Include GPA below 3 on resume? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I got mixed views about this and I'm not sure if I should include my gpa on my resume. Let me know what you think. T20-T25 here.

[seatown12]

It's not impressive, leave it off. Any employer who will have a problem with the omission and "assume the worst" wouldn't have hired you anyway. Your GPA is not your selling point.

[Aqualibrium]

I agree with the above poster.

I'm dumfounded at the thought of someone at a school with a b+ or better curve having a sub 3 gpa though. Hope you aren't paying full freight.

[Anonymous User]

T10 school, 2.9 GPA, curved at a 3.3. It's not as shocking as you might believe. One or two really crappy grades can ruin your GPA. Also, the 3.3 curve has some professors who cluster grades in or around a 3.3, and other professors who cluster a few at median but most other grades at the higher extremes. Thankfully, not paying full freight, 1/3rd scholarship

[gwuorbust]

while I didn't hit below a 3.0 it is pure luck that I didn't. outside of the top and bottom 10%s I'm of the opinion that it is complete luck.

[TommyK]

Similar question asked in another thread. lawfirmrecruiter, who is a... law firm recruiter shares his thoughts:

Not to be presumptuous, but why wouldn't your resume have your GPA on it? All resumes should.

If your GPA is below a 3 it should not be on your resume. I've heard that from firms and career services.

If it is not on there, I assume your GPA is low and will ask for it anyway. Still a red flag whether it is there or not. All recruiters see this one the same.

[goodolgil]

I agree with the above poster.

I'm dumfounded at the thought of someone at a school with a b+ or better curve having a sub 3 gpa though. Hope you aren't paying full freight.

You're dumbfounded that there are people at the bottom of the class?

[Stringer Bell]

I agree with the above poster.

I'm dumfounded at the thought of someone at a school with a b+ or better curve having a sub 3 gpa though. Hope you aren't paying full freight.

Pretty dick post

[unc0mm0n1]

Not to be presumptuous, but why wouldn't your resume have your GPA on it? All resumes should.

If your GPA is below a 3 it should not be on your resume. I've heard that from firms and career services.

If it is not on there, I assume your GPA is low and will ask for it anyway. Still a red flag whether it is there or not. All recruiters see this one the same.

Not all schools have a GPA. What do they assume then?

[prezidentv8]

I'm of the opinion that you put your GPA on the resume unless it's egregiously bad. It's going to get asked for one way or another if you have a crack at the job, and you may as well convey ownership of the problem.

[seatown12]

I'm of the opinion that you put your GPA on the resume unless it's egregiously bad. It's going to get asked for one way or another if you have a crack at the job, and you may as well convey ownership of the problem.

This is a faulty assumption. Not all employers will ask for GPA, and OP has already lost his chance at being hired by those that will. There is no benefit to listing the GPA, and only a theoetical downside to omitting it. OP should use his resume to highlight other accomplishments and skills.

[Nogameisfair]

If you're a good interviewer, don't put that GPA on your resume. If you're mediocre or worse, include the GPA to save yourself time on people who will never give you the job.

[prezidentv8]

I'm of the opinion that you put your GPA on the resume unless it's egregiously bad. It's going to get asked for one way or another if you have a crack at the job, and you may as well convey ownership of the problem.

This is a faulty assumption. Not all employers will ask for GPA, and OP has already lost his chance at being hired by those that will. There is no benefit to listing the GPA, and only a theoetical downside to omitting it. OP should use his resume to highlight other accomplishments and skills.

Maybe so, but I would think that at least among legal employers very few wouldn't ask for the GPA immediately. And I would guess that most employers generally assume that grades were pretty horrible if they aren't disclosed.

On the other hand, maybe if you can get into an interview prior to being asked about grades, you may be able to talk your way into a job, so who knows.

Than again, just speculating here.

[Anonymous User]

SO what would be an egregiously bad GPA? T10 school 2.9, clearly bottom 20% (I think I'm a bit above bottom 10% based on the GPA calculator thing that was on TLS a bit ago). Would that be a GPA to leave off or to put on? And if you don't put it on, would they assume something like a 2.6/7? Bc if that were the case, then I'm better off leaving it on. But if they don't question it, and I can click with the interviewer before grades come up, then I'd assume it's best to leave it off. But yeah, I'm really split as a 2.9 is sub-3.0 but not I guess THAT much below it (relatively speaking)..

[prezidentv8]

SO what would be an egregiously bad GPA? T10 school 2.9, clearly bottom 20% (I think I'm a bit above bottom 10% based on the GPA calculator thing that was on TLS a bit ago). Would that be a GPA to leave off or to put on? And if you don't put it on, would they assume something like a 2.6/7? Bc if that were the case, then I'm better off leaving it on. But if they don't question it, and I can click with the interviewer before grades come up, then I'd assume it's best to leave it off. But yeah, I'm really split as a 2.9 is sub-3.0 but not I guess THAT much below it (relatively speaking)..

Yeah I think you've kind of captured the issue. I mean, 2.9 is bad, but I wouldn't say that it's the lowest that could be reasonably imagined for an omission. I'd say the 2.5-2.7 range is around where I was talking about.

