Expert: Paul Soderman - 8/31/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi Paul,
I love your answers, i am a female graduate of Mechanical engineering and want to go into aeronautic engineering but i graduated with low GPA which is lower than 3.0 and most schools wanted 3.0 above, is there anyway out. Also aeronautic looks wide which is prefered to specialize on as a female. Thanks

ANSWER: That is a tough question Tobi.  Usually, a low GPA means that someone has chosen a field that is not suitable for them.  I have friends who did poorly in school, went into business and made big money.  But if you really want to work in engineering, you are qualified to work in aeronautics with a Mechanical Engineering degree because of your study of fluid mechanics. You may not be able to get into graduate school, but you might be able to find a job.  It is hard to get your foot in the door with a low GPA, but if you could manage to get a job and did good work, your job experience would slowly count for more than your academic record.  Work experience is really the best measure of ability to do a job.   Good luck.
Paul

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Paul that was a sincere answer, but you did not answer the part B of the question which says which is preferred to specialize on as a female?

Answer
Sorry Tobi, I didn't understand that sentence to be a question.  Aeronautics has a quite low percentage of women, which is good for a woman looking for a job because the companies want to diversify their staff.  Of course you have to get used to working with a lot of men.  The same might be true for Mechanical Engineering, but I have no knowledge of the percent of women in that field.  In general, women are under represented in all engineering fields, which is unfortunate because I found that the women on my staff were very valuable to the team.
Paul