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Lets assume your GPA is very high, say 3.95 or higher, at both your undergrad and graduate school institutions. I have always included it while applying to summer research programs and internships while still in my PhD program. But this is probably inappropriate on the postdoc market right?

Perhaps this question is somewhat subjective, but, after checking out some other questions on this exchange, I didn't think it was overly subjective.

2 Answers 2

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Mark Meckes's answer only considers academic postdoctoral positions. In such cases, he is correct: undergraduate and graduate GPA's do not matter.

If you are applying for non-academic postdocs, however, the situation is very different. At large research centers—particularly those managed by corporations, such as essentially the entire US Department of Energy laboratory system—hiring is done by corporate employees, and must be approved by several layers of management. Several of the national laboratories even have strict GPA cutoffs for their employees, regardless of the length of time they've been working post-graduation!

Consequently, if you're applying for positions only in academia, then there's no need to include GPA. However, for anything outside of an academic setting, it can actually help to do so.

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  • Good point. I was indeed thinking only of academic positions. Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 16:48
  • Will including the GPA for academic positions actually net you negative points, i.e. make you look like you are holding on to the past, or don't understand academic culture etc., or is it truly a doesn't matter one way or the other kind of thing. My inkling is perhaps the former. Commented Jan 1, 2014 at 7:58
  • It won't hurt you, but it won't help much, either. After your postdoc, however, it will look even stranger.
    – aeismail
    Commented Jan 1, 2014 at 17:00
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    For academic positions I'd say rather, it won't help you, but it won't hurt much, either. After your postdoc, however, it will look very strange. Commented Jan 1, 2014 at 18:01
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No (to the question in the title), and yes (to the question in the post). For postdocs no one cares about your grades. They're only interested in the quality of your research.

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    Also for faculty positions.
    – JeffE
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 14:00
  • Post-doctoral and staff positions at non-academic settings work very differently. See my answer.
    – aeismail
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 15:23
  • Huh, this contradicts all the advice I've heard about preparing a CV.
    – David Z
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 19:20
  • @DavidZ: All the advice you've heard about preparing a CV (when applying for academic postdoc or faculty positions) says to include a GPA? If so, I'm curious what the source of this advice was. Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 15:32
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    @DavidZ, yep I saw similar advice online, and sensed it was incorrect. That's why I asked the question. I think that most websites focus on industry jobs, since that's mainly what people do with their degrees (this is probably even true with PhDs these days) Commented Jan 1, 2014 at 7:58

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