Luckily I did way better 2L year than 1L, and I was told that I could specify my GPA just for 2L in addition to my cumulative. However, I'm not sure if the increase/my semester GPA is really good enough to make it not look tacky or pointless. Basically it would look like this:
GPA: 3.59 (cumulative); 3.74 (2L year)
Any thoughts? If it matters, my GPA at the end of 1L was ~3.45. So, although my total GPA now is better, it's not like I went from a 3.3 1L only gpa to a 4.0 2L only gpa, you know?
When to Note GPA increase on Resume Forum
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NotMyRealName09
- Posts: 1396
- Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:50 pm
Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
That seems dumb. Cum. GPA or nothing.
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BearLaw
- Posts: 133
- Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:23 pm
Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
Firms/judges/take your pick care about the cumulative GPA. That is all that should go on the resume. If you are massmailing, submit an unofficial transcript or course report that shows your grades by class/semester as well. Anyone looking at it will be able to see the improvement, but dont put it on your resume.
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bulinus
- Posts: 199
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
Pointing out that you did better in school after the smart kids either transferred out/stopping trying so hard is probably not what you want to do.
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pancakes3
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
Out of curiosity, who "told" you? Career Services?
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k5220
- Posts: 171
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
I've heard that some firms actually care more about 1L GPA, so I would not highlight that discrepancy for them
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OutoftheWoods
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
To be fair, Career Services didn't TELL me to do it, but they showed us that we COULD do it. I never asked for advice. But it sounded fishy to me as well, I guess I didn't realize everyone would unanimously disagree with it though haha.
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Anonymous User
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
I interview for a Biglaw firm, and I would view the higher GPA 2L year as a negative.
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AVBucks4239
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Re: When to Note GPA increase on Resume
Almost everybody's GPA increases as they progress through law school because (1) the curve gets easier 2L and 3L year and (2) people take easier classes (including seminars).
As anecdotal evidence, here are the class rank sheets at Ohio State, where we were ranked based on our 1-100 score weighted averages (i.e., not just based on A or A-, but on a weighted numerical grade given in each class):
Class of 2014 after 1L Year (89.8 = top 25%): https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/ran ... WI2012.pdf
Class of 2014 after 2L Year (90.6 = top 25%): https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/ran ... 13_000.pdf
Class of 2014 after 3L Year (91.5 = top 25%): http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/wp-c ... g-2014.pdf
Across the board you'll notice that all the averages are going up, and that's because everybody is cumulatively getting better grades for the above-described reasons.
Employers know this is how it works, so don't mention your higher 2L GPA.
As anecdotal evidence, here are the class rank sheets at Ohio State, where we were ranked based on our 1-100 score weighted averages (i.e., not just based on A or A-, but on a weighted numerical grade given in each class):
Class of 2014 after 1L Year (89.8 = top 25%): https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/ran ... WI2012.pdf
Class of 2014 after 2L Year (90.6 = top 25%): https://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/ran ... 13_000.pdf
Class of 2014 after 3L Year (91.5 = top 25%): http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/registrar/wp-c ... g-2014.pdf
Across the board you'll notice that all the averages are going up, and that's because everybody is cumulatively getting better grades for the above-described reasons.
Employers know this is how it works, so don't mention your higher 2L GPA.
