GPA - Why list only one decimal place?

I've seen several threads where people say you should round your GPA to one decimal place. But why would you do that? If you have a 3.54, why would you round down to 3.5?

Besides, if you choose to use only one decimal, 3.45 and 3.54 would both become a 3.5. Surely you would want to list the higher GPA of 3.54??

21 Comments
 

Perhaps you should stop giving so much resume advice if you can't even answer this question ;) Round up when possible. Never round down. But it's best to avoid rounding entirely and just deliver the truth. Bump up a 2.97 to a 3.0 or a 3.48 to a 3.5 because that can be a deal breaker but don't round a 3.7 to a 4.0.

 
turtlesPerhaps you should stop giving so much resume advice if you can't even answer this question ;) Round up when possible. Never round down. But it's best to avoid rounding entirely and just deliver the truth. Bump up a 2.97 to a 3.0 or a 3.48 to a 3.5 because that can be a deal breaker but don't round a 3.7 to a 4.0.

LOL changing a 3.7 to 4.0 isn't rounding at all, that's called lying on the resume.

Just round up to 1 decimal if beneficial Otherwise, show 2

 
grapefury
turtlesPerhaps you should stop giving so much resume advice if you can't even answer this question ;) Round up when possible. Never round down. But it's best to avoid rounding entirely and just deliver the truth. Bump up a 2.97 to a 3.0 or a 3.48 to a 3.5 because that can be a deal breaker but don't round a 3.7 to a 4.0.
LOL changing a 3.7 to 4.0 isn't rounding at all, that's called lying on the resume.
Though I aim to please, might I suggest reading the entire post before LOLing
 

I always rounded to a 3.3 to hide my 3.25 dogshit non-target-esque GPA. It didn't help.

 
BlackHatI always rounded to a 3.3 to hide my 3.25 dogshit non-target-esque GPA. It didn't help.

I thought you went to Wharton

 

My bschool is pretty stringent on rounding rules. We're technically not allowed to round a 3.79 up to a 3.8. For me, I only ever rounded up if it was .04 or less, but usually I show 2 digits. I think a 3.83 looks more legit than a 3.8, if only because that way no one will think I rounded up to a 3.8

More importantly though is keeping the number of decimals consistent. If you have multiple GPAs/majors, they both/all need to be the same number of digits.

 
arguewithatree I think a 3.83 looks more legit than a 3.8, if only because that way no one will think I rounded up to a 3.8 .

This. And I think its even more so if you are hovering around the bottom cut-off ... (i.e. 3.53 vs. 3.5) since some people may auto ding for being under 3.5 you don't want to give them a free pass to assume you might be under 3.5 and are just rounding up.

 

A lot of it is psychological, and realistically in the grand scheme of things: doesn't matter

Comparing a GPA from one school is unrealistic to a GPA from another.

But then again, there is a psychological impact between pricing an item at $1.99 vs $2

 

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