Could a person who finished college with a 1.5GPA still land a decent job if he or she is creative and has many skills?

Depends. People say hard work. 80% of all jobs come from knowing someone who is already successful. I did not make that figure up, you can check me. If you know people and have great skills, you will get a good job. If you know people and have crummy skills, you will get an OK job. If you have skills and know no one, you will need to wait until the economy recovers.

Don’t knock working at McDonalds. They might be earning $15/hr soon.~

Yes, a person with a low GPA can still land a decent job. I don’t think most jobs ask for GPA’s or transcripts from high school. All they care about is that you graduated.

Job opportunities for high school grads aren’t as great as those for college grads, in general, but my husband earns $20/hr (in South Carolina, mind you) with just a high school diploma. He has no clue what his GPA was, but I’m certain it wasn’t high (he hated school and half-assed his way through it).

Oops! I misunderstood and thought you meant a high school GPA of 1.5. Too late to edit my answer.

Original answer still stands, though.

My old bank teller co-worker once said, “You can get a degree in ‘Looking at Plants’ and get a better job than a bank teller.” I’m sure many would disagree, but someone with a college degree will get a job faster than a person applying for the same job without one in most cases. Of course, politics can always screw that up.

@annanyc Has this person received a degree? Most colleges would have the person on academic probation and not able to get a degree.

Do employers ask to see your transcripts? Will they give you a degree with a GPA that low?

Last I remember you can’t graduate college with a 1.5. You need at least a C average. Maybe I remember incorrectly.

It’s a better GPA than at least one former POTUS.

I never did understand that whole “need a C average for the degree” or “need at least a C in the class for it to count” . If that is the case, wtf is the point of a D grade? Heyyyy ya didn’t quite fail but it’s still unacceptable so you may of well just failed.

At my university, some courses require a C while others don’t. I’m a psych major, so some of my psych courses require a C. I could make D’s in everything else and still graduate. Some majors might not have that requirement; it depends on the department.

Luckily, school comes easy to me and I’ve never had to worry about such things.

I honestly don’t believe a degree was any help landing me jobs in my career. My employers hired me for my knowledge, my on-the-job experience, and the quality of my portfolio. Of course I know that was in the days when getting jobs was a lot easier than now.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Your knowledge had nothing to do with your degree? Then what the hell were you doing during those four years?

Unfortunately, these days, employers either want someone with a degree or they don’t. If it’s a job requirement (as it is for so many positions), chances are you won’t even be considered if you don’t have one.

How did you stay in school with a GPA that low? My college put you on probation if your GPA was under 1.7 for one semester, two in a row and you were done. Not to say you can’t be a productive member of society, regardless of your GPA.

This is just a hypothetical question. I don’t think its possible to graduate from college with a GPA below 2.0.

@livelaughlove21 The only classes I can get a D in and be ok are my “At some distance” classes. Everything else, even if its not directly related to my major I need a C average.

I don’t think most employers even really ask about your GPA but more just that you have a degree. I once met a nuclear physicist(brilliant man) who used to tell me C’s get degrees. He said he got C’s in most stuff throughout school because he mainly didn’t care much for school work. His GPA definitely didn’t stop him from achieving his goals. We’d often be having a conversation when he’d get a call from someone in Japan asking his advice on what to do with the nuclear power plant (back when they had the tsunami)

Most prospective employers don’t ask for school transcripts. Those who do should be refused and denied. Although a company’s foolish not to call each registrar’s office and confirm that the applicant does, indeed, have the degrees listed, the underlying details are confidential. Job applicants need to say “no” to inappropriate invasions of their privacy.

By the way, it seems that very few employers take the time to verify degrees or contact references. They simply believe what’s on the resume and trust that a job applicant isn’t lying. I find that amazing.