Consulting GPA requirements, as high as people say?

Hey all, I only started frequenting this website a short while ago so forgive me if this has been asked to death already.

Is the rep that MBB/other "top" consulting firms have for mostly/only hiring undergrad applicants with relatively high GPAs (3.75+) accurate?

I am a rising junior at a semi-target with a 3.5 GPA; would this be good enough to be worthy of serious consideration (assuming equivalent work exp/leadership/EC's with other candidates), or should I consider other options?

 

If you have decent extracurriculars and good other stuff on your resume, a 3.5 should be good enough to get an interview. I had a 3.6 and I managed to get an offer from MBB. Just nail your cases and you should be fine.

 

I would say GPA is weighted about the same in consulting as in investment banking simply because most of the time applicants are lacking meaningful work experience and the GPA serves as their proxy for how intelligent/hard working/skilled an applicant is. While it is certainly possible to get an interview with a sub 3.5 GPA, the rest of your resume must be stellar because 3.5 is a common cutoff and for competitive industries like consulting they will have a ton of other candidates that make that cutoff.

 

yes, high gpa is crucial. i think your shit out of luck if you have anything below a 3.3 for most places (like firms outside of MBB). if you choose to lie on your application, eventually they will see it and then comes the question of your integrity. however in your case, a 3.5 is not bad! keep on working hard!

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” - Albert Einstein
 

McKinsey is probably the hardest GPA wise...from experience, they're all looking for 3.6+ from a target school, though.

Of course, it depends on other things too that manipulate the 3.6+ standard up or down - your major, your school (a Harvard kid will get more slack GPA wise than a Dartmouth kid), your ethnicity, your work experience, etc.

 

Thanks for the responses, what kind of work + internship experience / extra curriculars do consulting firms tend to like best?

i did an internship at a securities firm this summer (originally wanted to go into IB but changed my mind near the end of sophomore yr), are finance-related internships like that ok or should i be looking to add experiences more directly relevant to consulting? (consulting internships?)

high gpa's are a must for these firms but you can get away with a low gpa if you have super impressive work experience with top firms (esp. investment banks early on (think freshman year, sophomore year) and extremely impressive leadership. These firms are looking for "leaders", especially M. The easiest way out is to over compensate for your low g.p.a by being a really impressive campus leader and by having great work experience

 

thanks for the comments so far.

Other than M/B/B, can you recommend other respectable management consulting firms that would be ideal (e.g., 2nd choice...)?

also, what about M/B/B starting salary stats for Canada?

I understand this kind information is readily availible for the U.S., but I haven't been able to get credible information wrt to Canada...

 

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