Poor GPA, Target School: How to Approach FT Networking?

Hi all,

I'm a rising senior at a target school with a shitty gpa (approx 2.9). There's no reason to beat around the bush here, but I had some family issues that lead to some excessive partying and shirking of responsibilities (which became a bit of a vicious cycle). Regardless, the summer has been a very sobering experience (literally) and I want to come back to school and fix my shit. I know this is going to be an uphill battle, but I want to be the student I know I can be, and get the job that I set out to get last year.

This brings me to my question: how should I approach FT recruiting? I know I'll be leaning almost entirely on networking and the connections I make in order to try and swing interviews, but should I put my GPA on my resume? Again, I'm going to buckle down and finish out strong, so assuming I get a 4.0 I'll be starting the spring semester with a 3.3 or so.

Do I start networking now, build up my relationships over the fall and then hope during the spring that I can find some shop with a FT position open? Do I aim for recruiting in the fall, discuss my GPA issue when its brought up and hope it doesn't become TOO big of an issue? I think my main fear right now is that I'll "waste" my initial outreach with alumni when they see my piss-poor GPA, and they won't want to stay in contact even when I have improved my standing.

Any and all advice is appreciated, thanks.

4 Comments
 
Best Response

I would suggest that you think about extending graduation by a semester or two as Gameofthrones mentioned. It would two things for you,

1st it will give you chance to work on your GPA and second you can try to get 2018 SA stint which would automatically lead to an full-time offer.

IMO targeting directly full-time will be more difficult than targeting SA. that's my 2 cents and I wish you the best of luck.

 

To you and Gameofthrones , thanks. I'm a little older than the traditional senior and attending out of state, so pushing back graduation is currently towards the bottom on my (short) list of options.

Though I'm sure you don't have any personal experience with this, would graduating in December be just as good as waiting until spring? As far as getting a SA position is concerned (and of course, excluding the GPA boost an additional semester would net).

 

Et officia ut consequatur at dolor quod quasi impedit. Deleniti eum amet rem id voluptatem vel voluptatem adipisci. Beatae nulla sit rerum aut architecto sit minima et. Quis doloremque nihil facere praesentium culpa.

Amet harum quod distinctio placeat ut. Nisi corrupti totam earum est eius. Sint fugit officiis a esse.

Et odit aut dolor voluptatem dolor explicabo iusto. Earum suscipit ratione delectus omnis porro. Ex natus enim iure tempora. Nostrum quos rem voluptatem voluptas ut explicabo.

Quibusdam accusantium nulla laudantium totam repellat sed. Et soluta atque sed.

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 04 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 (17) $409
  • Associates (58) $261
  • 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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”