Abnormally low college GPA, STEM, graduated years ago, how would I get into consulting?
I finished with a 2.1 GPA couple years ago as a biology major, it took me 6 years to graduate college and my low GPA is due to D's in classes like Organic Chemistry 1, Genetics, Physiology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry. Had to retake those classes all over again and only had a C in them the second time around. As for what led to the mess, I never wanted to actually major in science but I had immigrant parents that pushed me into the field and said that was the only way to avoid being broke in the future.
Back then I was naive and just believed whatever my parents told me and by the time I realized that my biology major would not get me anywhere if I don't go to med school or grad school (which my GPA is too low for btw), I was entering my final year of college.
Decided to say screw it, trucked through, and got my degree.
So after years of fighting with overbearing immigrant parents who think that you either become a doctor or you end up being a bum in life, I have finally broken free and they have conceded that they were wrong about their idea of life in the USA.
Right now I work as a lab tech and I am 25 years old. I know that GPAs are huge for consulting but I wonder if there is really any way I can redeem myself right now.
Ideally, I want to know what I can do right now to give myself a chance to break into consulting years down the road. Any way I can redeem myself or is it just not meant for this lifetime?
You could look at one-year Masters programs - like MS Finance. Your GPA sucks but you could take some quant courses at a nearby comm. college + score well on the GMAT to demonstrate that you have the academic ability to do well.
That or just apply directly to firms as see what happens.
Also looks like you posted a pretty similar question but with a Wall Street positioning. Sounds like you need to figure out where your head's at first.
Eventually I would want to work on Wall Street but after doing some careful reading on it, there is no way I would ever get a job there at all. Consulting is a part of business that has interested me so I was looking into it.
I agree with Aura0505. I think you still need to figure out what you want to do. I get the impression you still need to understand the consulting industry a bit more. The consulting that most people talk about and want to get into is strategy consulting Any other type of consulting is very different and involves a lot more project management/implementation/outsourced services/staff augmentation type of work. Getting any strategy consulting position is going to be tough without a high GPA (3.7+) and is about as difficult to get into as IB. The strategy consulting interviewing process is also going to be brutal and you need to put in a lot of effort to get through them (probably a bit more effort than ib interviews).
Well, does my college GPA make it pretty much impossible to get into it?
I think it is impossible to get into a consulting firm that has any brand name. They normally have cutoffs of 3.0 at least and have HR departments that will not take you in as an experienced hire since you don't quite have any relevant experience. If you do not want to do a master's degree, you have to go to small boutique consulting firms. You have to look them up depending on where you live. Perhaps you could also try getting another job that is more business related (finance, marketing, operations management, supply chain, etc.) and lateralling to a consulting firm once you have more experience.
You're saying right now it is impossible for me to get into a brand name consulting firm but if I build up my resume by getting business related jobs, I can get into a brand name firm or are you saying it is impossible regardless of what I do at this point?
I also want to thank you for being honest and laying out a relevant path for me in regards to consulting.
Would echo other commenters in that a one year Masters is a great option. I know of a lot of people in my starting batch at Deloitte that graduates from an MS in Commerce from the state school. Just make sure that the school places well.
As for your low GPA, do well on the GMAT and you should be able to get into one of these programs. It is a great learning opportunity and something you should consider because of your non-business background.
I'm a Biology major myself!
You missed the boat. The coveted consulting and finance jobs recruit directly out of undergrad and out of grad school. Once you're past that point, getting in becomes exponentially more difficult. I would suggest some form of re-branding through grad school, maybe a masters in business that is targeted to non-business major undergrads like Fuqua's.
And honestly, you're 25, stop blaming your parents and throwing yourself a pity party. You'll just have to play the hand you have to the best of your ability now.
In that case, do you recommend just not going into finance in general and looking at an entirely different career path? Like would it be the intelligent choice to make here?
Problem is, with my undergrad GPA, I am not exactly business school material. I do wish I would have had the guts to pursue finance in undergrad but can't change the past.
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