How to address low GPA in an investment banking interview

Hi guys, over the next several months, we'll be profiling common investment banking interview questions our students get often, as well as our recommendation for how to answer them. For each question, we'll follow a simple template: 1) a brief description of how to think about these questions, 2) what represents a poor answer, 3) what represents a good answer, and lastly, 4) an actual example of a great answer.

I see that you have a 2.8 GPA.  Typically, we hire 3.5 and above.  What’s going on?
The GPA question – a great lead question for students on the summa cum laude track and a nightmare-inducing question for students who party/partied a little too hard.  The unfortunate reality of the financial world is that academics play a key role in resume selection.  The nice thing about getting this question in an interview for both good/bad GPA candidates is that the recruiter felt you were good enough to move you past the initial resume screen.  For poor GPA candidates, you clearly got the interview because of other things on your resume.  This is a good thing to know because you can better strategize your answer.   When answering this question, you want to be cautious about what you say.  You don’t want to spill your guts out and say that you were at the bar Saturday through Thursday and class just on Friday, but you also don’t want to give the impression that you are academically struggling and can’t handle the coursework at your university.

Poor answer
Poor answers to this question include ones that paint you as one of the main characters from Animal House.  It is ok to tell interviewers that you like socializing and having fun with your friends on weekends, but I wouldn’t focus/bring drinking into the question.  Tame your answer down and take the more “conservative” approach.  To say that you go out with friends for dinner and drinks (only if you are 21 and over…be very careful about this as your interviewer may be testing you) is much better than saying you play beer pong from 1pm – 8pm and then hit the bars until close.  Interviewers were once college students and know what actually goes on, but this question is also testing if you know how to sensor your answers in case they decide to put you in front of a client.  On the flip side, if you were one of those that lived in the library and simply are not good test takers and thus don’t get good grades, do not also spill all your beans.  At the end of the day, investment banking/finance is a knowledge industry.  Many of the best and brightest from the most prestigious universities in the world enter the field.  Your interviewer wants to know if you can handle the analytical component and you don’t want to give them the impression that you can’t.

Great answer
Great answers to this question include ones that provide justifiable reasons why you are not performing.  For example, if you have above a 3.5 every semester, but a 1.0 in 1 semester because of family issues (i.e., death of a family member, etc.) mention this.  Everyone goes through hardship at some point in their life and unfortunately for you it happened in college.  If this is the case, illustrate this on your resume.  Show your GPA with all semesters but the bad one and then your cumulative GPA.  If you are active on campus (i.e., student government, active in many clubs, varsity athlete, community service coordinator, etc.) or are working as a full-time student and you were either a partier or bad test taker, craft an answer that pretty much says you were very busy with extracurricular activities and given your difficult coursework and commitment to extracurricular activities, it is difficult to balance both.  In such a response, while you are taking ownership of your GPA, you are also helping your candidacy by showing how active you are outside of class.  This last response is typically the best approach.


Sample Great Answer:

“Frankly, I made some bad decisions as a freshman which I have been able to partially reverse through a lot of hard work over the last few years.  My very 1st semester at Notre Dame I did not manage my time well between extracurricular activities and academics and received a 1.8.  After reflecting on my poor performance that semester, I realized that I needed to get my priorities in order and started to focus more of my energy on my academics.  Excluding that first semester, my GPA would have been 3.5. In fact, I have continued to improve every year and over the last year I have maintained a 3.8 GPA.” 

 

I find the best answer to be one that hardly touches on grades at all.

Interviewers aren't dumb.. they can surmize as to why you probably didn't do too well in school. If you are a very sociable person then they have probably already assumed that you didn't do well because you were more interested in social life than making great grades. If you were involved in sports, they can assume much the same.

I typically ignore the fact that I have a below average gpa (3.0) and choose to harp on the things that set me apart from others. For instance, I have qualities and experience that most average candidates do not have. I have been part of x and y clubs, I have put together trips, events, etc. I recruited x amount of members to my fraternity, I have a great personality, etc.

