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It doesn't help. If you're at a top target you get a little more leeway, but FT recruiting is sooo limited this year that they're looking for any reason to ding people

I see you turned down the return... probably not a good idea in your situation (I would have at minimum waited until it expired and hustled my butt off to get interviews before it expired) but best of luck

 

Yeah I would be networking your absolute ass off right now... honestly if the offer was that good I might consider asking for it back depending on how much you're willing to embarrass yourself... I get not loving your group/situation but it is exceedingly difficult to land BB/EB for FT in such a down market - I'm sure you are a competitive candidate if you were able to land such a great SA, but with how low return offers were, banks are going to have next to no spots this season. 

 

I went to a Semi-Target and have a 3.5 (Also was in a pretty difficult major on a pre-doctorate path, I am non-diversity male) but all of that being said I got interviews pretty much everywhere and landed an offer at 2 EB, 1 MM, 2 BB and then quit the processes for the additional banks I was interviewing with.

This was last year when the market was similar to where it is now (it is a bit worse than now so I don’t know if I would have the same amount of offers). I did a buy side gig for my SA stint and never did banking. Hardest part of interviewing was explaining “Why IB?” given I was pretty much in a role that people exit out of IB for.

I feel like this site exaggerates GPA requirements. If you have a rounded 3.5 or better you’re good for literally any role in high finance. If you have a 3.5 in Finance then I would personally ding that candidate (unless they had a solid reason for that GPA or work experience that is unique) because finance is a major designed for 3.9+ GPAs with slightly above average effort. However, if you have a 3.5 in a very STEM-intensive major you will be looked at just as much as the 3.9+ Finance major from my experiences on both sides of the table in IB and now having a “prestigious” PE offer

 

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