Non-target GPA

I'm a sophomore at a non-target and I'm looking to get into IB. Believe it or not, we have a few alumni at BB IBs and boutiques haha. Anyways, given the fact that I'm at a non-target ( I have solid internship experience in my freshmen year and in process of getting one for this summer, a leader in schools' IBanking club, TA for finance course), do you think there is a difference between a 3.7 and 3.8 GPA? I know for target school kids, the threshold is somewhat lower around 3.5- 3.6 due to prestige, competition, etc., but do you think there is an impact for me? Reason I'm asking is because I might end up with 3.7, due to me taking on some extracurriculars, which I really want to do this semester, but if I don't do them, I might be able to pull of a 3.8 cumulative

 

Honestly it sounds like you're doing the right things to get something moving into your junior summer. Your GPA is high. Non Target does not mean your school is necessarily garbage at all, and a 3.7 is still a solid A- average. The most important things for you are to lock down a job in a relevant field - hopefully at boutique IB - and to build your network by making strong connections with alumni/people you might have degrees of separation with in the industry who take a meaningful interest in your success. You'll need these people by the time late summer and the fall comes around and you're trying to get first rounds/screenings; they can pick you out of the resume pile instead of you just being another name. This is more important than the .1 on your GPA, imo.

 

I would say that it mostly depends on how "non-target" your non-target is. Are we talking Penn State/Syracuse/Lehigh or Western Michigan? If the former, given the right amount of networking you should have at least a shot at some of the BBs and EBs with a 3.7+. If the latter, try to keep your GPA as high as possible. Think hard about the trade off between your ECs and your GPA (or just push yourself to do both), but in the end that's your call.

 

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