GPAs for Internships

Damn, I hate it when people do that to themselves in their freshman years. I knew so many people who screwed themselves that way, and it took them the rest of their college careers to make up for it.

First, see if you can get any of that expunged from your record (any "Withdraw: Failure"s turned into a "Withdraw: Incomplete" for a few semesters or something). I know they won't let you graduate with WIs on your record, but it's not your graduating GPA that goes on your resume in the fall of your senior year, now is it?

Second, do try to talk to whomever will be looking at your transcript (I know it can be tough to find out who that is). Be friendly, talk yourself up a bit, and explain the situation bluntly.

Third: Don't sweat it too much. You're a sophomore business major at a target ivy and neither your cumulative nor your major GPA sucks hard. (It sucks just a little bit, but GPA is not as critical in the ivy league soph year anyway.) You may not get a BB investment banking internship this summer, because only the insanely well-qualified or well-connected people get those in their sophomore summers. If that's the case, work for another division of a bulge bracket, or in investment banking for a middle market, or in a regional office somewhere. Try wealth management at Goldman in NYC or in the regionals, investment banking at Bank of America or Wachovia, or a boutique somewhere. Let your school name open doors for you. And be glad that your problem is WAY easier to solve than that of someone from a non-target.

Oh, and get that GPA up! A couple of tenths would do you, but higher is ALWAYS better.