help a dukie out....

I'm a duke senior BME major. I'm planning on attending grad school for either finance or financial eengineering next year. I've been applying to some banks for a summer internship for trading. I have done some significant research, 1570 SAT, 2 finance courses blah blah blah. Problem is I have a low gpa (3.1, overall). This is mainly due to 2 pretty horrible semesters (personal reasons). Is there any chance I can get an internship at one of the big boys? What about a hedge fund? Or, should I submit my CV to burger king...

8 Comments
 

ask your frat brothers to help you get a job on the street. that's most likely the best way to go about this. their parents probably know someone.

 

i was hoping to not have to go that route. Is my profile really that weak that I won't get any first rounders? I think I'll really be able to prove myself during an interview...

 
rhuelui was hoping to not have to go that route. Is my profile really that weak that I won't get any first rounders? I think I'll really be able to prove myself during an interview...

your profile is fine... for a frat guy. ask around for help and you'll be fine. you just need to get your foot in the door.

 

Even if you do get an interview, I'm not sure what you should say if someone asks you "why is your GPA so low?" which will almost certainly happen.

In reality, employers in general will probably not be understanding of the "personal reasons" explanation. In my analyst class, shortly after training ended, one analyst's mother died, and that analyst took a week off of work as a result.

This is about as bad a personal situation there is, though I recognize there are worse. Now, do you think because this happened, the analyst gets a free pass to do lousy work for the next 6 months? Of course not. The personal situation would not be an excuse for a job poorly done.

 

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