I just read in an i-banking/consulting interview book that you are NOT supposed to round your GPA. Just FYI all.
Do you Round Up Your GPA?
No one thinks that you should lie outright about your GPA. Or maybe round or "spin" your GPA from 3.2 to 3.5 SOme thoughts from the community on the topic.
from certified user @gomes3pc"
You are a fool if you don't round up a 3.77 to a 3.8. Nobody is going to give a crap about .03 GPA; in fact plenty of companies don't even ask for your transcript.
from certified user @CompBanker"
It depends on who you ask. I would put 3.26/4.0, but a lot of others would do 3.3/4.0. If you think that a 0.04 is going to be the difference between an interview or no interview, take the risk that whoever interviews you shares the same sentiments regarding rounding.
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Everyone rounds to 1 decimal place.
I don't claim to know all in the matter, but I've never seen it matter. I mean actual rounding (ie 3.56 to 3.6), not fluffing.
Maybe you shouldn't take everything you read seriously.
"Most important, make sure the GPA you list on your resume is fully accurate. Don't round to the nearest tenth." (Naficy, 156)
This comes from "The Fast Track" a book that has proven itself over the years. Now it is your judgment call if you want to round your GPA or not.
I want to work now! No, really. I want those 100+ hours/week.Well do what you like. I've been in this biz longer than naficy was when she wrote that book. I'm pretty sure I rounded mine to one decimal place when I interviewed. I don't need to see a 3.68....make it a 3.7
I'm all for rounding GPAs to one decimal place...but let's say you have a 3.647...I'm guessing it's shady to call that a 3.7 but I've heard it's acceptable (on the sort of sketchy logic that a 3.647 rounds to 3.65 to a 3.7... )
You should try and show it at least to two decimal places. I mean if you had a 3.44, would you really round to 3.4? Chances are you wouldn't. There is no hard rule. But you should try and avoid fudging your resume too much because I know of people getting fired for minor exaggerations. It's not really worth it.
"I know of people getting fired for minor exaggerations"
How is rounding an exaggeration? Most people are familiar with it by the third grade. Then in middle school we learn about significant digits. So we should all know that a listed "3.5" could be any gpa from 3.451-3.549.
An example of a minor exaggeration is listing an employment start date as "June 2005" when it really was July 15, 2005. Rounding is listing "July 2005" when it was July 15, 2005.
I enjoyed reading Naficy's book years ago but don't agree with her gpa advice. Why are kids coming out of school so insecure about this stuff anyway?
That's not how you round. If you are rounding to the tenths you don't round the hundreths and then round the tenths. You take the hundreths value and if it is 5 you round down and >5 you round up.
You are a fool if you don't round up a 3.77 to a 3.8. Nobody is going to give a crap about .03 GPA; in fact plenty of companies don't even ask for your transcript.
Ask for a transcript? I'm not so sure about that, especially for summer analysts. They certainly don't at the start; perhaps only when you get to final interviews, as that was only when Lehman asked me for them.
my major GPA is 3.935, is it ok to round to 3.94 on my resume
Yes.
Is it ever ok to round to a 4.0 (say you have a 3.96). I'd say this is the only instance where rounding is not the proper method.
don't round to a 4.0. 4.0 = perfect. 3.96 is not perfect.
One wonders how you could achieve a GPA so close to 4, yet not have the wits to work out how to, or if you should, round it.
I guess you just can't teach common sense or perspective.
Everyone I've spoken to says that you always round a decimal point so you never have a 3.87 or some crap like that, but once you reach 3.91 or higher you keep it that way, since you don't want to round down and you can't round up to a 4.0
No one is going to fire you for rounding your GPA
rolls eyes
The way I thought about it is: why round at all? There is no difference between a 3.56 and a 3.6. By putting your exact GPA people can see that you are very meticulous about details.
Even though it might be ridiculous, I feel like it is almost unethical to smudge your GPA. Some of you can give me the BS about how you are supposed to smudge your way through everything, especially through banking. My brother is in M&A and he doesn't need to smudge anything to be succesful.
I want to work now! No, really. I want those 100+ hours/week.Actually, it is anything from 3.450 - 3.549. Soooooooooomebody must have struggled with the third grade!
Just kidding sdonowski =)
is rounding a 3.26 to a 3.3 acceptable, especially in cases where jobs look for candidates with 3.3 and above?
It depends on who you ask. I would put 3.26/4.0, but a lot of others would do 3.3/4.0. If you think that a 0.04 is going to be the difference between an interview or no interview, take the risk that whoever interviews you shares the same sentiments regarding rounding.
everyone has more or less been agreeing with minor differences...just use common sense and don't lie. no one's going to ding you simply because you have one or two decimal points. i once had an professor (former banker) tell me he prefers to see two to three decimal places. it's not actually a set standard as long as you're being honest you've all got some degree of morality and ethics right?
i thought everyone rounds it to one decimal place
Not quite. The difference between a 3.750 and a 3.849 is quite large. I personally believe two decimal places should be a requirement!
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