Is it still possible for me to break into finance at all?

Hi I’m currently a rising sophomore at Cornell studying Mathematics at the college of arts & science. I really messed up my  freshman year — my cumulative gpa went from 3.561 to a 3.15. I’m ngl there’s no one to blame but myself I was too ambitious and took too many hard classes and I was just not focused. Thankfully I didn’t fail any classes tho but I messed up Linear Algebra & CS. I’m super determined to change and this summer I have been preparing for IB technicals & concepts rigorously, I did a summer internship at a unicorn tech company performing statistical data analyses on their AI model, and I went through the mistakes I made in my classes (since I’m especially gonna retake linear algebra 2nd sem) and prepared for my classes this coming semester. In this internship I also practically applied Python and Linear Algebra and I would say I have a better understanding and skill thanks to my mentors.

Freshman yr I joined a semi-prestigious business club on campus and I spent a semester doing research on Poppi & Pepsi’s M&A so I would say I have some finance related experience. In high school I also did a summer internship at a venture capital where I analyzed a company’s ESG performance to decide funding decisions.

This coming semester my goal is to better my academics for sure (and I think I have a higher chance of doing that because my course load is a lot easier but I’m still taking Multivariable Calc which is my only super hard class) and get into the prestigious business clubs at Cornell (only gonna try 2-3 so I don’t waste my energy too much). I also will try for a winter finance internship or idk do something during the winter break so I can be more competitive and make up for my shortcomings.

Ik it’s definitely a lot harder for me than a high GPA applicant but do u think I still have a chance? I will really try my hardest trust. 

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Honestly, it will be very challenging. 3.15 is a very low GPA and may not even make it past ATS for the firms that use it. Maybe it’s possible to explain away a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA but under 3.2 it’s pretty difficult to play off. 

Since you still have a semester where your grades are counted towards GPA before most apps drop, I would recommend taking the easiest classes possible to try to salvage a 3.5+ (if possible). 

If I were you I would still do networking as usual but omit the GPA on your resume for the time being until you can bring it higher. Good luck

 

Prospect in IB - Gen

Honestly, it will be very challenging. 3.15 is a very low GPA and may not even make it past ATS for the firms that use it. Maybe it’s possible to explain away a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA but under 3.2 it’s pretty difficult to play off. 

Since you still have a semester where your grades are counted towards GPA before most apps drop, I would recommend taking the easiest classes possible to try to salvage a 3.5+ (if possible). 

If I were you I would still do networking as usual but omit the GPA on your resume for the time being until you can bring it higher. Good luck

Yeah adding on to this- from what I've seen even MM options screen out 3.3 before HR review

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”