How much does undergrad gpa matter?
How heavily is it weighted? Is there a point where it doesn’t hold you back (ie if above 3.7 checks the box)?
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I think as long as you're above the general threshold it's just a check. But having a 3.9+ probably gives you a few bonus points (assuming you're not a socially awkward person who only knows how to study).
A lot! Found out the hard way.
What would you say the general threshold is?
Just have a decent GPA and you'll be fine (3.7 or 3.8 will work). It's a check the box thing normally and a bad one can hurt you when looking for a job but nobody has ever been hired anywhere strictly based on GPA.
i'm not sure if you're looking for advice on IB or PE or whatever, but networking and interviewing well will do more for you than an extra 0.1 on the GPA.
Was wondering for UMM pe recruiting and appreciate the insight!
Cool, then I stand by what I said. At this point, you can't change it if you're already in banking so you have to roll with it either way. Don't spend you worrying about it, focus on what type of fund you want to go to (you'll come across better in interviews), preparing for interviews and networking to the extent that you can. Also, continue to do a good job at your current firm because people will call your superiors whether you put them as a reference or not (i'm saying this from the view of someone that gets a lot of those calls from old colleagues).
Have heard from buy-side alumni that when working with PE headhunters, regardless of fund size, GPA (and sometime ACT/SAT scores) not only improve your chances coming from a non-target, especially when looking to transition from Chicago to NY with 3.80/4.00 and ~1400/1600 being cutoffs. Many described that all you have for on-cycle buy-side recrutiment is trasaction experience, bank/group reputation, and academic metrics.
This is helpful. Do you know specifically how PE HH's rank candidates? Say for example, 3-4 kids from top, comparable IB groups all graduated from the same target school. Would the separation between candidates at that point be based more on extracurriculars/leadership during school, or minor differences in GPA/scores? Just curious to hear your thoughts
I received quite a bit of advice to be prepared to explain exactly what you are looking for in terms of a private equity firm (size, focus, industry coverage, geography, etc.) when speaking with headhunters. This allegedly helps when firms are forced to boil down between two nearly identical candidates - often opting to extend an offer to the one a headhunter believes will likely accept. Rankings, while obviously a mystery, seem to boil down to first and foremost current bank/group and undergrad followed by a GPA and test score filter and lastly extracurriculars (often replaced with pertinent deal experience).
To clarify, are you saying headhunters won’t work with you if you’re hoping to do PE in ny from Chicago if your gpa is below a 3.8? Or what exactly do you mean?
Alumni explained that a higher GPA is always better and that a ~3.8 is a comfortable for the buy-side recruitment process. Does not mean headhunters will refuse to work with you, especially coming from a reputable bank.
If you feel the need to quantify it, generally a 3.8+ is very good and a 3.9+ is excellent, depending on your major. You usually need to meet a certain threshold to get your foot in the door; however, I can honestly tell you that being able to articulate yourself and be a personable human is far more important. The kids who get the best offers (especially in IB) are the ones who have a high GPA but can also communicate better than anyone else.
Ultimately, you should focus on your intellectual passions and not worry so much about GPA. Aside from studying just pure business (like a lot of IB hardos), study something like math or philosophy to show you know how to think and solve problems analytically (this is the most employable skill). I promise you that having a unique intellectual edge matters a lot more than a number on your resume.
Kids who only care about their GPA and want to do IB just because it's IB are almost always boners. I've seen it time and again – these kids don't interview well. A stud with a 3.6 will fare much, much better than an absolute doinker with a perfect GPA.
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