College students often stress about how high their GPA is during their undergraduate years. While GPA is surely important, and students should strive to do their best academically, it is not the most important thing to accomplish during one’s college years.

If a student’s GPA isn’t the most spectacular, or if their classes are near impossible, they can take refuge in the fact that GPA is not the only thing that matters. Instead, students can take opportunities to highlight other aspects of their resume to make sure to land the job.

There are many majors on campus that require a lot of hard work and attention, and students still might not be able to achieve their desired letter grade. However, both professors and employers know this, and that’s why it’s more acceptable to have a lower GPA if the student is heavily involved on campus, and getting job experience in a more hands-on way.

“In journalism, most employers are looking for someone with experience in reporting and writing,” said Nancy Benson, professor of journalism and director of graduate studies for the department.ss

She said she usually tells her students not to list their GPA when applying for a journalism internship or job, and to instead offer a list of experience and writing samples. She also recommends they do their homework about the employer and show them why they would be the best fit for the job. In this way, the other skills that are essential to the job are outlined.

Hopeful students wishing to land an internship or job should make sure they outline skills on their resume that tailor to the specific job. If they show the employers that they have experience that lines up with what the employer is looking for, they are more likely to land the job.

Larry Butz, CEO of OEO Energy Solutions, said “I would rather see someone come in with a moderate GPA and a lot of extracurricular activities than someone with a high GPA who never did anything to get involved in the community.”ss

This is not to say that GPA is not important at all.

Daniel Stillman, sophomore in Media, said that professors still stress the importance of a GPA, and that he still believes that, “employers have a right to use GPA as a tie-breaker to decide between similar candidates.”ss

Therefore, it is necessary to put in the work to show that a student values hard work and can do well in classes related to the field in which they are applying.

However, one should work on building experience and compiling a portfolio to show that they can apply what they learned in the classroom to real-life situations.

During a college career, students should make sure to put themselves out there and get involved in various extracurricular activities. This will look better to future employers than having a perfect 4.0. 

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