My grade point averages

*Blog post
2017
Professional details
Author

Steve Simon

Published

December 28, 2017

In applying for various jobs, one of them wanted to know my grade point averages from school. That was over 35 years ago, but okay. I had to calculate them by hand and I don’t think I’ve ever known what they are other than they weren’t a 4.0.

I should warn you that back then, if I hated a class, I skipped a lot and didn’t turn in the homework. I know, I know, it was a bad attitude. But I was just a kid and didn’t know any better. So a few C grades here and then pulled my average down.I got a lecture from my adviser my first year in graduate school that maybe I should spend a year digging ditches by the highway to give me a better perspective on life. I didn’t take him up on his offer, and my grades only improved a tiny bit. I did get in trouble on my qualifying exams, passing them, but not without another lecture. That’s another story.

If they ask for my IQ, I don’t know it. I did work with one guy who told me that I was one of the two smartest people that he knew. And he worked with a lot of smart people. But that’s a limited sample size.

I think these numbers have very limited usefulness. But if you are curious, here they are.

Undergraduate: 3.1

Masters: 3.4

PhD: 3.4

Earlier versions are here and here.