Rising junior, sub-3.0 GPA, strong internships — am I cooked for US IB?
I’m a rising junior at a semi-target/target-ish school and I currently have a terrible GPA below 3.0. I know this is a huge issue for IB recruiting, especially in the US.
For context, I’m an international student and it took me a while to adjust to the American academic system. I also had some major family issues during my first years of college, which affected my grades. I’m not trying to make excuses, but that’s the honest reason my GPA is where it is. I’m working to bring it up aggressively from here.
My experience is stronger than my GPA: I’ve done four internships so far, one in private banking in Spain, one working directly with the CEO of a mid-sized AI startup in Philadelphia, one in investment banking at a mid-market boutique in Spain, and one in private equity at a growing mid-market firm in Spain. In high school, I also founded a company that reached six figures in revenue.
My goal is to work in IB in the US after graduation. Given the GPA and international status, am I completely screwed for US IB, or is there still a realistic path if I network hard and keep building relevant experience? Would appreciate honest advice.
idk, maybe go back to Spain lol
very helpful
Uh, problem is that you're just gonna get filtered out. These days I think almost every student I see entering IB has PE internships and such. It's so competitive and the number of really hard working people entering far outstrips current recruiting.
The question I would ask if I was the hiring manager or on the recruiting team for your university would be "Why this person?" Because based on what I can see, other people will have IB, PE, Tech, and other internships. And those people won't be sub 3.0 GPA and international.
Honestly, the only ways I see in are a top masters program, or a smaller boutique/MM firm where the process's are more informal and you can basically get in via networking because you won't be automatically filtered out. But EB/BB are basically non starters unless you have something crazy or a very strong connection.
I am just going to be brutally honest.
Even your internships are not the strongest. Almost every candidate who landed an EB role last cycle had 2–3 LMM IB/PE internships, and yours are not even U.S.-based (which may generally be viewed as less prestigious due to a completely different system). The CEO and startup experience is interesting, but entrepreneurial work is generally not very relevant to analyst recruiting
A 3.0 GPA, international status, rising junior standing, and a resume that only shows internships in Spain are four red flags that will likely hurt your candidacy. I would consider either pursuing a strong master's degree or extending your graduation date to re-recruit
I mean, most banks r already done recruiting for the main summer internship so unfortunately it’s too late. Even then, gpa is just way too low
You should found another company. Don’t try to get banking, not saying it’s impossible but it’s highly unlikely given how competitive it is.
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