I find that a lot of students who have lower than average grades also have a deep story to tell about themselves. The story has to be convincing and it must end with you being completely dedicated and serious about your future. You have gone to extra lengths to set yourself apart because you realize that your grades will not.

As for getting 'past' HR's requirements for grades.. the phone can do wonders. Typically I will not only submit my resume to HR, but I will also call up the person in HR handling the position and chat them up. I ask plenty of quesitons about the opportunity, and then I'll make a clean case for why I am more than prepared for the position without even mentioning my sub-par grades. Then you must ASK for the person's name who will be in charge of interviewing for the position. Get their number, and give them a call. Let all parties know that you want the position badly and that you are fully qualified. You'll find that being persistent and getting straight to the point will gain you respect from those higher up.

 
aempirei:
Rothy, as someone else with a 3.0, do you put your GPA on your resume?

I would say that 3.0 is the cutoff for when you want to start considering leaving it off the resume. The problem is that many firms will simply ignore a resume with no GPA for fresh-out-of-school positions, but you will almost certainly not get a callback with anything less than a 3.0, either. At 3.0, you are still better off including. Also, if your major GPA is significantly higher, I would consider including that in addition to the cumulative GPA.

Matan Feldman Founder, Wall Street Prep Learn Financial Modeling
 

^ yup. I never put mine on and relied very heavily on networking. If you can play yourself off like you already have experience and would be good at the job it will offset the importance of GPA.

Get busy living
 

That gave me a small sliver of naive hope, I have a cumulative 2.14 gpa, I'm 25 years old and have been in community college for 6 years. I'm the Van Wilder story in reality, where it's the high IQ retard that never applied himself until past year. I'm just hoping for a 3.0 so I can transfer to a semi-known respected private university in Orange County. I've been tutoring ESL students, I'm self-taught in Japanese (4 or 5 years) and speak enough to teach Japanese exchange students English for $30 an hour but I worry it looks vague because it's 'self-employed'...

 

I think that you have focused way too much on your GPA. Is there some sort of path of growth that you can show - I had a 2.2 for my first 2 years, realized i was wasting an opportunity, turned it around and had a 3.4 the remainder of my time at such and such ivy league school. If someone has invited you in for an interview, that means they are already willing to look past your GPA. I would not dwell on it, keep it short, have a direct answer and move on. You have an ability to control the flow of the conversation. I think you are hurting yourself by focusing so much on your gpa.

Side note- you have posted multiple times about wanting to get into acquisitions. This is going to be difficult (i am not saying you can't do it, but it might not be the direct path that you want). The majority of acquisitions shops have the ability to be picky about who they hire and at this point (I believe in previous posts you have stated you graduated in 2015) you have been out of school for awhile. For every position you are applying to, there are people with more experience, especially with actual underwriting of deals. This is probably not what you want to hear, but it might be best to go to an investment sales team, grow your network, showcase your ability to work a full time job and excel at it. The shop that I am at rarely hires straight from undergrad. The majority of people that come in as analysts in the acquisitions group at my firm usually come from investment sales teams or Asset Management positions.

 

What kind of job are you going for? I had a 2.6 and have worked for a big name brokerage firm, a REPE shop, and am now in grad school. My excuse was no better than yours (albeit I was not a pothead). Most places aren't going to ask.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Pull a switch. "Look, I had a rough start in college, but if you notice I was extremely active with XYZ organization and I also was doing ABC. I think those are what really position me well for a job with your firm. I had the opportunity to improve my blah blah skills..."

Otherwise come up with a good lie that they can't catch you on.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

I would go with something closer to #1. In interviews, especially when faced with a tough question, you want to spend 80%+ talking about positive things vs 20% or less negative. Quickly acknowledge that you fucked up and take responsibility for it, then spend the rest of the time talking about upward trends, what organizations you were involved in, what skills you have been developing since, etc.

When you are an interviewer, candidates blend together. When you focus on talking about how you were lazy, didn't apply yourself, and weren't motivated thats probably all the interviewer will remember about you no matter what you say after that.

