Can a mediocre student with good extracurriculars create a decent project manager resume?

@Shilpi Absolutely you can! A strong project manager resume should focus on your leadership experience, which you have plenty of. The robotics club and hackathons demonstrate exactly the skills employers look for - organization, team leadership, and getting things done. I'd recommend structuring your resume to highlight these experiences first, before your academics.
For each extracurricular, focus on quantifiable achievements: team size, budgets managed, timelines met, problems solved, etc. These metrics will make your project manager resume much more impressive than just listing a high GPA.

@Shilpi Your extracurriculars are actually perfect for a project manager resume! Companies value practical experience over GPA for PM roles. When I was hiring project managers at my last company, we barely looked at academics.
Make sure your resume clearly demonstrates:

Stakeholder management (how you coordinated between different teams/people)
Resource allocation (budgeting, assigning tasks)
Risk management (how you handled unexpected problems)
Timeline/deadline achievements

These are way more relevant to a PM role than your grades. Don't worry about the 2.8 - your leadership experience will speak louder!

@Shilpi I work in campus recruiting, and honestly, your profile is EXACTLY what many companies look for in entry-level project managers! A project manager resume should showcase your ability to coordinate, communicate, and deliver results - all things you've demonstrated through your extracurriculars.
I'd recommend checking out Resume Writing Lab (resumewritinglab.com) if you need help structuring your resume to emphasize these strengths. They're great at helping students with unique backgrounds highlight their relevant experience.

@Shilpi I was in your exact position 3 years ago - average grades but tons of extracurricular project experience. My project manager resume focused almost entirely on my non-academic achievements and I landed 5 interviews within a month of applying.
Pro tip: create a "Leadership Experience" section that comes before your Education section. This immediately draws attention to your strengths. Also, use PM terminology in describing your experiences: Agile, Scrum, sprints, deliverables, milestones, etc. (assuming you're familiar with these concepts).

@Shilpi Your experience running hackathons is pure gold for a project manager resume! That's event planning, team coordination, deadline management, vendor relationships, and problem-solving all wrapped into one experience.
Make sure you quantify everything: "Managed a team of X volunteers," "Coordinated an event for X participants," "Secured $X in sponsorships," "Delivered project under budget by X%." Numbers make your achievements concrete and impressive on a project manager resume.

@Shilpi don't even worry about the GPA! my friend got a PM job at a tech startup with a 2.5 gpa because his project manager resume was all about the app he built with his friends. just put the GPA at the bottom of ur resume or leave it off completely. focus on the actual project management stuff u did!

@Shilpi Another approach for your project manager resume is to include a skills section that directly maps your extracurricular experiences to common PM requirements. For example:

Team Leadership: Led 15-person robotics club, delegated tasks based on strengths
Budget Management: Managed $5,000 hackathon budget, allocated resources across multiple departments
Stakeholder Communication: Presented progress reports to faculty advisors and sponsors

This helps recruiters immediately see how your experience translates to the job.

@Shilpi As someone who works with PMs daily, I can tell you that your practical experience is WAY more valuable than grades. For your project manager resume, focus on demonstrating your communication skills. How did you resolve conflicts in your team? How did you present ideas or progress to stakeholders? How did you gather and implement feedback?
These soft skills are crucial for PM work and are much better demonstrated through your extracurriculars than through academics anyway!

@Shilpi I'd recommend including a small portfolio with your project manager resume - maybe 1-2 pages showing the projects you managed with visual timelines, team structures, and outcomes. I did this when applying for PM roles and got really positive feedback from interviewers who said it helped them visualize my experience.
Also, don't forget to mention any PM tools you've used - even if they're just Trello, Asana, or even Google Sheets for tracking. Tool familiarity is a plus!

@Shilpi i got my first PM job with NO degree at all, just projects i could show. ur project manager resume should focus on results. did u finish the hackathons on time? did u stay under budget? did teams accomplish their goals? companies care about if u can deliver, not ur gpa.

@Shilpi Another strategy: on your project manager resume, include a brief section on lessons learned or challenges overcome in your projects. This shows self-awareness and growth mindset, which are highly valued in PM roles. For example, "Initially struggled with team bandwidth issues; implemented weekly capacity planning meetings that improved delivery predictability by 40%."
I've hired several junior PMs, and those who can demonstrate learning from mistakes always stand out.

@Shilpi Have you considered getting any project management certifications to bolster your project manager resume? Even entry-level ones like CAPM could help compensate for the GPA and demonstrate your commitment to the field. I added a Google Project Management certificate to my resume (it's affordable and online) and it definitely helped get interviews.

@Shilpi I was in a similar boat last year. What worked for me was creating different versions of my project manager resume tailored to different industries/companies. For tech companies, I emphasized the app development project; for events companies, I highlighted the hackathon organization. Customization makes a huge difference!
Also, don't forget to check out CraftResumes if you need professional help. Their PM resume specialist helped me transform my experiences into compelling achievements.

@Shilpi One more thing to consider: get a recommendation letter from a faculty advisor who supervised your extracurricular work. You can quote a brief snippet on your project manager resume (with permission) or mention "Reference letter available from Faculty Advisor Dr. Smith who supervised the Robotics Club." This external validation can help overcome any concerns about your GPA.