[spanktheduck]

My incination is to leave it off. Sub 3.0 at a T-10 is bad, i imagine that to most employers it would be a big red flag. Honestly, I cannot imagine you getting any interview/job offer with that GPA that you would not have gotten w/o it. I can imagine you getting offers from places w/o a GPa though that might not have hired you if they knew you had a 2.9.

[Anonymous User]

I've kept my below median GPA off my resume so far in mass mailing, I've already gotten 10 or so responses asking for transcripts.

For firm jobs, at some point they will be looking at your grades, however I figure there is no reason to list a harbl GPA to make them toss your resume as soon as it comes across their desk/inbox.

I say if your GPA is below median do not list it, unless your school has like 3.5 median your gpa is 3.0-3.49

[thesealocust]

You['re] like Butch and Sundance peering over the edge of a cliff to the boulder-filled rapids 300 feet below, thinking you better not jump 'cause there's a chance you might drown. [You've got below a 3.0], and you['re] are worried that [putting it on your resume] might make [you] look bad? It's the fall that's gonna kill ya.

[Aqualibrium]

I agree with the above poster.

I'm dumfounded at the thought of someone at a school with a b+ or better curve having a sub 3 gpa though. Hope you aren't paying full freight.

Pretty dick post

Not really. A sub 3 gpa at a place where the median is 3.3 is bad. I get that someone has to be at the bottom of the class, but the idea that it's just luck separating the person who consistently gets B-'s and the person who consistently gets B+'s just isn't correct.

[Moxie]

You['re] like Butch and Sundance peering over the edge of a cliff to the boulder-filled rapids 300 feet below, thinking you better not jump 'cause there's a chance you might drown. [You've got below a 3.0], and you['re] are worried that [putting it on your resume] might make [you] look bad? It's the fall that's gonna kill ya.

Forced quote much?

[Nogameisfair]

You['re] like Butch and Sundance peering over the edge of a cliff to the boulder-filled rapids 300 feet below, thinking you better not jump 'cause there's a chance you might drown. [You've got below a 3.0], and you['re] are worried that [putting it on your resume] might make [you] look bad? It's the fall that's gonna kill ya.

Forced quote much?

OP is trying to work with what he has. You can't go back and change your GPA and you're going to have to get a job no matter what your GPA. This quote is both mutilated and misused.

[goodolgil]

I agree with the above poster.

I'm dumfounded at the thought of someone at a school with a b+ or better curve having a sub 3 gpa though. Hope you aren't paying full freight.

Pretty dick post

Not really. A sub 3 gpa at a place where the median is 3.3 is bad. I get that someone has to be at the bottom of the class, but the idea that it's just luck separating the person who consistently gets B-'s and the person who consistently gets B+'s just isn't correct.

Who said there was luck?

It still doesn't make any sense that you're "dumbfounded" that the bottom of the class exists.

[Anonymous User]

@ Aqualibrium, again, it's not as crazy as you think. Seriously, if you get four grades of 3.3 and two grades of 2.3, so essentially if you're at a top 10 school, full of really bright people, get four median grades because you're in the middle of the pack amongst very very bright students in 4 of your classes, and then each semester, have two really crappy exam days and finish with a C+ each semester amongst those four median grades, you're at about a 2.96 right there, sub 3.0. It's not a fun or happy position to be in knowing that two exams likely changed your career arc and crushed your dreams/spirit..

[Aqualibrium]

@ Aqualibrium, again, it's not as crazy as you think. Seriously, if you get four grades of 3.3 and two grades of 2.3, so essentially if you're at a top 10 school, full of really bright people, get four median grades because you're in the middle of the pack amongst very very bright students in 4 of your classes, and then each semester, have two really crappy exam days and finish with a C+ each semester amongst those four median grades, you're at about a 2.96 right there, sub 3.0. It's not a fun or happy position to be in knowing that two exams likely changed your career arc and crushed your dreams/spirit..

That's the thing though, a c+ on that grading scale is essentially a D/D-. What's hard for me to fathom is what you have to do on an exam to receive the absolute worst grade a professor is willing to give. I mean I don't want to pile it on to op...i know he or she is in a tough spot. My comment was just an aside. The point is, leave the gpa off. No way it helps you to put it on.

[gwuorbust]

That's the thing though, a c+ on that grading scale is essentially a D/D-. What's hard for me to fathom is what you have to do on an exam to receive the absolute worst grade a professor is willing to give. I mean I don't want to pile it on to op...i know he or she is in a tough spot. My comment was just an aside. The point is, leave the gpa off. No way it helps you to put it on.

I generally agree with your posts, but here I think you are flat out, 100% wrong. You don't have to "do" anything "wrong" to get a C+. At my school with a 3.25 grading curve everyone knows what they are talking about when it comes to the exam and spot the most important issues. The people with a C+ generally do know what they are talking about..they just don't write as good of an answer as others. And in no way does it reflect on their capabilities or abilities as a potential lawyer IMO.