Do honors at graduation mean anything for IB/PE/HF/MBA?

Basically title. I'm curious as to whether honors at graduation (cum laude, magna, summa) mean anything when going through IB/PE/HF recruiting or if they are more of a personal achievement. Previous threads on this topic are quite old.

I have an IB internship for this summer and will hopefully be able to get cum laude when I come back to graduate next year, but I can take like 5-7 extra classes over two semesters to potentially reach magna cum laude and am wondering if that extra work is worth it (summa is already out of question for me). I'd be interested to hear from those of you that graduated with these honors as to whether they actually mean anything or if they ever helped you in your time in IB or when recruiting for PE or other? Or is it really more of just a personal achievement and no one gives a shit as to whether it's on your resume or not for PE/HF recruiting? Does it also differ if your at a target vs semi- or non-target and does it carry any weight for MBA applications if I felt like following that path in the future? Thanks in advance!

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5-7 extra classes across two semesters feels like a TON of work just to go from cum laude to magna cum laude. When I review resumes (assuming it's not a school like Princeton famous for grade deflation) I basically have five tiers:

  1. Sub 3.0: Not interested
  2. 3.0-3.5: Likely not interested, but will have a look to see if something really special pops
  3. 3.5-3.7: Good
  4. 3.7-3.9: Very good
  5. 3.9+: Exceptional

So long as you're going to be in bucket 3 or higher I wouldn't stress too much.

 

They definitely still matter if you’re only a few years out of undergrad. Not to the same degree as when you’re still a student, but I would say that it doesn’t really fade away until you’re a VP+ level professional.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

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CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

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