GPA – What’s In A Number?

Ah, the grade point average.  At some point, you don’t have to worry about it in your legal resume, right?  Not so fast.  Dealing with GPAs is a sensitive issue.  Let’s discuss: 

1.      First off, if you decide to put a GPA on your resume, it is absolutely imperative that the information is accurate.  Guessing, rounding up, approximating, or fudging (‘I got a 3.8 if you don’t count my first-year classes’) is NEVER acceptable.  If you don’t know your exact GPA, get a transcript form your law school (and you should probably get one anyway as you may need it when an employer asks for it).  When in doubt, leave it out.

2.     Use a class rank, but qualify it with a numerator and denominator.  Saying you graduated #34 in the class is impressive if you have a class of 430 and less impressive if you are a January graduate and your class has 40 people.  Give the reader the information they need to interpret the data.

3.     The old rule you may have heard that says that if you were above a 3.0, put it onyour resume is just that – an old rule.  You need to rethink having your GA on your resume each time you send it out based on the audience.  A 3.2 may be impressive for a regional firm, but may immediately get you knocked out of consideration at a large, national firm. 

4.     If you put a law school GPA on your resume, you likely need to put your undergraduate GPA on the resume.  Consistency is the key.  If one is missing, it will probably look suspicious.

5.     If your GPA wasn’t that great, you might want to keep it off the resume and focus on your skills.  Be prepared to discuss your grades in an interview and make sure you can answer the question “why didn’t you do better in law school.”

6.     Keep in mind that if your GPA is NOT on the resume, the reader can speculate as to why it isn’t there.  That speculation can be good or bad.  There are times that you may rather there be speculation than having the GPA on the resume.

7.     Remember that half of your graduating class wasn’t in the top-half.  Having great grades is nice, but there are an equal number of graduates who don’t have great grades.  

8.     If your grades aren’t great, don’t beat yourself up about it.  You can’t go back and change your grades.  So stop worrying about it and do something else that will get you noticed. Draft an amazing resume and practice addendum.  Show the employer that you have what it takes to succeed in another way.

As you can see, there really is a lot of thought that goes into whether or not to include your GPA on your resume.    If you have any questions about whether or not to include your GPA (or how to draft it on your resume,) reach out to us at Legal Resume Review!