Low GPA IB Recruiting SA2025

Your GPA does and does not matter as much as you think it does. Let me explain.

Grades matter first and foremost for screening purposes. When banks get thousands of resumes in a week for internships, they need to filter them down quickly and efficiently. One of the ways to do this is to put a hard stop on GPAs. The number they choose is entirely up to whoever is running the hiring process. Sometimes it's 3.5, sometimes it's 3.8. Other times there's no initial cap and it's more about timing or luck in terms of whose resumes get shortlisted.

If you're networking as hard as you say you are, you can sidestep this process entirely. Referrals from MDs will typically always get a first round. VPs and Associates are better, but don't command the same response internally. Analyst buy-in really only helps once you're in the process already. Unless the Analyst in question is the one tasked with coordinating the hiring process, but even then they can just propose you as a walk-on. For example, an MD at one of the groups I worked at would get emails or LinkedIn messages from kids all the time. Sometimes, they would catch him at just the right time and they would hit it off. From there he would fwd the email chain to our staffer and be like "I like this kid," and we would have to bring them in for a first round. Those candidates would also then get identified as "that person md likes." Lots of otherwise non-target candidates come in this way. The interesting part is these referrals usually (but not always) end up being genuinely passionate about IB and can actually talk shop a bit.

Last thing I want to note is that GPA can still matter even during and after your rounds of interviews. Again depends on the group, but after each round, the group running the process would get together for 5-10 mins and go through each resume and get everyone's temperature. What about this person? Did you like them? Do they know their stuff? Are they actually interested in banking or at least know what they're getting themselves into? In these huddles, there is inevitably at least one person who cares a lot about academics. If they don't like a 3.46, they're going to bring it up. If everyone else loved you and your interviews made it obvious that your GPA isn't a reflection of your overall profile, then you're fine. If no one has anything good to say then you'll likely get dropped.

Hope that's helpful, and good luck out there.