GPA Still Matters
Just got dinged from a respected REPE firm for an experienced hire position after 3 pretty strong interviews because the recruiter realized I hadn't put my GPA on the resume and asked for it. 4 Years of RE brokerage/acquisitions experience and early promotion along the way, but I was no longer a strong enough candidate to even make it to the modelling round...
Just a heads up as I've often read advice on here to take the GPA off after the first couple positions, but I would have preferred getting screened rather than wasting both my and the firm's time.
how bad was it?
3.22, I double majored in Chemical Eng and Applied Math but i fuking suck at theoretical math and that shit destroyed me. brain shuts down when numbers are turned into letters
That's fucking stupid, all we do is fucking algebra. You don't want to work at a place that cares about your college GPA anyways, bunch of self-important douchebags.
depending on school a 3.2 is probably respectable for your major, interesting. May have been an excuse to pass on you for some other reason, who knows.
When I was studying engineering, the mantra was always 3.0 and above is cool. I went to a fairly good school although non-target. Absolutely horrified when I started looking for jobs in finance.
Sad thing is if you majored in Econ you could have 3.5+.. OP, fuck that firm. You are better off without them if their hiring is so arbitrary and unwilling to make exceptions for people who actually challenged themselves in college.
Yo a 3.22 is not bad for chemical engineering, I think a 3.3 is average and if you double majored in applied math as well you should be chilling. I also had a less than competitive gpa but I came from a physics major and got first rounds at most of the places I applied to
Really? That’s somewhat disheartening to hear. Like someone said above, what if they were just trying to find an excuse to ding you?
With thousands of applicants applying for even MM or Big 4 roles, top banks will look for any excuse to ding you. Right or wrong, you can't give them any excuse to say no.
what the fuck that is bull shit
They may have been looking for an excuse to ding, it was a position I was just qualified for in terms of experience. Was told I was a “top candidate” in the HR screen tho.
Also strange as two of the 3 interviews went for double the allotted time and really seemed to hit it off with all 3.
Same happened to me after about 3 years of exp + promotion at my first job out of college. Made it through 3 rounds of interviews (totaling ~10 professionals + CIO) and a modeling test at a top 20 REPE firm. Before the offer, they asked for my transcripts and didn't hear from them again.
It's an awful mindset some of these folks in finance have, but don't get down. There's many of shops just as/nearly as good that actually care about the quality of work you WILL produce rather than what you DID produce.
Holy shit that is fucking unreal. I guess most of these firms consist of such check the box, risk averse people due to the nature of the fundraising business.
fuck them OP! not a firm you want to be at anyways
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He's probably still shaking to this day from the trauma of interviewing a sub 3.8 ugrad GPA candidate
What’s funny is they reposted the position after on campus recruiting because they didn’t find anyone. Clowns
Is it normal to ask for ugrad GPA during MBA IB recruiting or do only a few select banks do it?
Is it normal to ask for ugrad GPA during MBA IB recruiting or do only a few select banks do it?
They were the only ones that asked for it in the interview. Some/most ask for it on the application though. Doubt it matters to most banks.
This post surprises me, OP where you literally told you failed to make the cut to next round because of GPA? Usually its just for screening purposes (like literally part of what determines if you get a human to even look at your resume). So, seeing it being factored after 3 interviews just seems crazy.
Is it possible they didn't select you to move forward independently of the recruiter asking for the GPA detail? I don't want to spin you circles thinking about this, but lot's of reasons could explain it, and it might just be coincidence with timing of the GPA question. Pretty fucked up otherwise (IMHO).
I've heard of the top/MF groups etc, dinging for this... even after 5-7+ years of experience. Pretty pointless... definitely just for prestige, dick measuring, etc.
Had a colleague go from a direct competitor/"top fund" to interview at similar one and think he go dinged on GPA (granted it was very poor - sub 3). But effectively - a lateral from a Starwood, BX, Carlyle to that of the same and getting cut with exactly the same experience 4+ years. It is an auto cut for some.
What a lazy way to filter candidates out. You dodged a bullet I bet.
I didn't even have GPA on my resume and was never asked once my UG GPA. Landed at a pretty decent lending shop right out of UG. I also had interview at some other very reputable shops and a REIB position (made it to last round). I know this is REPE we are talking about but this still is surprising people care that much especially after years of experience.
It very much sounds like the interviews didn't go quite as well as you thought they did....
Only time I have ever been dinged by GPA post college was with firms that have terrible turnover/ culture.
Exactly shitty firms to justify their pathetic existence I understand EBs/BBs but these bucket shops dont even get the talent anyway. I remember this one time being dinged for my GPA only to find that management mixed with bad culture made junior folks leave lol.
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