Hoping title is straight to the point enough. Getting my GPA from a 3.71 to a 3.75 (rounded to 3.8) is going to require three extra classes I otherwise wouldn't need and a little bit of extra money.
For PE recruiting and long term, wondering if it's worth it for the GPA bump? Do HHs and PE shops even let you round to first decimal? FWIW, STEM major @ semi-target.
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Not worth it for PE long-term, assuming you already have the near-term sorted. Even then, probably still not worth it if you're still figuring out the near-term.
Absolutely not + 2 decimals > rounding (everyone assumes it's the lowest possible to round) + stem so wasting time on 3 classes is pointless when you could be prepping for PE recruiting
HH + maybe some prestige heavy large-caps are really the only ones who will care about the hair splitting of GPA/scores - even then it's for first round interviews then no one cares unless you have a 4.00 pure math summa from Harvard type
Even for that crowd, being likable / sharp / crushing model test will get your further than having 0.04 extra on GPA
End of the day, we just want to make sure you are smart / played the game well / showed some discipline, so you won't make our lives harder because you aren't sharp enough (not that anyone in these seats is an arbiter of intelligence). 3.71 vs 3.75 doesn't do anything to further the real reason people care beyond maybe an arbitrary HH cutoff (even then you can still get interviewed)
Discussed ad nauseam here, but roughly - Bank > Group > School > GPA/Test Scores > Location/DEI/etc. For first rounds, we no kidding only get that one line on you from HHs
Honestly, you've hit the exact point I was most curious about here (thank you!). Knowing how competitive it is, and that HHs are splitting hairs with GPA and do care about it, would I be filtered out of some processes that I otherwise wouldn't have been if I had bumped by GPA up a few points?
Additionally, is there a way to bypass that HH cut-off? Can I speak with investors on the team and demonstrate interest and competence such that I still get my foot in the door (i.e. land an interview even with a GPA that is a few notches lower than HHs would like)?
Generally yes - need to know what you're targeting and roughly perception of bank/group
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