Include GPA below 3 on resume? Forum

[Aston2412]

I generally agree with your posts, but here I think you are flat out, 100% wrong. You don't have to "do" anything "wrong" to get a C+. At my school with a 3.25 grading curve everyone knows what they are talking about when it comes to the exam and spot the most important issues. The people with a C+ generally do know what they are talking about..they just don't write as good of an answer as others. And in no way does it reflect on their capabilities or abilities as a potential lawyer IMO.

More specifically, on an exam you can know and write down 99% of the material that is tested on. If everyone else in the class writes down 99.01% or higher, guess what? You get the lowest grade in the class, even though you only missed 1% of the material. Obviously this is an extreme instance, but it doesn't really lend itself to testing how much an individual actually knows about the law - it tests how much individuals know about the law, relative to other students in THAT class with THAT professor.

[seatown12]

I got a C+ in Con Law I and I definitely deserved it. If a person has the same access to information and opportunity to learn as the rest of the class but is less able to articulate that information on an exam I think that failure is meaningful. There is no reason to assume that a person who performed worse than everyone in his actual class would outperform any random law student given the same opportunities. This doesn't mean that a person who gets a bad grade will never be a good lawyer, but the bad grade cannot just be dismissed as random or unlucky.

[prezidentv8]

From the perspective of somebody who has spanned a broader range of grades than the entire mandated curve, it really seems like luck has a lot to do with it. Not that performance is entirely or even mostly luck, but still.

[Aqualibrium]

That's the thing though, a c+ on that grading scale is essentially a D/D-. What's hard for me to fathom is what you have to do on an exam to receive the absolute worst grade a professor is willing to give. I mean I don't want to pile it on to op...i know he or she is in a tough spot. My comment was just an aside. The point is, leave the gpa off. No way it helps you to put it on.

I generally agree with your posts, but here I think you are flat out, 100% wrong. You don't have to "do" anything "wrong" to get a C+. At my school with a 3.25 grading curve everyone knows what they are talking about when it comes to the exam and spot the most important issues. The people with a C+ generally do know what they are talking about..they just don't write as good of an answer as others. And in no way does it reflect on their capabilities or abilities as a potential lawyer IMO.

Hmmm I'm a little flattered. Didn't think I had posted enough, or enough of substance, for there to be some general opinion of the content of my posts. Anyway, I could be wrong here; I certainly don't have a monopoly on the truth, and I don't mind admitting that.

[aarwu2000]

my CSO (t25) said if you don't have a GPA on resume it implies you under 3.0 and looks bad. Best thing to do--> take extra classes 2L/3L year (e.g. 17 credits) while competition takes 11-14 credits to average out your low grades (e.g. getting an A- with C+).

[objctnyrhnr]

Don’t include it. Why go out of your way to get yourself eliminated? If a given position then asks for transcripts and you then submit a transcript and get dinged, well so be it. FWIW, my biglaw firm focuses way more on pedigree (clerkship, school, prior experience) for laterals and often doesn’t make a supplemental transcript request.

[QContinuum]

my CSO (t25) said if you don't have a GPA on resume it implies you under 3.0 and looks bad. Best thing to do--> take extra classes 2L/3L year (e.g. 17 credits) while competition takes 11-14 credits to average out your low grades (e.g. getting an A- with C+).

First, it's generally bad practice to resurrect long-dead threads. In this case the last post to this thread was in freaking 2011, more than 7 years ago. Please don't do this in future.

Second, your post doesn't even address the question asked. The thread is about whether someone with a sub-3.0 GPA should list that GPA on their resume. Your advice is that that person should avoid having a sub-3.0 GPA (!).

As to the actual topic, now that it's been revived, my take is that if one's GPA is <3.0, that GPA should not be listed. Listing it won't help (no one's going to say, "oh, terrific, this applicant has a 2.7, not a 2.5!"), and can only increase the risk of being "summarily" dinged without a closer look.

[Anonymous User]

I got D for a 4-credit course nearly two years ago. Still trying to climb out of the hole.

Seriously, you only need 1 very bad grade to screw up your entire law school career. It's very difficult to make up for it unless you can get straight As for all remaining semesters.