PE out of MM IB with horrible GPA
I’ll keep it short and sweet. I have a 2.9 undergrad GPA (potentially round-able to a 3.0) from a non target state school and just hit the desk as 1st year analyst in the top group at a somewhat notable MM.
Of course headhunters are already reaching out to me for 2024 / 2025 PE role intros and I’m just trying to figure out what my options realistically are and what I should be doing?
Should I even attempt to interview at any PE shop with this GPA? If so what tier?
Am I stuck in banking until my experience can outweigh my GPA?
Should I do an MSF at a reputable school to try and cover this up?
I suppose it’s worth noting I busted my ass to get this banking gig in the first place and apparently showed I was capable of doing this job despite the GPA.
Thanks in advance for any advice on this.
bump
Was in the same boat and just landed my full time PE associate gig. The brand name of my shop (top in sector MM) helped me get every interview, so don’t worry about not getting any first rounds. After that you just need to know your story + techs/lbo modeling cold. It took me 10ish final rounds and many more first rounds to finally get the offer. Some funds really care about GPA and some large UMM funds surprisingly don’t. If you were clever enough to get into banking with that GPA, you’ll be able to do the same for PE. Good luck
Thanks for the insight and kind words, will definitely buckle down on interview prep and sharpen my existing GPA blunder story.
Leave your GPA off your resume at that point, especially if doesn't round to 3.0
Agree with above though, you are clearly pretty clever to land where you did so take it off your resume and don't think about it. Some places will have hard GPA cutoffs, but not all of them - some people especially HHs will ask, be honest that your GPA is low with a story ready for them (if it was freshman/soph year, you can say you've matured and your senior year GPA was x, or whatever the story is) but don't proactively show them a terrible GPA. Be the best-prepped candidate in the room - behaviorals should be better practiced than anyone else and techs/case study modeling should be perfect as well.
What firms care more or less about GPA?
From an interviewer's perspective, I'd advise you to have your story ready. If a resume doesn't include a GPA, I'm going to ask for it. To be super blunt, if it's low, I'm going to assume either: you're (i) not smart enough for the job, (ii) you're lazy / can't work hard over a longitudinal basis, or (iii) or you're had extenuating personal circumstances.
Your job is to convince me that these assumptions are false. Be ready with a coherent, honest story (iii), prove to me that (i) is false (ideally with strong test scores or some other defensible measure that assures me you didn't just get your banking job because you knew someone), and proactively provide stories/evidence of your grit and genuine willingness to do this job. The more that you can hit head on, the more I'm willing to take the chance on you. If you put yourself in my shoes, I can just as easily hire someone with a 3.5+ GPA instead to fill your seat, so you need to do your part to convince me that you're worth the risk.
I know that naysayers will say GPA/test scores from several years ago are dated and a poor indication of performance, but I'd argue that there are few quantitative measures to screen a banking analyst who is literally weeks/months out of college.
Makes total sense, no need blue pill myself into believing it’s not that big of a deal because it 100% is and should be explained well.
When you mention alternative metrics to display my value such as test scores, I’d assume you’re referencing the GMAT? If not, would be interested to hear what other exams could be relevant or worth the time as I’ve heard the CFA doesn’t swing a lot of interview weight.
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