Suggested/Necessary GPA for Middle Market Credit Fund or PE recruiting? (Intern or Analyst)
Hey everyone!
I am a current sophomore at a non-Ivy target B-school in the Midwest (think Michigan, IU, ND etc) and am curious about how my GPA will affect my recruiting in the Fall. I currently have a 3.47 GPA but will have a 3.5+ and am majoring in Finance. I have recently become interested in Private Debt/Credit Funds in Chicago (like Maranon, Madison Capital Funding, Deerpath etc) and want to know how my GPA will affect me, since it is not above 3.7.
I have strong club and leadership experience so far at school, have even started a couple projects/initiatives, and have a good LMM IB internship this coming summer. I have heard that even with networking and such that even Middle Market may be out of my reach even with a 3.5 because recruiters in PE/Private Credit (not necessarily MM just in general) care a lot about the highest GPA possible. Was wondering how true that is.
Does anyone have any advice for me regarding my GPA and the perception of recruiters in MM? And if my GPA is going to affect me a lot, how can I make the best of my situation?
Thank you!
You’re a sophomore, so just do better?
As a former ND student who is now in IB I can tell you that firms like Maranon, Ares, Audax, Golden Gate, etc rercruit from schools like Michigan, IU, Northwestern, and ND. The students they take are some of the brightest kids in their classes and usually have previous internships or experiences that differentiate themselves. Look at the backgrounds of analysts at these firms both previous and incoming on LinkedIn. However if you have a 3.5+, network very very hard, can speak well to your IB internship, and are sociable there’s definitely a chance. Some firms have more of a preference towards certain schools ex, Golden Gate and ND. Regardless, I know Maranon, Ares, Audax, and Golden Gate only take a a few students a year too so it’s very competitive, so I’d start networking now.
^ would echo everything above, competition is stiff for buy-side jobs out of school. The key is to have a great story and to definitely work on getting that GPA as high as possible.
For MM firms:
If everything else is solid (work experience, ECs, strong networking, technicals, etc), a 3.5 should be enough to get an interview. From there its up to you. You'll probably be asked why the GPA is low compared to other potential hires. Answer humbly and point to overcoming and moving past the experience. Much better if it was one bad semester vs an on-going theme.
In my limited experience, these types of firms were pretty drawn to solid work experience and willing to overlook a (slightly) lower gpa for someone who knows their stuff and could hit the ground running. Also to note, outside of a few large firms, hiring for undergrad buyside roles can be a bit more sporadic than IB so there is a luck factor involved.
Bump - why is it that a lot of the buyside programs mentioned above are more competitive than IB analyst positions?
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