Was in your exact position a couple of years ago. Definitely possible. Most of the time I enjoyed going to class because that was the one time I had an excuse to not get shit on by actives. Take advantage of study hall and study on slower days(Sunday-Wednesday) especially during football season.

 

I was in a similar situation in college but got a B freshman year… best thing to happen to me. I finished with a 3.74, a lot of close friends from my frat, a lot of other campus involvement, internships, and now have an IB job. I had a goal to get a 4.0 too but it didn’t happen, and that was awesome. If you have the drive to get a 4.0, you will definitely be able to get a very high GPA (but maybe not a 4.0) and still do fun stuff. At the end of the day, you have to decide on one or the other, unfortunately. Very few of my friends with 4.0s were able to do half the things I was by sacrificing a few points off the “perfect” GPA. I worked extremely hard but the other stuff made the work feel better. Plus, after you land your first job, no one cares about your GPA.

Definitely recommend my path but I understand the desire to get that 4.0. To each his own. Best of luck either way!

 
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I can't stress this person's advice enough. There is one key difference between target and non-target schools with regard to finance recruiting. Very few people at age 18 go into school knowing that they want to go into high finance (because almost nobody knows what the hell that is). At target schools, you may go in with complete ignorance, but the school shepherds you through the process of obtaining these jobs from freshman year. At non-targets, there is no such hand-holding so if you don't even know what finance/high finance is but find out when you're a junior it may already be too late. Since you're already going in as a freshman with interest in this stuff, you already know you need to get relevant internships, join relevant clubs, get high GPA, meet some helpful professors. Those ~25 kids on a campus of 15,000 who actually know about finance roles going into college will have no trouble landing them.

I would do your best in school and have the time of your life. Forget transferring. 

Array
 

100%. There are exactly 2 people from my several-thousand-person graduating class (1 being me) who ended up in “high finance” jobs. Both of us cranked out internships, clubs, etc. and built close relationships with each other (obviously with the similar goals) and with our professors, as well as professionals in our area. There is no freaking way we could’ve gotten 4.0s and landed our respective jobs. Did we still get high 3s, yes I got a 3.7, he got a 3.9 I think. 4.0? close but not quite.

Another friend in our class who is honestly smarter than us but less personable got a 4.0 and works in operations (which is still far better than most in our class). He spent all his time studying and it hindered his potential. Others are accountants, corporate finance, or unrelated roles.

It’s kind of the 80-20 rule to me. You can get a very high GPA with a lot of effort, but a 4.0 takes significantly more.

Relationships > grades

For my fellow non-targets… This is the way

 

I go to a target school and I feel like the biggest misconception is that the school 'holds your hand' through the process. Yes, the firms came to campus and the career center knows a little about the recruiting process, but you still had to network with alumni, prep for interviews, etc.  I have many friends at my target (~ranked about 20, so think UVA, Notre Dame, Georgetown, UMich) who came up empty without any offers.  Obviously it's much easier than going to a non target.  I think most of the advantages of going to a target are being surrounded by people who know what high finance/consulting is and having a vast alumni network to tap into.  You still gotta build those relationships and tap into the network though!

 

I was greek in the Southeast. Do it.  If you can't keep a 4.0 while pledging and taking intermediate fucking basket weaving you're not gonna be able to transfer to UVA or Mich anyways. Also not to mention depending on school/fraternity you end up in, the connections you make within it will end up being more valuable than your GPA. You'll likely have guys from all over with dad's who do all kinds of shit (own companies, IB, Asset Management etc.) that can help hook you up. 

 

Did a large fraternity at an SEC state school, graduated with ~3.8+ and ended up in finance in NYC, as did several others I know, with a decent amount of others ending up in finance in Atlanta, Dallas, etc. Be smart and get your shit done, you’ll be fine. No joke, if I hadn’t rushed I don’t think I’d be where I am today

 

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