financed 100% college expenses on resume?

Does it worth a line on the resume? How much would it make a difference given no banking-related experience (i.e. no internship, etc) but 3.7+ GPA and semi-target?

I've seen this on the sample resume that the career services provided.

Thanks for all the comments!!

 

I did this as well, and graduated in 3 years to minimize my tuition bill. I think this shows interviewers that you have tremendous work ethic and commitment. Everyone that I told was impressed, and it is a great way to show your character. In short, absolutely throw it on the resume, right under education.

 

I'd think it might be worth bringing up during interviews, but anything impressive you did/won in undergrad would be better than that resume wise.

I also feel as if its kind of weird- you're telling people about your personal financial situation on your resume (but that last sentence is just me and how i'd feel weird about it).

 
Best Response

Education is a very crucial aspect nowadays. But learning is a continuous process that will never end after graduating in college. SAT scores are things that high school students nervously waiting to get into college fret about. While your SAT scores are important, there are alternatives that not everyone talks about. You don't need SAT results at all to go to community college, and then transfer. You will still likely need a big money loan to go to a full university. Community colleges are usually quite reasonable, and don't require SAT results of any kind. Once you've completed enough credits for an associate's degree, you can transfer to a full university and you have half your bachelor's completed, no need for debt consolidation or SAT scores, and at half the price – just as a thought.

 

Thanks for all the advices. I can squeeze a line into my resume definitely and it seems the majority of opinions leans toward having it on there.

masnariktap: essentially everything you mentioned except high school savings. I started with an account of $10 and then the rest: ~40% grant, 10% scholarship, 30% loan, and 20% work.

 
cavhw:
Thanks for all the advices. I can squeeze a line into my resume definitely and it seems the majority of opinions leans toward having it on there.

masnariktap: essentially everything you mentioned except high school savings. I started with an account of $10 and then the rest: ~40% grant, 10% scholarship, 30% loan, and 20% work.

If you absolutely want to put it on there, here is what I would do...

Under your work experience, list your PT job, maybe one responsibility (or none if it’s bartending or something really common) but add a bullet point that says something like, "worked XX hours per week to finance college while maintaining full course load"

That way you aren't explicitly trying to give the sob story about financing your own education (I'm in the same boat as you), but it shows that you worked during school, why you worked, and that you were still a FT student while doing it (and hopefully a strong student with ECs). Throughout my interviews, I was never asked about the crappy part time jobs I had, only about the relevant finance experiences (although I didn't add the part about "...to help finance college...").

 
cavhw:
Thanks for all the advices. I can squeeze a line into my resume definitely and it seems the majority of opinions leans toward having it on there.

masnariktap: essentially everything you mentioned except high school savings. I started with an account of $10 and then the rest: ~40% grant, 10% scholarship, 30% loan, and 20% work.

Isn't it a little misleading to say that you "financed" your education when 80% of the total bill was either forgone via scholarship or has to be paid at a later date? It just seems like you're setting yourself up for questions that aren't necessarily pertinent or that beneficial for you to answer.

 

I actually wouldn't put it on there. As noted above, it's not going to really give you an edge in any way, and it likely won't get talked about in your interview (your interviewer will unlikely ask about your finances). By leaving it off, it gives you something very good to bring up towards the end of the interview when the interviewer asks, "Is there anything else you would like to point out, whether it be on your resume or not" or "tell me something about you that's not on your resume." It gives you something to say that will relate to how you fit in with investment banking. And it's pretty impressive.

 

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