by greygooseuria

I have a question. I am in an ABSN program getting my second bachelors degree. On my resume with my first degree, I have it listed as so:

BA in Sociology
GPA 3.79/4.0; GPA within major 3.86/4.0

Now, I am obviously going to add nursing to this, and I have a question of how it should appear. When I was in high school, I took calculus at the school I am getting my BSN at and got a C in it since it was high school and didn't want to try. Should I include that in my GPA or just leave it out? It's not part of my program requirements so I could do:

BS in Nursing
GPA 3.56/4.0

Or something to that nature. Should I put GPA within program? Or GPA within major? What would make the most sense?

Re: Resume Help

I have similar degrees. The rule of thumb is always put your gpa if its over 3.0 but employers know that it is on a 4.0 scale so leave the "/4.0" out. A career counselor told me to do this:

Current School Name, City, State
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, GPA 3.56, anticipated graduation Month, Year

1st Degree School Name, City, State
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, GPA 3.## - Month, Year of Grad

Your GPA that you put is the cumulative GPA on your transcript, not the one within your major. You can usually get an unofficial copy from the registrar. Hope this helps!

Re: Resume Help

I agree with the previous post. Further, there is no standard rule that you have to even include your GPA. If an employer is truly interested and it is relevant to them, they can request you submit a copy of your transcript.

Re: Resume Help

This is what my education section looked like after earning my ABSN. I attended two schools for prereqs, since I moved out of state. I showed to friends at school and to my husband, who does hiring for his company, but not to a career counselor. I got hired for my first choice job and called for interviews elsewhere. I agree that you should leave off the "/4.0" part. Is the 3.56 your total cumulative GPA, or just from that school? If your cumulative is higher, I would list it, as well as your GPA in nursing courses. You don't need to separate out what you earned from that school if it includes a crappy grade, but you do need to include the crappy grade in your total cumulative GPA, where you have more credits to bring it's weight down.

Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing
University of XXX, City, State
Fill in the blank Scholarship Recipient
4.0 GPA in nursing and pre-nursing courses
3.81 cumulative GPA (193 credit hours), graduated magna cum laude
-->this was my total cumulative GPA from all schools, but it's what's on my transcript. I got an A in every course I took here (and these sentences aren't on the resume).

Pre-Nursing Curriculum
University of YYY, City, State
4.0 GPA in pre-nursing courses

Bachelor's of Science: Psychology
ZZZ University, City State
Minor in business
3.64 GPA, graduated cum laude
AAA Scholarship Recipient (full tuition)
National Merit Scholar

Re: Resume Help

Thanks everyone!!! It's really useful.

Also, how would you list experience on a new grad resume? Do you list clinical experiences and what kind of floor they were on? For example, this semester my med-surg is on Medical Cardiology and Cardiac Cath Lab and my mental health one is in adolescent psychiatry.

I worked as a CNA in 2 places since March as well...but I am probably leaving the 2nd place to not work during school. Should I list those on my resume at all? I don't want them to think I'm a flake because of that...I had to leave the first one due to scheduling conflicts and the second one because school is overwhelming me.

Re: Resume Help

I don't have any health care work experience, so I did start with "Clinical Rotations: ABC Hospital" and listed them all in that section. Then I listed 4 of my last bartending/serving jobs, which took me back in years to when I graduated college the first time. I'd definitely list CNA experience if you have it, the hospitals in my area all like it - in an interview, mention that you worked while in school for as long as you could, but given the accelerated curriculum, you had to sacrifice work for the grades. Leave off any job that you were only at for a few weeks though. If it's 3 mo. plus, I think you're OK to list it, as long as your reason for leaving isn't "my supervisor hated me" or "I got fired for cursing out a patient," etc.

Re: Resume Help

No need to put your GPA on your resume. Most employers don't care about that however, what they do care about are recommendation letters from your school.

Re: Resume Help

The career center at my university says that if you do not put your GPA, it is assumed to be 2.0. Are you sure that listing the GPA isn't important?

Re: Resume Help

I've been told to list it if it's over 3.5, but you certainly don't have to list it if it's not impressive. You also probably drop it off after you have experience - when you don't though, they only have school to go on. In our area, they usually ask you at interviews if it's not on the resume right in front of them.