How Are People Summa Cum Laude + PBK

I'm a sophomore who just got a Top EB Group (CVP M&A/EVR M&A), thinking about MF PE (KKR/Apollo/BCP) with hopes of doing the traditional IB -> PE -> HF pathway, but go to a competitive school (think H/M/P) where it's very hard to be in the top 10% of your class without either taking easy courses/being a genius. 

For reference, I'm an Applied Math Major but I see ppl from other difficult schools (ex. Columbia/Yale) who were at BCP/Warburg that did Econ +  Math while being Summa + PBK, and many end up at D1/Tiger/Coatue. I honestly don't think I can pull it off, just because I've taken/am taking some seriously difficult courses at my school (Complex Analysis/Adv. Econometrics/Adv Writing Seminars), just for the sake of learning.

I just don't understand how people pull it off both thesis-wise and GPA-wise. Am I at a disadvantage if I don't graduate Summa + PBK esp for the top MFs?

9 Comments
 

I've taken Lie algebra as well lol, and probability theory, haha. for Y/C, still very hard to be pbk + summa, no?

 

I don't understand what sort of validation you're looking for.... either drop those classes or study harder and get good grades.

If you're goal is to get pbk + summa just take easy classes... no PE or HF is going to give you a medal for taking advanced math classes when in reality everybody uses excel to do their additions and subtractions

 

My GPA is fine (~3.9) i just don't know if it's worth trying to get pbk. my school emphasizes thesis quality for summa, but I was unsure if it's THAT important for MF PE recruiting.

 

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