Does Undergraduate GPA matter

[JG Hall]

Columbia Career Services explicitly tells everyone to NOT to put GPAs of any kind on a resume. Latin Honors, PBK, etc. speak for themselves. Apparently it is not the "done" thing.

If a firm cares, they'll ask you for a UG transcript (every 1L employer I encountered wanted UG grades).

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

[20160810]

Columbia Career Services explicitly tells everyone to NOT to put GPAs of any kind on a resume. Latin Honors, PBK, etc. speak for themselves. Apparently it is not the "done" thing.

If a firm cares, they'll ask you for a UG transcript (every 1L employer I encountered wanted UG grades).

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

Again, I feel like you can get away with this at CLS, but at a lower-ranked school if you've got good grades it's probably best to make it known. A slightly tacky resume is a small price to pay for not getting OCIpwnt.

[005618502]

Columbia Career Services explicitly tells everyone to NOT to put GPAs of any kind on a resume. Latin Honors, PBK, etc. speak for themselves. Apparently it is not the "done" thing.

If a firm cares, they'll ask you for a UG transcript (every 1L employer I encountered wanted UG grades).

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

Again, I feel like you can get away with this at CLS, but at a lower-ranked school if you've got good grades it's probably best to make it known. A slightly tacky resume is a small price to pay for not getting OCIpwnt.

I can see this, but wont they wonder why you are at a lesser school with such a high GPA? Im assuming you are not at a T14, as they are not much below CCN

[solidsnake]

Some firms ask for UG transcripts, e.g., Cravath.

[Anonymous User]

Columbia Career Services explicitly tells everyone to NOT to put GPAs of any kind on a resume. Latin Honors, PBK, etc. speak for themselves. Apparently it is not the "done" thing.

If a firm cares, they'll ask you for a UG transcript (every 1L employer I encountered wanted UG grades).

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

Give me a break. I was a transfer and OCS explicitly told me to put my rank and GPA on my resume. I never knew law students had such strong opinions about this

[Anonymous User]

Columbia Career Services explicitly tells everyone to NOT to put GPAs of any kind on a resume. Latin Honors, PBK, etc. speak for themselves. Apparently it is not the "done" thing.

If a firm cares, they'll ask you for a UG transcript (every 1L employer I encountered wanted UG grades).

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

Give me a break. I was a transfer and OCS explicitly told me to put my rank and GPA on my resume. I never knew law students had such strong opinions about this

At CLS? Nah. http://www.law.columbia.edu/careers/car ... 2l3lresume

[005618502]

I know the above example is about Columbia, partially because it is such a highly ranked school. Would the same go for any T14 even the lower T14 like MVP (would that even be considered lower T14, or is DCNG only lower T14)

[vamedic03]

I know the above example is about Columbia, partially because it is such a highly ranked school. Would the same go for any T14 even the lower T14 like MVP (would that even be considered lower T14, or is DCNG only lower T14)

Do well in law school and no one will ever care what your UG gpa was. I have an incredibly low UG gpa, but I did well in law school and I never had an employer ask for a ug transcript or gpa.

[bmwhype2]

sorry to sidetrack but i have a sidebar question:

I have a graduate GPA of 3.91 and an undergraduate GPA of 3.77. Would law schools give any meaningful emphasis on the graduate GPA?

[005618502]

Ive heard that most people/employers (i dont know about law firms) know that grad students grade are inflated like crazy, so i dont think they care unless it looks semi low. Most grad students seem to have a >3.75 GPA

[bmwhype2]

Ive heard that most people/employers (i dont know about law firms) know that grad students grade are inflated like crazy, so i dont think they care unless it looks semi low. Most grad students seem to have a >3.75 GPA

it is somewhat true. there is no grade below B or B- (for some schools). However, it is hard to consistently score A in every class (as I almost did) and there is a world of difference between an A and a B in grad school.

[HBK]

I was always told about UGPA that after your first job it really didn't matter. Is this true for LS grades?

If you have a mediocre LSGPA, and somehow pull a sweet job and perform really well, would employers care that you got Bs in LS?

[aheisman]

I was always told about UGPA that after your first job it really didn't matter. Is this true for LS grades?

If you have a mediocre LSGPA, and somehow pull a sweet job and perform really well, would employers care that you got Bs in LS?

Yes. Grades matter for lateraling.

[Anonymous User]

Do they recommend you omit just your UGPA, or LS GPA too?

I imagine if you go to CLS it doesn't much matter. I go to a LS where you're not really in consideration for a firm job of any kind if you're not in the top-25% or so, so I feel like putting the GPA/rank on your resume is important for getting yourself a second look, especially for the OCI employers that just make you submit a resume/CL to bid and not a transcript.

we (technically) don't have LS GPAs or class ranks. no gpas or class ranks, though, ever, for anything. top 10% and top third get titles anyway.

edit: some transfers put their ranks and GPAs on their resumes, against the advice of OCS. it looked a bit... gauche.

Give me a break. I was a transfer and OCS explicitly told me to put my rank and GPA on my resume. I never knew law students had such strong opinions about this

At CLS? Nah. http://www.law.columbia.edu/careers/car ... 2l3lresume

At NYU? Yes.

I think I was more put off that jghall said it was "gauche." I never knew he was an on-campus recruiter who reviewed hundreds of resumes.

[005618502]

At NYU? Yes.

I think I was more put off that jghall said it was "gauche." I never knew he was an on-campus recruiter who reviewed hundreds of resumes.

Would you like to provide proof as the other poster provided? such as a sample Resume provided by NYU that does in fact list GPA along with their undergraduate institution

[JG Hall]

I think I was more put off that jghall said it was "gauche." I never knew he was an on-campus recruiter who reviewed hundreds of resumes.

transfers listed their 1L GPA and class rank. it looked heavy-handed, especially considering they ask for a transcript anyway, and obviously grades are going to be good because you could transfer.

[Anonymous User]

The student handbook, which I think exists only in hardcopy form, has sample transfer resumes. All of them have GPA and class rank (as well as the old school, of course). OCS explicitly tells transfers to leave that info on there.

it looked heavy-handed

You're a 2L. You are hardly in a position to comment on what looks "heavy handed" unless you've done recruiting. If your comment is just based on your view as a 2L, then you might as well have omitted it. It's worthless.

and obviously grades are going to be good because you could transfer.

Not necessarily. Yes, there are the usual suspects who were #1 in their class, etc. But there were far more people who had done decently, but not as well as you would think.