Will a 3.5 gpa at a target school prevent me from getting mbb interviews

3.5 cumulative, 4.0 departmental, big upwards trend. Excellent leadership roles, varsity (and low-level international) athlete, plenty of work experience inc. one name brand. I'm struggling to network and was wondering how much of a problem my 3.5 gpa will be for getting interviews (I know it doesn't matter after the resume screen)

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Also, I think it depends on the level of target. There is a pretty large difference between HYPSM and Cornell/Brown/Georgetown levels of schools in terms of recruiting at MBB. I think at the second tier of schools, your school will help you get looked at but won't excuse any poor grades, but I think at HYPSM, there is a bit more leniency. In general, I think this applies to offices in the northeast mostly, as I noticed this in my office and a few others when I was doing my own DD. I think that if you network hard, it can be negated to the point where it doesn't matter, so my advice would be to find an alum and have them refer you and introduce you to leadership. Then you should be good to go and just got to nail the interview. 

Also, for what its worth, I didn't go to HYPSM either and wasn't trying to be an ass. It's just something I noticed and felt it was relevant to share. 

 

A buddy of mine went from a 3.5 at Wharton to MBB. There were a lot of factors that contributed though. First of all he was diversity, he also had an amazing story, and he was at Wharton. I'm not in consulting and I only know a handful of people in the field so I can't say what happens in general, but it is possible. Also he went to a major office (NY/Chicago) which makes his chances harder but he still got it. If you apply for a smaller office then your chances go up. I know McKinsey is super generous with office relocation, whereas Bain is absolutely not, and BCG is in the middle like always. I've heard if they sponsor your MBA that's the easiest time to switch offices so if you're very worried about your chances you can apply to a regional office, grind it out for 3 years, get your MBA, then go to a major city.

 

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