will my low gpa haunt me forever?
Graduating from an unprestigious public school (IU kelley) with probably a ~3.48, or 3.5 rounded up. I have pretty impressive internships and extracurriculars which I credit with helping me land at a mid tier BB (BofA/Citi/Barclays) FT. I never planned on going to b-school or gunning for MF PE so I let my grades slip pretty badly and focused on nonprofit work / enjoying life after getting my SA offer.
Problem is I’ve realized I really want to pursue entrepreneurship and maybe eventually VC down the line and noticed that very few people seem to be able to get venture funding if they didn’t attend an m7 or at least top 15 (schools like Stern, Berkeley etc).
It seems like the “average” gpa of most of these schools is around a 3.6, which makes me think it’s not impossible for me. But I’m worried that the standard for people who do the typical IB > PE path will be much higher in order to stand out (will most likely do mm PE post banking).
Anyone with a similar background manage to get into a top MBA? If so what did you do to stand out besides balling out on the GMAT? Has your undergrad GPA continued to be a factor in recruiting even post MBA? Open to any success stories or advice
Bump
I think 3.3-3.6 is relative. Not great but can be fixed with a strong GMAT, evident leadership, and top notch recs/ essays. Admissions is always a crap shoot anyway.
3.48 probably needs a 740 GMAT for M7
With a 3.7, what gmat score do you need for hsw with over represented background?
MBA admissions are such a crapshoot, even more hard to predict than undergrad. Focus on building a solid network and actually branching out to VCs. Stints in IB can make you super dull and hate anything to do with finance, but the people I’ve seen in VC sometimes do come from state schools — look up NextCoast Ventures for an example. You can make an impact in entrepreneurship at any level, don’t let M7 MBAs being the most prominent fool you.
Are you diverse or unique in any way? That might give a little leeway if so. Any sort of technical minor or coursework? GMAT of 740+ would be necessary and honestly with how competitive M7 are nowadays should be what you aim for point blank. A 3.5 won’t kill you for VC, your network matters more than GPA. Being active on Twitter, following substacks, networking with entrepreneurs, etc is more important than anything. I think the west coast with a 3.6+ tends to be selection bias and sheer exposure to VC ecosystem at schools like Stanford / Berkeley as opposed to a background requirement. Much easier to end up in VC when you’re surrounded by likeminded people and in Silicon Valley.
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