Low Undergraduate GPA - Military

I am in the military and was accepted into a 10-15 ranked MBA program. I had to defer admission and will start the fall of 2014. For the last 4+ I have been an officer in the Marine Corps. My undergrad was at a very good but very unique school. My gpa at said school was very low (2.6). My GMAT is a 700.
How difficult will it be to break into an investment banking at a BB firm with a poor undergrad performance?

13 Comments
 

If you do well in the MBA program it really won't matter for IBD, consulting would still be difficult.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

I don't have an IB background, but with that GPA, IMO the odds are stacked against you, unless you blow them out of the water with your interviewing (assuming you get an IB interview). Consider going into S&T instead? I have personally known a few ex-military officers who have done well in this field, b/c they had excellent people skills & attention to detail.

All the world's indeed a stage, And we are merely players, Performers and portrayers, Each another's audience, Outside the gilded cage - Limelight (1981)
 

Can anyone fill me in on why your undergrad GPA would even matter post-MBA from a respected school?

I haven't had a single employer -ever- ask me what my GPA is (I leave it off because it's a 3.4 and I'm worried about the "cutoff" at 3.5).

Disclaimer: I haven't applied to BB's, but that's not what I want to end up. If that's your goal then I can see that number being a lot more important. Also I'm at a target/semi-target, I don't know if that changes things.

 
Best Response

@GoldPeak: I believe that highly regarded (read:"prestigious") institutions want candidates who have an overall strong track record. Pedigree can be important (MBB/PE) and they have the option of choosing the cream of the crop. All else being equal, it would seem more risk adverse to accept the candidate with a better UG GPA than someone with subpar UG GPA, granted they both also came from good MBA programs.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for freedom of thought which they seldom use.
 

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