I'd go with 3.69. A: It gives more detail and B: The interviewer is going to interpret a 3.7 as a 3.65 - 3.70 (people never round down). I also think it displays a level of honesty to include two decimals as opposed to one. Of course, this has been debated 100 times. Do whichever you like.

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I have seen a lot of resumes with both major GPA and cumulative. This can come back to bite you though. One guy had a 4.0 major and 3.5 cumulative. To me that said his first two years of college he had a 3.0 and last 2 years has a 4.0. I would have trouble hiring someone who has a 3.0 average in basic history, science, and english.

I've always heard to round up but at the end of the day, CompBanker is right, just do whichever helps you sleep better at night.

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When I see a high major GPA and low cumulative, I quickly jump to look at the transcript to see what courses brought the cumulative down. Then I ask why they did so poorly in those courses. You'd be surprised how many guys did poorly in intro to finance, accounting or econ. Probably more so because they were too busy partying in freshman year rather than an indication of their knowledge in these areas but still, does not look good for you.

 

I agree with CompBanker-- For your specific case, I'd go with the 3.69. 3.7 would be interpreted as 3.65-3.7, instead of 3.65-3.74, because in most cases, people wouldn't round a 3.74 down.

Sorry to hijack this-- what does it mean if an applicant only has major GPA's on his/her resume? (My friend who has a lower cumulative only put down her major and minor gpa's)

 

Another thing that I did is include a "Program GPA" which is your combined GPA in your majors and minors. This is really only helpful if your minor GPA is higher, and also only if your minor is relevant. Ie - don't use this if your minor is History or anything...

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

If you have an irrelevant minor (i.e. like captk mentioned, History, or Music/Art..), is it beter to not include it at all, or would that make you look like a more well-rounded candidate?

Also-- for relevant courses: is it good or bad to include a few courses that's not Econ/Finance/Accounting/Math? (i.e. something really irrelevant but possibly makes you well rounded like.. Studio Art.)

 

You can include an irrelevant minor - just make sure you dont devote a big chunk of space to it. Who knows, maybe someone interviewing you is either interested in the subject or studied it in college him/herself.

As for relevant courses - dont put courses like studio art cause its not relevant and may make you look like a fool.

As for the GPA question - this has been asked ad nauseam on this forum, please do a search. At the end of the day it doesnt matter if you put a 3.69 or a 3.7. Some people round, some people dont.

 

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