COVID messed me up, GPA plummeted to 3.4, am I screwed for PE and lateral opportunities?
Title does kind of explain it all, but essentially, I am a senior at an Ivy double majoring in Economics and History. I got COVID near the end of the semester and it knocked me out for a month+, including a lengthy hospital stay. My professors tried to be as accommodating as possible, and I passed, but my grades dropped so much that I will most likely graduate with a 3.4, maybe 3.5 if I do perfect next semester. In addition, I have a strong resume, athletics, good extracurriculars, etc.
I will be working at a "top MM bank" after graduating, but I am wondering how that 3.4 will look to future employers 1-2 years out of undergrad, as I am interested in recruiting for private equity or lateraling to a larger bank. I'm also considering business school down the line, but I am worried about this huge drop in my GPA, and not sure what to do (especially as it's a 3.4 from a liberal arts major, not something like engineering). I can maybe drop the Economics major to a minor to only take easy courses my last semester and maybe bring my GPA up, but I am not sure what to do. I am still somewhat bedridden from COVID and this is eating at me. Would love some advice for people who went through this. Obviously, I will try to bring it up to a 3.5, but if it stays at a 3.4, how screwed am I for recruiting and lateral opportunities? I am grateful I even have a job in this environment, and am still on track to graduate, but I am worried about my short-term prospects after graduation.
Dude quit tweaking. You're fine. It's not like you are at a nontarget with 3.5. You'll definitely get some attention from recruiters. Might exclude you from megafunds but doesn't sound like that was ever the goal considering you are at a MM shop.
Do you think dropping the ECON major for a minor and getting a 3.5 would make a difference?
NO keep the major. Econ is respected in finance community to qualify you for interviews.
It will definitely hurt you. Doesnt mean youre fucked, I mean you have a good job right now, but this will be another hurdle. Not sure why you couldnt withdraw or do p/f, but too late for that now. Might as well move forward and keep trying your best, bc even if covid did fuck you, people arent gonna ask for excuses. Worst case, ya keep a good job. Good luck
I couldn't withdraw without paying for another semester (which my parents can't afford) and our school didn't offer pass/fail for the fall semester, which was annoying. Hopefully employers would understand, but yeah, also worried because I can't use COVID as an excuse as everyone suffered in some ways from it.
3.4/3.5 is pretty in line with all the people ik who went to MM banks. Youre chillin
To clarify though, if I ever want to lateral to a BB or recruit for UMM/MF, a 3.4 will hurt me, correct?
Yeah. But i mean, how high was your gpa before this semester anyway? Couldnt have dropped that much unless you got like a bunch of Cs and Ds
to be blunt your gpa before wasn't in line with mf/umm average either, do one more semester if you want, small improvement but not fundamental
Yeah another semester may help. Ideally wouldve been best to withdraw from this semester too. Anecdotally, a close friend of mine did an extra semester, got his gpa up from a 3.6 to a 3.7 (rounded), and landed a MF spot. He was at an EB though so idk if it wouldve changed anything, but he’s glad he did it. Imo anything below a 3.7 is gonna make things much more difficult.
Got it, thank you! It seems like the ship has already sailed for MF PE recruiting regardless for me! Hopefully a 3.4 will not affect me for lateral IB opportunities however.
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