3.5 GPA - Looking to break into PE
To give a little background a go to a good liberal arts college and have a 3.5 GPA as an economics major. I'm working at GS/MS in a good coverage group upon graduating this semester (not GS TMT or MS M&A) that does their own M&A modeling. I was wondering if those who've gone through the PE recruiting process might know how much GPA will affect me and if doing things like taking the GMAT before PE recruiting or waiting an extra year to recruit might help me be a strong candidate? Not set on MF or anything yet really but would love to be able to interview at MF/UMM funds.
Lol you are fine with a 3.5. That won’t block you out of processes, especially coming from a solid group.
With that said, waiting a year to recruit is not a bad idea (especially if you don’t feel 100% ready). Becoming more popular given how early recruiting is.
If you go through on-cycle in your first few months and don’t place where you want to place, you will most definitely not get another look there down the road. Also, now that a lot of people choose to wait a year, if you recruit right when you hit the desk you are now competing with many analysts who chose to wait a year.
So waiting a year to get solid deal experience almost always pays off.
1) Usually the same process. Obviously they’ll be able to focus in more on your transaction experience (which is to your benefit)
2) If you wait a year, you can still recruit for positions that have a start date at the end of your 2 year analyst program. Most PE firms leave some spots open for a given recruiting class because they understand not everyone will recruit early - I even have friends who recruited in their second year and landed immediate start positions with MF’s and UMM’s. There are a ton of opportunities out there
3) You could wait for the next year’s on-cycle recruiting. Or, you can always just recruit off cycle. PE processes run all throughout the year. Go when you’re ready