Are bad math grades a huge deal?

So I'm a Sophomore going into my Junior year with a 3.65 GPA (3.95 business), received a B in college algebra and am taking calculus right now. (Catching up on math as I switched to business late).

Our school has an awful math program for pre-reqs and I am having to take math online through the school. Even though I aced every single test, I still got a B due to the annoying set up for homework and it's scores.

This summer I am now taking calculus and my payment did not go through early enough so I missed 4 hw's, a quiz, and a written homework. My teacher won't let me make it up. I think I'm probably going to end up with a B or a C depending on how the rest goes.

How bad does it look that I have these grades for math? When I was in high school I just partied my life away and got a 2.3 and 1730 SAT lol. I didn't study or pay attention to anything, but once I got to college I turned everything around and have gotten A's in all accounting courses, MIS courses, and Econ related courses.

This is mostly due to my found passion in investing while getting mono freshman year(a blessing). I started to trade commodities every day and then got into microcap biotech plays and options trading. However now I am testing long term strategies and trying to read everything I possibly can about bonds, futures/options, and M&A.

I will also be double majoring in accounting and finance and just want to know how badly my SAT and math grades will affect me in landing the types of jobs I want.

Also wondering if I can find a clever way to include my investment strategies and pnl maybe?

Thanks in advance guys.

 
Best Response

if i were you i wouldn't worry too much about things you cant impact now (high school)

focus on your studies now and pressure your teacher for letting you make it up, if its summer course then its not a big deal for him/her to change the attitude - could also explain your situation to your teacher ?

i have a biased opinion since i too wasnt the greatest student in high school (gaming) but i think that genuine interest is the best motivation factor and it can carry you way further than someone who simply studies for the grades and is motivated on high GPA.

Obviously depends on your goals a lot whether your bad math grades have any impact career wise. IB requires zero maths skills so nothing to worry about if thats your path, but maybe quantitative finance is something you shouldnt go for. Everything can be learned if you just give it a go.

 

Haha gaming was my big issue along with the partying. Had a partnership with Machinima and was basically my income for 4 years. (if you know what Machinima is).

How deep is the math towards the quant side. I get confused what exactly a quant does. Because I see quant value investing and it seems like basic calculations of what you find on financial statements. What exactly defines a quant strategy?

 

Nobody is going to look at your individual grades on your transcript except for HR, probably. I think I had one interview where I had to submit my transcript and the MDs talking to me grilled me on my grades but that was the complete exception (but be prepared for it).

What might be an issue is your SAT, which is pretty bad. If long-term your goal is "buy-side" opps a lot of headhunters actually give a shit about SAT, which usually* is not the case with investment banking SA spots.

 

My goal is to move over to the buy-side eventually if not somehow out of undergrad. My uncle passed away last year and was a founder of a hedgefund, so a little less likely now, but maybe I can still get a connect there. Would you recommend I retake the SAT? I never even looked over any study materials and hadn't done any real focusing in school for years when I took it. If I study or just use my knowledge now I think I can kill it as I'm a pretty good test taker.

Thanks for the response. Thinking your mention of the importance of SAT scores just saved me a big scare finding this out later down the road.

 
Sil:

Math beyond algebra is irrelevant to IB. I do not understand why so many people think that you need take all of these high level math classes let alone get an "A" in them to have a shot at IB.

It's another way of showing how "smart" you are. For example, at my target school, there is a big belief that just because you do a double major, you will be more impressive for IB even if you have a much lower GPA than a single major student. Honestly though, I think the majority of people who take high level math classes for IB have no idea what banking really is and the mathematical skills that IB requires.

At the same time, many people enjoy math and if they want to go into IB, since the field is quantitative, people take math courses to show their quantitative background and do something they enjoy.

 

I took 24 credit hours of calc in college (Mech E major), and I used exactly zero of that in a decade in banking. That said, being an engineer gave me street cred as a TMT banker so I guess that's cool.

 

The issue you may have is convincing people you are smart despite your background, bad grades don't help. Generally, nobody cares enough about your grades in specific classes to bother checking them, so that isn't an issue.

The issue you would have, were I reviewing your resume, is that you majored in business and have a low SAT score. Unless you go to Wharton or Michigan, I personally would conclude you're not that bright on the basis of those two pieces of information and stop reading. I am a bit of a stick in the mud, but the last time I paid attention to these boards people had a sense of a pretty well defined hierarchy of majors ( STEM >>> Econ = Business >>> liberal arts generically > something artsy) which I basically agreed with.

It's not that anyone uses advanced math in routine financial modeling (I certainly don't), but it's very important you are able to think logically and in a structured way. That is a box people are more worried about checking with a less than ideal background, which raises the bar for you to get interviews and probably effects how those interviews work.

 

Sorry I didn't clarify. At our school you are considered Pre-Business until you are accepted into the school of business(Finance, MIS, Accounting, Entrepreneurship etc..) That would mean any pre-reqs or courses you take 1st semester once accepted are considered "business" GPA.

I'll be double majoring in Finance and Accounting, but might add MIS if I can.

Would my double help my case as well? I know it's seen as superficial by some, but I met with a portfolio manager when I was young, and he told me to do accounting. I see how that could help me understand business health a whole lot better. Also, my uncle that died ran a hedge fund and he said computer science was the way to go. Too bad that is too out of the way now. Just pretty interesting that the two successful people I know in finance told me to do anything, but finance haha.

One more thing. Should I consider retaking the SAT? I was ahead in Math as a freshman in highschool and took 2 years off of math courses prior to taking the SAT. This, while also not doing a damn thing in any other classes, but at the least I still had to finish minimal homework and tests for those classes..

 

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