To summarize, before I extend:
-GPA is a useful metric of your academic/intellectual performance in college, but not of your long-term potential
-GPA is used to determine who gets interviews/consideration in many hiring situations and in all grad school apps
-A 3.68 and a 3.72 aren’t actually any different from anyone’s perspective
-A 3.0 is necessary for grad study, except when it’s not
However, there are issues:
-Obsession with GPA is a path to misery. I see this all of the time. I’m not saying don’t strive for good grades, I’m saying don’t worry about the number so much.
-Grades reflect your ability to master explaining, applying, and extending/synthesizing what you have learned, along with sustained effort and creativity. The reason recruiters/hiring managers/grad admissions committees like GPAs is that these are precisely the things that count. If you are naturally brilliant at X and can take a senior-level Introduction to X in Theory and Practice course, not study, and get an A, this tells me nothing about your ability to work when you hit a challenge, and I’m not hiring you to do upper-level undergrad coursework; I’m hiring you to create, innovate, extend, lead… nothing that an exam can measure. That’s why grades composite all of these things. I also know that you will hit a challenge, and I want to know how you work when natural intelligence isn’t enough.