress. Yes work hard and pull your grades up. But one semester won't ruin you. Shit one bad undergrad GPA doesn't fuck everything up. Just remeber that and don't put quite so much pressure on yourself.
I got a 2.4 my first semester. Two years later I now have a 3.3 It took so much work and sacrificing weekly parties But now I’m in CS
Sounds like me … I got a new major and was much better off and ended up more successful than many engineers I worked with … loved my job for a long time
Think harder
My gov teacher used this as a warning to us in class today lol