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I've had a few jobs now on my resume, I had great sat scores, but a mediocre GPA...

Since I already have experience, I don't list my GPA, but left the SAT scores.

What is the best approach to my resume if I have a mediocre GPA?

marked as duplicate by gnat, IDrinkandIKnowThings, Michael Grubey, Chris E, jmoreno Apr 18 '15 at 4:09


  • Hey Doug_2, I made an edit to your question to make it a bit easier to answer and to hopefully get you better information. If you think I screwed it up, feel free to edit it yourself. – jmac Apr 14 '15 at 6:22
  • If you've had related industry jobs then you don't need the GPA on the resume. If you haven't had related jobs and your grades aren't very good and you don't have anything interesting related to the field that you've worked on via a "hobby" project then the place that people like that went upon graduation when I was graduating from school was called "Get a Master's Degree". – Dunk Apr 15 '15 at 18:32

I have never seen an SAT score on a resume and I have looked at a few thousand. Maybe I just don't remember, but I don't think so. I find it odd that you would highlight a test from high school.

Trying to process this and I don't think its "bad" but it is definitely odd. To me it is a slight step up from telling me you won a school spelling bee. Again it isn't bad, it's just odd. I'm not even sure most people would know how to interpret an SAT score...

But to your question, seeing an SAT score and then no GPA or mention of honors in college would beg me to think about your grades. I often looked at new hire entry level position applicant's grades/transcripts. If I saw no mention of SAT score and a good job track record I probably wouldn't bother. Just seeing the SAT score and not the grades... send me your transcripts.

Your resume should be focusing on how your past jobs will interpret in you being a good fit for this job. Or showing a skill set that meets the job. Unless your job is answering a bunch of high school level multiple choice questions, I would just leave it out.


If you've had a few jobs since graduating, go ahead and leave off the GPA. Just list the school, degree, major, and year graduated.

Few employers, if any, pay attention to college entrance test scores. I wouldn't include them, even if you are a brand new graduate.

  • If your GPA isn't stellar then leave it off even if you haven't had any jobs. If your resume is sparse then maybe include a few blurbs on work you did in classes you did well in (limit it to those because that's what the questions will most likely be based on) and hopefully you do something related as a hobby that you can put some blurbs about. Otherwise, it might be a long road finding someone willing to take a chance on somebody who didn't get good grades, doesn't demonstrate much interest in their field of expertise and doesn't have any track record such as an internship. – Dunk Apr 15 '15 at 18:27
