Hi, i’m a current second sem freshman studying cs at a state school. Due to personal issues and honestly just carelessness, my GPA has ended up substandard (3.4). I feel guilty, as I was always a high performer in HS (1560 SAT, 4.7 gpa). I plan to boost this up to around a 3.55-3.6 by the end of my fall sophomore year. I know I am capable of this because my current gpa is not a reflection of my mental capability hit rather lack of effort. I will be finishing with a B- in calc 3 because i dropped sub50-60 on all the midterms but earned a 98 on the final. Again, this is a wake up call for me as I know I have the potential to do great things if I improve my punctuality in life.
With this in mind, my main concern was how this GPA would be perceived for sophomore internships and beyond. It will likely go up, but does a 3.4 raise eyebrows to employers? When I search online, GPA has largely been dimissed in importance, (3.0+ and ur good, 3.5+ and ur good, etc.). Is this kinda of like competitive college admissions, where there is a minimum gpa requirement but the only people who get accepted are higher gpas, or is it truly just that casual? I want to do ml or regular swe and my dream would be faang. Obviously, I plan to have very top notch technical skills and projects. But even with these attributes, how is an employer going to look at a 3.4? Online, it says that it’s good, but when I think to myself, I truly am quite regretful, as I know all of the classes I got Bs/A- in where easily achievable with very manageable studying. Would an employer not think the same? Is GPA really just a benchmark, or does it truly matter if you have 3.7,3.8+ vs. if you don’t?