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I feel a strong need to debunk some falsehoods here.

First, to be clear. DO NOT CHEAT.

Ok. Grades DO matter. When I graduated, there were several companies that wouldn't interview me because I didn't have the grades. I had a 3.2 ish. That meant I had to get a job slightly outside of my degree - which impacted my entire career (12 years amd counting).

Also, you can't lie about your grades - they will ask for your transcripts. The job I got out of college asked for mine after 6 months



What field are you in?

This seems so strange to me. I have a BA in Philosophy, but professionally I work in software development.

I got my first job 15 years ago by just showing them the code I wrote for my side project, since I didn't have a degree in the field of any professional experience. Every job since then has been because I was recruited by previous co-workers.

My college degree was never an issue, and certainly not my grades. Many of my coworkers are surprised when I tell them I have no degree, but it is always just a "huh" and then move on.

I am now a director and have hired a lot of people, and unless they have zero professional experience, I pretty much never look at their degree when I am evaluating candidates. I have worked at very large companies, and have never had an issue trying to hire people without a degree.

I am sure there are places where it would matter, but I just can't imagine asking for proof of a degree, let alone grades.


I have a BS Electrical Engineering. I wanted to design antennas and work with radio transmission SO BAD. I ended up getting a job as an analyst with a bunch of other people that "were good at math and thinking about numbers", then I moved I to data, now Cloud stuff.

It took me a long time to give up on my dream of being an EE - but I like what I do now. Also, to your point, I ignore college credentials and I don't look at GPA.


Ah, that makes more sense. The connection between EE degrees and jobs seems tighter than in computing.


> I got my first job 15 years ago

Starting 15 years ago was different than starting now.


agree. I never cheated college although I did in high school a bit . The profs are pretty good at picking up on cheating, and I saw some of my classmates get busted. But I can def. understand why some would cheat.




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