Can I use modified GPA on resume?

Question

My first semester of undergrad, I was in the engineering school, and had a terrible transition to college - as a result, my gpa was a 2.74 that semester. I promptly switched to the College of Arts and Sciences after that and got my grades up for the rest of my undergraduate career. My resume currently lists my "College of Arts & Sciences GPA" which is a 3.55. I calculated this on my own by inputting my grades/grade points into an Excel spreadsheet and excluding my first semester.

Up to this point, I've written it like that under the approval of my school's Career Services, but I'm wondering if consulting firms might think I'm trying to hedge my GPA and am being dishonest. On the other side, my full undergraduate GPA is a 3.41 (when including that first semester) and I'm worried that it being that low would toss me out of consideration at top firms automatically, whereas listing a 3.55 is more promising.

Answer 1

You should put what's in your diploma. However, you can also take the liberty of adding "GPA in Major" alongside it.

Answer 2

Hi Madison,

you should provide in the CV the GPA that can be calculated given the uploaded transcript that you will provide as part of the application, anything else would appear as misleading information.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 3

When applying to consulting firms, you will have to upload scans of your diplomas. I would recommend that the GPA given in your resume should match the one on your diploma - everything else will be seen, at best, as a tardy mistake, and at worst as deceit. If you are worried about your GPA being to low, you can mitigate it in a few ways: networking, strong extracurriculars, excellent cover letter, ...

Good luck!

Answer 4

Hi,

Put whatever you'll have in the diploma. If you have a separate approval from career services - make sure its in official written form

Best