Is my GPA a Recruitment/Resume killer?
I will have around a 3.45 when I start recruiting for full time. I have had 2 internships at boutique banks where I got a good amount of exposure to deals. I will be a SA at another boutique this summer. If I don’t get a return offer or want to recruit for full time, does having a 3.4 GPA kill my chances at any EB, BB, or larger MM firm? I go to a large non target state school (SEC).
Nothing kills your chances like a lack of belief in yourself. It might be harder than if your GPA were a 3.9+ but that doesn't mean it's impossible.
Your plan of action should be to get a return offer and start networking as hard as you can about 1-2 weeks into your internship. In my experience you might have an easier time at a BB than at an EB (not sure about MMs because I've had mixed experiences with MMs), because I noticed with SA recruiting that anyone with a sub-3.7 didn't really get looks from EBs. This can be worked around with excellent networking but it's an uphill battle.
You can't count on a brand-name school or a top-tier GPA to win you a job at a better bank, so you need to count on excellent networking skills + being extremely proficient with technicals (showing that you're extremely smart yet HUMBLE) + being the most personable guy in the room. Always assume that the person next to you in interviews has the same skill level as you but they have top grades from an amazing school, so you need to stand out in other ways. Also, let this realization motivate you to study harder and practice more. Some people have it all so they neglect to practice for interviews and they get wiped out by people who grind harder, while the majority of interviewees really will grind as hard as you but still have the brand name... you just never know how your luck will play out in a superday, so you need to be prepared for anything and just hope for the best.
Also, it might help you to take the GMAT and score really high on it (730+). This will show that you have the aptitude for high grades and top-tier schools, at which point you may just need to explain your GPA in interviews.
This is excellent advice.
Assuming your GPA isn't already rounded up, put 3.5 on your resume instead.
Your GPA isn’t the only deciding factor, but I think it is still a important benchmark that banks use to quickly filter out students. Additionally, I think having a lower GPA hurts significantly more if you are at a non-target. As someone who went a non-target, I noticed that my friends with lower GPAs (3.5/3.6) had a significantly harder time getting first rounds than I did (3.9). Take this as what you will, but I think having a lower GPA at a non-target just makes the hill even steeper.
But, I’ll also add some more positive advice. Leading up to my junior year, my experience consisted of about 2 years of boutique investment banking experience, like yourself. When interviewers asked questions like “Tell my about a time you had a challenging experience on a project?”, instead of saying some BS about a school project, being able to describe my interviewer’s last Tuesday night by talking about my VP not getting his edits back until 9pm the night before the pitch resonated very well with them. In the end, I was able to land a BB coverage role. You can absolutely do that, it will just be a difficult run, but that’s not news to a non-target. Best of luck man!
My GPA was a 3.2. Work at BofA IB. Don’t let GPA be the deciding factor.
What would you say when asked about it? In a similar position right now.
I didn’t mean it like that. More along the lines of building relationships with the right people, such that GPA doesn’t matter.
How’d you land the role
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