Graduating -- Low GPA from target school

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to take a year or two off before graduate school and am considering my options. I'm an applied math major from a math/science college that is respected in the industry. Unfortunately, my GPA sucks because I took too many classes outside of my area of expertise as was required by my school (oh, and terrible grade deflation). I have a lot of computational modeling experience and independent research. I've never had any finance experiences, but am interested in learning more. My quantitative/programming abilities are strong and I do well during mock interviews. How much of a factor is a subpar GPA? Is there anything I can do to compensate for it? Does being a woman help or hurt me? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Thanks!

11 Comments
 

If you have some internships it should be ok. If you networked, you should be ok. If not you may need to go to grad school to speciallize. Quant finance. They need more women at top programs anyways...

The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they move through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? Motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see. And then, one day
 

Thanks for all the replies. My GPA is a 2.9. I know it sucks, and though I could give reasons for how much it sucks, I'm not going to make excuses right now. I'm not looking for a lifetime in finance, so it wouldn't make sense for me to get a degree in the field. I'm really just looking for a 2(ish) year job. Would such a low GPA weed me out before interviews? I think if I can get to in-house interviews I'd really be able to distinguish myself from my GPA, but my fear is that I won't even be able to get to that point.

 

you need work experience to counteract the GPA, which in your case is usually obtained through networking into an internship. without that your chances are not good and you need to reboot in a backoffice role or through a master's.

 
Best Response

Non necessitatibus rem quibusdam cupiditate sint porro. Harum et doloremque adipisci inventore porro natus aliquid. Et exercitationem unde nisi.

Accusantium voluptas cum velit porro. Quia vitae quas eligendi voluptates quis qui. Voluptatum nobis quis deserunt aut excepturi sit qui eum. Ullam quia aspernatur totam ut saepe ipsum cupiditate. Et perspiciatis et laborum iusto earum aut. Eos doloremque assumenda voluptatem sit reiciendis porro laboriosam tempore. Dolore cumque ut voluptatem id.

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 02 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 (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”