 

I had a 2.8 in college at a non-target. Just leave it off of your resume. It usually does not come up in interviews. I took a job working for a chop shop brokerage house in a 5th tier market. Leveraged "real world experience" where I was working for free 50-60 hours a week for free for a few months before I landed my first analyst gig at a boutique brokerage firm.

Few years later and after multiple mergers and lots of networking I landed a job at REPE operator on an acquisition team.

Its more about your attitude and fit and desire to learn more than anything else. If you can convince someone you are passionate, skies the limit.

 

Honestly, my personal thing was "yea i got a 3.0 in Engineering which is basically a 4.0 for any other major". Sorry but all my business major buddies partied like there was no tomorrow. It was only the engineering guys and pre med/science guys were studying their asses off. Or better yet than those other buddies that did "easier" majors for the sake of getting a high gpa for grad school. I also hedged on work experience/internship more and I bluntly told them something to the tune of "if you are looking for the 4.0 academic guy then I do not want to work here and I am not your man". Cuts through the BS. Some guys like it, some don't. I was just straight up with them and this went more to my benefit than going against me overall.

 

Thank you for all of your responses and in response to StanCRE, I would prefer an acquisitions role but I'm very open to any kind of analyst or development role (be it investment sales, AM, etc.). I'm trying to get some kind of unpaid internship at a really small acquisitions shop to bolster my experience in the meantime but I'm realistic that getting a job in acquisitions straight out of college is a big reach. I'm just worried about GPA coming up because I'm getting interviews through non-traditional means such as alumni networking and i'm worried that if i get interviewed by someone who didn't go to my school, he/she could look at my resume and be like "where's your GPA?"

 

Am in the same position as you. Had an off-campus finance internship and an on-campus job, as well as some really difficult classes, networking, etc so my GPA dropped by about .05. I almost think I know you because I know someone else in a similar position and because I also attend a semi-target, which there are probably only 3 or 4 of.

I really don't think it'll be a big deal. It's definitely something they can ask about, but I think they're more likely to be impressed with the effort than curious about the lapse in performance. If the latter, I would say something about how you struggled at the beginning of the semester when you were still figuring out how to balance everything, but then made a few adaptations and picked things up along the way. If you really didn't do well and it'd be a stretch to say that, I'd draw a parallel to banking hours, and talk about how you know every ibanker has a tough time adapting to the hours at first, and that you'd actually be more prepared for the job than everyone else because you've been pulling long hours all semester. Just make sure that you don't make too many excuses; everyone knows that analysts don't always do the best work anyway since associates proof-read the stuff before it's used

 

If you can get the interview your GPA will not really matter. It's more of a hurdle to get selected for an interview. With that said you should definitely have an answer for why you have a low GPA. There's no need to address it upfront but you should be ready because chances are you'll be asked about why it's so low relative to the other candidates.

Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening? Brill: I blew up the building. Robert Clayton Dean: Why? Brill: Because you made a phone call.
 
goodL1fe:

If you can get the interview your GPA will not really matter. It's more of a hurdle to get selected for an interview. With that said you should definitely have an answer for why you have a low GPA. There's no need to address it upfront but you should be ready because chances are you'll be asked about why it's so low relative to the other candidates.

And do you think complete honesty is the right approach when answering such a question?

 

Nowhere in any essays have I ever used such negative language "suffer, failing, offset..." After the first sentence your essay should read more like: I believe that my GPA reflects upon the diversity of engagements I've pursued throughout the years, the difficulty of my program, and my excellent work ethic. In fact, upon receiving an unsatisfactory mark in SUBJECT, I redoubled my efforts and ultimately found myself with an emphasis in that very subject. (I know it isn't perfect but you get the idea- only positivity)

I also don't think that those three activities you took part in "offset" your gpa. Present them instead as a testament to your (work ethic/subject matter interest/passion/etc).

