How good of a predictor is GPA for performance as an IB analyst?

Off the cuff thoughts here. I’m at one of the larger MM IBs today with a 3.2 from a state school that I doubt anyone on this forum has heard of. I didn’t discover IB until early my senior year and juiced my way in with a shit ton of luck and networking.

As a student, I was apathetic about my coursework regardless of subject and procrastinated a ton, especially as my undergrad years went on. Despite my weak GPA and school, I rank high come review time, with most feedback being development focused for that next level up to associate (e.g., being asked to delegate more work to interns and first years that are double staffed, speaking up more during internal drafting sessions rather than whispering ideas to my VP after). I like to think I’m well liked among those I’ve been staffed with both because of my work product / ethic but also being an okay guy to shoot the shit with while waiting for comments.

Some of the people I came up with as analysts have ranked below me despite being star students / athletes / whatever other impressive thing back in undergrad. Based on my experience, GPA does not translate to the quality of work or work ethic of the individual.

HOWEVER, I will say that I’ve become apathetic about my job beyond what those higher GPA analysts have, and it’s creeping into the diligence I tackle my work with and my attitude towards staffings / annoying teammates. While this is natural for analysts and really all other ranks in IB, I seem to care much less about whether or not I actually get fired vs. my coworkers who despite maybe feeling apathetic towards the job are still very attentive and able to power through to just get their work done as best they can. I think this is what GPA does actually distinguish more than intellect / capacity for work.

School teaches you to show up on time no matter how early, listen to someone teach you something or give instructions for hours at a time and submit thoughtful work. If your work is thoughtful enough, you’re distinguished by receiving higher grades than your peers (even more so if your school grades on a curve). All of this translates into being a good analyst in that regardless of how dull or meaningless the assignment may be to you, you got up, did your work right and on time and did it all again the next day. It signals high conscientiousness, which you need to do especially well in IB.

I used to cringe when people on WSO would post about how GPA mattered so much, knowing I’d defied their framework for what makes a good analyst coming out of school, but I get it now. I still disagree that it’s indicative of someone’s intellect / capacity (although I guess you could argue that anyone with a low GPA is stupid given how important it is in your first career steps and that to fumble that is something only an idiot would do but that assumes the student truly understands its importance and comes from a background where they see what hard work in the classroom actually gets you; I grew up in a school system and family that thought as long as you finished high school and worked somewhere that had air conditioning and a desk, you were a made guy). But I certainly have noticed what I mentioned above not only with myself but other low GPA guys that weaseled their way in to the industry. We just seemed to have stopped caring as much once the learning curve had obviously flattened, whereas our friends who were higher achievers in school may bitch and moan about the job but still show up, shut up and do their work.