Federal vs. Commercial Consulting GPA Cutoff Comparisons

Hello WSO,

I was wondering what the difference was in general GPA requirements for Federal vs. Commercial Consulting. Obviously due to salary differences, as well as other factors, I assume the Federal practice would be less stringent...but how much so? I've heard various things, ranging from still at least a 3.4+, to something as low as Deloitte, Accenture, Big 4 Federal, etc.)

 

In my limited experience it's not as much about GPA but about where firm's recruit. So they're still looking for a high GPA (maybe they'll accept a bit lower), but it's the type of schools. So if commercial is recruiting from JHU, UVA, and Duke, Federal may be recruiting from VTech and UMD-College Park.

Also it seems that federal is skewed more to tech implementation engagements, so going after those technical/hard science degrees may open the door for slightly lower GPAs.

 
Blueapple:

In my limited experience it's not as much about GPA but about where firm's recruit. So they're still looking for a high GPA (maybe they'll accept a bit lower), but it's the type of schools. So if commercial is recruiting from JHU, UVA, and Duke, Federal may be recruiting from VTech and UMD-College Park.

Also it seems that federal is skewed more to tech implementation engagements, so going after those technical/hard science degrees may open the door for slightly lower GPAs.

My firm has the same GPA cutoff (3.4+) for fed and commercial and the quality of people are more or less similar, although fed is significantly less hours and lower potential future earnings.

I went to Duke and help with recruiting - funny thing is that a lot of students there specifically look for federal consulting an chose it over commercial.

 
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