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Should be fine (Ivy helps, athlete helps) but you need to network a TON. Especially with other athletes. 

Also just to be clear, you'll have to network this fall with your sub-3.5 GPA. Maybe you can sneak 1 more semester in by the time you're doing true interviews. If you network a lot, there are exceptions to the 3.5 bar. Especially at MM/BB - some of the EBs tend to be more GPA snobs

 

If it rounds to 3.5, that is fine to put. Just no money business with like 3.447 and rounding that to 3.5. 

Obviously try and raise your GPA this year - take easier classes, soph fall is a lot of work with networking - but I would not be too obsessed with the 3.5 "rule". It's very much a soft minimum. Plenty of people with 3.2-3.4 get hired because they network their butts off.

 

curiouslizard7736352

Thank you

As a point of reference, I graduated from a semi-target at the time (UIUC, which is now seemingly off the radar) in engineering and finance and played one year as a walk-on in football while starting a few games there. Prior to that I spent 3 years at the University of Colorado on scholarship as a cyclist. My benefit wasn't really through networking with athletes as much as it was having cool stories to tell. I raced downhill on the World Cup in mountain biking and started at safety in the Sugar Bowl. That is stuff people want to hear about, although you kind of have to back into it...my story specifically showed adaptability, hard work, and success, which people care about. 

 

As an athlete the network is most important. And yes it will make up for gpa. My father had a crappy gpa and got a job at BB from sports alumni through networking. Granted that was a while ago. And I know a couple complete bricks at another school who are at top BB in IB this past year. Ofc you’re not doing buy side where the person hiring you can lose money by bringing you to the team. When you can take money out of the guy hiring you’s pocket, they care less about network and more about your brain. To recap you should be fine. I know people who had sub 3 that went to BB. Many more of them sub 3.5. However that mainly happened back then when grade inflation was less, and you could give the students you wanted jobs without HR getting pissy and running interference. But it still happens

 

Talk to your coach about your interests and use them as a network. Of course network as hard as possible, but I’ve heard stories of ivy coaches being very helpful

 

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