Advice for an Undergrad - Sophmore at HYP

Hey guys. Thanks to everyone in the i-banking world who posts good information on here. So here's my situation: I'm a sophomore at HYP, majoring in economics, I play a varsity sport, and my GPA is a 3.0 and change. I know I am going to pursue an internship the summer after junior year, but I'm not sure if I should pursue one for this summer too. I know they're tough to get in the first place as a sophomore, but I want to hear what you guys think. Which would look better on a CV: spending a summer at LSE taking finance courses, or getting an internship at any i-bank (BB or boutique)? I'm thinking about applying to firms in in NYC and London. Are there any other options that may be good that I haven't considered yet?

Any advice I get will be great, especially from more experienced names like Mis Ind, ExGSBanker, and GhengisKhan. Thanks.

 
Best Response

For Harvard, Yale or Princeton, your GPA is light. It's early, but you need to get it moving upwards sooner rather than later. I understand that a varsity sport can significantly impact the GPA, but at the end of the day even with the varsity adjustment, you need to be closer to 3.4 than 3.0 to be competitive.

If you can get it, the internship will put you much further ahead than study abroad. Given that the GPA could pose a problem if it stays where it's at, start the search early.

LSE is a very good school, but summers or semesters abroad aren't always taken seriously, either by you or, as a result, by us. There's a reason people jokingly refer to LSE as "Let's See Europe".

Don't panic, you're a sophomore and it's early in the game.

 
GhengisKhan:
For Harvard, Yale or Princeton, your GPA is light. It's early, but you need to get it moving upwards sooner rather than later. I understand that a varsity sport can significantly impact the GPA, but at the end of the day even with the varsity adjustment, you need to be closer to 3.4 than 3.0 to be competitive.

If you can get it, the internship will put you much further ahead than study abroad. Given that the GPA could pose a problem if it stays where it's at, start the search early.

LSE is a very good school, but summers or semesters abroad aren't always taken seriously, either by you or, as a result, by us. There's a reason people jokingly refer to LSE as "Let's See Europe".

Don't panic, you're a sophomore and it's early in the game.

How is a full time program at a foreign MBA program seen, for a US native? Particularly the LBS MBA? (for associate level entry, of course)

 
bullmetaljacket:
I should have been more clear on the GPA. Yes, it's between 3.0 and 3.1.

You are going to need an impressive internship to have a chance. 3.0ish is probably the bottom 10-15 percent at your school.

 

3.0 is actually in the bottom 40%, but I see what you guys are saying. Thanks for the responses. I messed up royally first semester of freshman year, and have been working to get my GPA up. The good news I suppose, is that I have time.

 

is about 3.45-3.55 cumulative across all majors, with a bit of variation year to year. this is as per revised latin honors requirements capping latin honors to only top 50% of each class.

 

Does he really have that much time though? I'm wondering because I too screwed up bad last semester in my first year and am working to bring it back up.....if he's getting an intership third year then he will need to start the job search in the fall/winter of Year 3 which is only 1-2 semesters away....

 

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