[Kathy]

Unfortunately, many companies nowadays require minimum GPAs and do not differentiate by school.

Really?
This was many years ago, of course, as I am only a little bit younger than Garvin, but prospective employers never asked for my  GPA, even in the days when I didn't have much experience on my resume to boost my odds of getting a job. The only time I've ever been asked about my grades was in applying for grad school. Then, as now, the reputation of schools where I received my degrees went a long way in the application process.
When we look at intern applications, we want GPAs to help in assessing if students can handle the workload and their coursework for the time we have them. Some applicants for nonintern positions have put their GPAs on their resumes, but writing samples are a much better indicator for journalism jobs. I can think of several honors grads we've hired who flamed out in the real world. Maybe that's the schools' fault; they want to show high job placement numbers for their grads, so maybe there is a measure of grade inflation occurring. When I taught college courses (again, many years ago), I was a hard-ass grader. If they didn't meet my standard for each grade, they didn't get that grade. I probably handed out more C's and B's than anything else.

[Kathy]

Unfortunately, many companies nowadays require minimum GPAs and do not differentiate by school.

Really?
This was many years ago, of course, as I am only a little bit younger than Garvin, but prospective employers never asked for my  GPA, even in the days when I didn't have much experience on my resume to boost my odds of getting a job. The only time I've ever been asked about my grades was in applying for grad school. Then, as now, the reputation of schools where I received my degrees went a long way in the application process.
When we look at intern applications, we want GPAs to help in assessing if students can handle the workload and their coursework for the time we have them. Some applicants for nonintern positions have put their GPAs on their resumes, but writing samples are a much better indicator for journalism jobs. I can think of several honors grads we've hired who flamed out in the real world. Maybe that's the schools' fault; they want to show high job placement numbers for their grads, so maybe there is a measure of grade inflation occurring. When I taught college courses (again, many years ago), I was a hard-ass grader. If they didn't meet my standard for each grade, they didn't get that grade. I probably handed out more C's and B's than anything else.