Source: I graduated BS MechE with a 3.3 gpa from a regional school, worked my way into a Fortune 10 rotational leadership program, then used both of those to get into a top (probably 15) MBA program

 
WilliamBrasky:

Nowhere in any essays have I ever used such negative language "suffer, failing, offset..." After the first sentence your essay should read more like: I believe that my GPA reflects upon the diversity of engagements I've pursued throughout the years, the difficulty of my program, and my excellent work ethic. In fact, upon receiving an unsatisfactory mark in SUBJECT, I redoubled my efforts and ultimately found myself with an emphasis in that very subject. (I know it isn't perfect but you get the idea- only positivity)

I also don't think that those three activities you took part in "offset" your gpa. Present them instead as a testament to your (work ethic/subject matter interest/passion/etc).

Source: I graduated BS MechE with a 3.3 gpa from a regional school, worked my way into a Fortune 10 rotational leadership program, then used both of those to get into a top (probably 15) MBA program

Great points, thanks. What do you mean when you say it didn't "offset" my GPA? I figured those things would count as a pretty good alternative transcript. Are you just saying not to use that wording?

 

Congrats on passing level 1. Can anyone comment on the weight this carries for validating intellectual horsepower vs a poor gpa

I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold. I'll be fine once I get it
 

I'd like to know too, really interested on how GPA measures against actual skill or intellect. I have a feeling that it's "Better for image" but intellect is the important part.

 

I think the most important mitigating factor here is that you retook and received an A.

I'm not sure how much attention you want to give this.

Does your school calculate GPA as a simple weighted average or does it take the average grade for a required class or best grades to meet requirements (EG no F in final GPA)? These distinctions matter.

I might add an optional essay just noting that your GPA is 3.0, but it would be 3.2 if your school counted the best grade for each course as would be the case for many other applicants. You failed a course, you retook it the following semester and got an A. Don't offer explanations apologies or excuses (although your main essay talking about working 40 hrs/week in college may help provide context). Just write a 3-4 sentence statement and of course be sure to note that you retook the class next semester and got an A.

I think the further out from undergrad you are and the higher your GMAT, the less ugrad GPA matters.

I think this boils down to what OP is doing right now. If he is working in Naval Reactors or for the TVA or at Google or the like, he is probably in good shape. If he has a less glamorous job and is applying to an M7, he needs a huge boost somewhere else besides school or work.

The good news is that this won't hurt you; the bad news is that this won't help you. The GMAT helps some but I still think it only gets you 20% there. Hopefully your career or extracurriculars get you the other 80% of the way there.

 
IlliniProgrammer:

I think the most important mitigating factor here is that you retook and received an A.

I'm not sure how much attention you want to give this.

Does your school calculate GPA as a simple weighted average or does it take the average grade for a required class or best grades to meet requirements (EG no F in final GPA)? These distinctions matter.

I might add an optional essay just noting that your GPA is 3.0, but it would be 3.2 if your school counted the best grade for each course as would be the case for many other applicants. You failed a course, you retook it the following semester and got an A. Don't offer explanations apologies or excuses (although your main essay talking about working 40 hrs/week in college may help provide context). Just write a 3-4 sentence statement and of course be sure to note that you retook the class next semester and got an A.

I think the further out from undergrad you are and the higher your GMAT, the less ugrad GPA matters.

I think this boils down to what OP is doing right now. If he is working in Naval Reactors or for the TVA or at Google or the like, he is probably in good shape. If he has a less glamorous job and is applying to an M7, he needs a huge boost somewhere else besides school or work.

The good news is that this won't hurt you; the bad news is that this won't help you. The GMAT helps some but I still think it only gets you 20% there. Hopefully your career or extracurriculars get you the other 80% of the way there.

I figure I have to address it somewhere. It's not like they'll miss it if I don't bring it up, and by bringing it up it's at least bringing attention to the fact that I retook the course and got an A, went on to emphasize in that field, and so on. I'm not going to split hairs about what my GPA "could" be because of word constraints on the additional essay and it just sounds defensive IMO. I could have done better and I didn't.

I'm working in private equity and applying to top 5 schools. EC's are decent; just got my LOR from the board president of a non-profit I work with and it's stellar, and have a bunch of other leadership stuff. Just looking to determine how to frame stuff specifically as I get closer to the deadlines.

 

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