<p>I just graduated from Cornell with a pretty unflattering GPA (although it was in a rigorous major). Having a 3.0 glaring out from the first bullet on my resume is a little disheartening to say the least. I'm starting a two-year graduate program this fall and was hoping that my new GPA could "replace" my Cornell GPA on my resume once I receive my masters. </p>
<p>Now obviously my undergrad GPA won't disappear but I'm just wondering whether it would be acceptable to list only my degree and major from Cornell once I have my masters.</p>
<p>Also, in a more general sense, at what point do working adults exclude their undergrad GPA from their resumes? Is there a certain amount of experience that makes it acceptable to not list an undergrad GPA?</p>
<p>I never put my undergrad GPA (which was excellent for its time) on my resume in my whole life (and I’m 61). And never been asked for it. No one ever asked for my graduate-level GPA either.</p>
<p>You aren’t required to put ANYTHING you consider unflattering on your resume. Your resume is your chance to get your foot in the door, to put your best foot forward. Then if it comes up in conversation…</p>
<p>If you have a speech impediment, would you put it on your resume? Or were busted for smoking pot when you were 15?</p>
<p>When I was a engineering manager for an aerospace company I would always require a copy of your transcript before I would invite you in for an interview. I would calculate your GPA on all your STEM classes as well as see what your overall GPA was. Your STEM GPA had to be over 3.0 or HR would never approve the hire. IMHO, it could not show a downward trend. I actually found those with an upward trend to be the better choices even if it started below 3.0 and went up from there.</p>
<p>Somewhere north of five years of working in the industry and the GPA didn’t matter any more. By then you had a professional track record. I would check your references as well as the friend of a friend system. I worked on a lot of projects where we were teamed with other companies. It was amazing how few people there were that I didn’t know someone who knew them.</p>
<p>If you were the age of some of the posters on this thread I wouldn’t ask you your GPA because it was soooo long ago but for a new grad, yes, I’d want to see your UG GPA. I don’t think the grad GPA is as significant since those grades are usually inflated (rarely much lower than 3.4 or so). However, I also wouldn’t discount anyone with a 3.0 from Cornell in engineering (the type of person I’d typically hire). In some cases I’d rather hire a person with a 2.7 than a 3.5 depending on their actual college experience and other attributes. The GPA doesn’t tell all.</p>
<p>Given that, you’re not ‘required’ to put anything on your resume you don’t want to but just because you don’t put it there doesn’t mean the potential employer won’t ask for it and also perhaps request a transcript so you need to be prepared to discuss it.</p>
<p>I have reviewed applications from new graduates as well. I always ignore the GPA - I don’t know what it represents, and if I really want to see grades, I ask for transcripts. </p>
<p>The fact that I would want to know whether you had a speech impediment doesn’t mean you should put it on your resume.</p>
<p>What I have seen from new graduate and intern candidates is that GPAs on resumes are always good. Those with lower GPAs tend to omit them.</p>
<p>New graduate and intern candidates often list what courses they took on their resumes. That makes it relatively easy to figure out what they learned and remembered from the courses (ask about an important concept that is in one of the courses and relevant to the work being hired for).</p>
<p>Rule of thumb I heard from several older friends who were already in the workforce during the mid-late '90s was that one should list their GPA if it is higher than 3.0 and one was out of school for less than 5 years. </p>
<p>Only time GPAs should NOT be listed is if the GPA is south of 3.0. Something which came up when they recounted a few elite university undergrads who actually listed GPAs in the 2.5-2.9 range. For their industries, they’d always threw those resumes in the reject pile unless there was some extraordinary work experience/internships in the resume to compensate for what they felt was “sub-par” academic performance…even for STEM majors. </p>
<p>Even extraordinary work experience/internships is not always a guarantee of overriding a sub-3.0 GPA. An older cousin who graduated URochester as a STEM major with a GPA ten thousandth of a point below 3.0 who gained interviews because of those extraordinary factors had interviewers abruptly end the interviews once they found out about his sub-3.0 GPA. A reason why he emphasized to me how I MUST keep my undergrad GPA above 3.0 at all costs.</p>
<p>Engineering jobs here too - We recently started giving an actual technical screening exam to entry level applicants. It’s often surprising how little correlation there is between the score on the exam and the GPA.</p>
<p>I’ve been on tons of interviewing committees. We DO look at college transcripts and grade info is on there (that is for any candidate…regardless of number of years of experience…college transcripts are part of the application packet where I work). HOWEVER when we look at those transcripts…we also look at the specific course grades. </p>
<p>Again…I would NOT expect to see a GPA listed on a resume. The only “references” to GPA I’ve seen are things like “graduated magna cum laude” or “member phi beta kapppa”…but no specifics.</p>
<p>I would think that for most companies, the undergrad GPA would be of little interest when interviewing a candidate who had earned a graduate degree. I’m sure there are exceptions.</p>
<p>For jobs right out of college, many employers will expect to see GPA on the resume. My employer does expect to see it and screens resumes on this basis; the resume screen is done by alumni teams and we do know what the GPA means. After your first job I don’t think it is necessary to include GPA. When my older son updated his resume to interview for his second job out of college, he deleted the GPA and listed only the Latin honors he received.</p>
<p>I would suspect that a 3.0 from an Ivy would be considered differently than a 3.0 from a second or third tier school - No? Like, it’s probably harder to get a 3.0 at a competitive, rigorous school versus an easier school?</p>
<p>Actually, more selective schools tend to have more grade inflation.</p>
<p>For example, according to [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5DNational”>http://www.gradeinflation.com) , Brown’s average GPA in 2007 was 3.61, but the average GPA at California State University, Fresno in 2007 was 2.85.</p>
<p>We were actually turned down by a guy from a top 10 Flagship State U. with a 2.8 undergrad :-). Awesome experience (Linux kernel), and the like, but the 2.8 stood out. We made the offer but apparently he did not bite, so I assume either HR lowballed the dude to oblivion or he has better things to do.</p>
<p>Forgot to spell out the moral of the story. If you can grok Linux kernel internals, 2.8 won’t matter much :-).</p>
<p>I told my son not to put it on his resume. It seems to be a “thing” with new college graduates but it’s not necessary. If HR wants to know your GPA they will ask.</p>
but for a new grad, yes, I’d want to see your UG GPA. I don’t think the grad GPA is as significant since those grades are usually inflated (rarely much lower than 3.4 or so). However, I also wouldn’t discount anyone with a 3.0 from Cornell in engineering (the type of person I’d typically hire). In some cases I’d rather hire a person with a 2.7 than a 3.5 depending on their actual college experience and other attributes. The GPA doesn’t tell all.</p>