Major GPA vs Cumulative GPA Question
Why is it that people think its a good idea to put their major gpa on their resume when the majority of the time it is higher than the cumulative. If you major in finance or economics and your major gpa is 3.8, but your cumulative gpa is 3.65, doesn't it make you look even worse because it probably means you didn't do as well in classes that don't relate to your major. It's like saying hey, in my hard classes i do well, but when i take my general education classes like history or geology, I don't do so hot. And if you are taking harder classes than what your major requires, then that also proves my point. Can anyone explain so I can understand?
>it probably means you didn't do as well in classes that don't relate to your major.
Why would a company ever neg you for that? I mean, IB is far from a "general case" but in general, companies want to see that you're proficient in the material that is actually relevant to the work that they do. Showing a greater proficiency in major specific classes shows that you understand the important material that they actually need you to understand. This also makes sense, as most people probably put more effort into their major specific classes (otherwise why would they even be in that major?)
>hey, in my hard classes i do well, but when i take my general education classes like history or geology, I don't do so hot.
Major classes only include program specific classes. For example, I am in Petroleum Engineering so any non-Petroleum Engineering classes are non major classes. Statics (C- class average), Thermodynamics, all the Chemistry courses I needed to take (my worst subject), my absurdly difficult Differential Equations class, along with others are all outside of my major. Now I've done relatively alright so far and I don't personally list a major GPA, but non-major classes are not necessarily "easy." They're only easy if you take a major with an easy flowchart and take easy electives, and I don't know why you think that would look better to employers.
>And if you are taking harder classes than what your major requires, then that also proves my point.
See the last point
For most people on this site who do that it's because they take other "harder" courses (I put the quotes around harder because it depends on the person). For me it's the same. Much of my first 2 semesters were composed of engineering lower divs which really brought my GPA down. Now why would it make sense for a bank to ding me on my knowledge of C++ when they should instead evaluate my proficiency in financial accounting or econ. It doesn't so instead I list my major GPA and my overall GPA.
Most people who want to major in STEM while also majoring in finance or business don't want their STEM GPA to be their downfall so listing the major GPA really makes it easier to tell the difference.
In my case 3.6 overall and 4.0 major...pretty significant difference.
Questions regarding Major GPA & Cumulative GPA (Originally Posted: 11/21/2017)
I know that there has been discussion on this forum about using your Major GPA on your resume, but I was wondering if I could get some more opinions on my specific situation.
I am a junior that attends a non-target and have quite a low cumulative GPA. This is mostly due to my own errors in non-major classes, so my Major GPA is still considered competitive in Finance recruiting. I currently intern for a large PE firm and could see myself moving on here full time, but I also want to apply to other PE firms and participate in recruiting.
My questions are: Does putting your Major GPA and leaving out your cumulative GPA on a resume make you look sketchy? Is it better to just stick the cumulative GPA in there as well, even though it might raise questions? Will people even care that I failed some stupid general education classes if I got A's in all of my finance classes?
Hey Levered 6x, I think you deserve a response...heck, everyone does. We're listening, sorry about the delay ...my best guess at places on WSO that could help:
More suggestions...
Hope that helps.
Listing GPA on my Resume (Originally Posted: 05/25/2017)
I just graduated with a double major in Finance and Statistics. I have a 3.71 in Finance and a 3.42 in Statistics with a 3.57 cumulative.
My cumulative is okay I think, but it was really dragged down by a lot of the intensive Math classes for my Statistics major. Is there a good/preferred way to list these GPAs, or at least just the finance and cumulative ones?
Thanks.
I would put your dual major and then cumulative and finance GPAs if you're targeting finance careers. They'll put two and two together and know stats brought it down a little, which is fine as long as they know you did good in finance.
Cumulative GPA vs. Finance GPA on resume (Originally Posted: 05/17/2010)
I did engineering during my undergrad and will be pursuing an MSF this coming Fall. During my undergrad I took 20 credits of Finance/Econ classes (with a 3.86 GPA) and my cumulative GPA was 3.53. I was wondering if I should bother to include my GPA in Finance classes (even though I didn't receive a degree in this Major). Any advice is appreciated.
No harm in it really is there?
No harm I don't think. I just wanted to make sure it didn't look stupid/out of place from someone without a degree in Finance.
Also wondering how I should put it on the resume since it isn't Finance classes only. "Finance/Economics GPA" or "Business GPA", etc.
No it's a good idea. It'll show your capacity for the field.
Thanks youngmonkey. Any idea what would be the best way to write it on my resume? I currently have it as "Business/Finance GPA". I know I'm being very nit-picky here and it probably doesn't matter much but I'm kind of OCD with my resume details...
I would put it as "Business GPA."
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