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Recently I've been wondering if (former) college athletes have a disadvantage in their application/interview process due to lower GPAs? In other words, does the amount of time required for a college sport compensate for a lower GPA (3.2) while trying to land a spot at a BB?
Thanks in advance.
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I think in general there is more leniency given to them, especially those coming from a big time program. You have to think as well that athletes at bigger programs are going to be more connected to boosters, professors, alumni who are willing to go out on a limb for them. Just my two cents.
Agree, but if you are playing a basically a club sport at D3 and did nothing cool while you were there you probably are not going to get a lot of looks.
Totally, and that’s why put emphasis on the big program aspect. However, I think playing at Williams, Colby, or any of the other major LACs would give you a huge leg up against a non-athlete student.
Being an athlete is a huge leg. I got my internship with a 3.5. I’d say 1/2 the team I worked with was a college athlete, including the group head.
guess those squats and lunges paid off
Where at? Being a student athlete I need to find places with former athletes.
NESCAC athletes kill it on the street.
NESCAC athlete here - like 70% of alums I network with are all former NESCAC athletes themselves lol. Massive leg up
Can confirm, us NESCAC athletes are everywhere
Also a NESCAC athlete, the overwhelming majority are willing to help, especially if you played their sport in college.
I think there's leniency as long as it's a notable D1 program if the academic stats are weak.
My mentor (2nd year student assigned to mentor 1st years through recruiting) at our mba target school played football at D1...but hmm might also be skewed with the fact that he's played for an NFL team 1 season...likely had peers that beat him out in academic stats but hey he got a BB FT offer in NYC.
Play soccer at a D3 nontarget and got a BB with a 3.4 there is definitely some leniency
..
A job application isn’t just a gpa. Yes, there are general standards/thresholds, but put yourself in the shoes of the firms hiring. What are they looking for?
Well they want people who are smart enough, they want people who have determination and work ethic, they want people they can actually stand and will work well with the team, people that will put up with hard work situations (long hours, stressful turnaround times, etc) and be able to maintain their composure. Athletes meet a lot of this.
In general they look for people to standout, GPA is one measure, but that’s also because most people don’t have other extremes or high level accomplishments that help prove out their case (the accomplishments many times is being at this top school). So it isn’t just athletes, it is anyone who has a high level commitment and has performed extremely well.
Layer on top of that the network (both that they bring, but more importantly that they have for getting a job) and you have a pretty good setup.
So yes, like with any other application, having accomplishments that help reinforce that you can do the job will help and the overall balance of that with other metrics (like GPA) will be what determines if you get the interview. After that it is just usual interview stuff.
Can I cold email other athletes but from a different school?
Most definitely. It's a great talking point during informational interviews
Yes
At least at HYP, athletes have an enormous advantage especially at BBs. Obviously smart enough & team experience = they pretty much have the things you need to succeed in IB, usually just without technicals perfection which can be learned on the job. In fact, there's at least 2 BBs that have a very specific relationship with my HYP's sports teams
If you do a reputable sport at a reputable school that has a decent program it's like the equivalent of prolly having gone to a BB your soph year for internship lol
Ahahahaha are you kidding me?
I think also depends on the sport—I was a D1 coxswain for rowing, still needed a rather high (3.85+) GPA to recruit
Target?
so am I.... any tips? what school were you at?
I am an athlete at an SEC school just received a sophmore IB offer from MS sports definitely helped every interviewer wanted to know about it! Although i do have a 3.8 so that helped but i think athletics made up for me being non target especially if you have notable athletic accomplishments they definitely help you stand out
I also think being at a good sports program makes up for the non target because they know if I am good enough to play SEC i likely had stanford,usc, umich, offers etc so it was my choice not be at a target school
Former SEC athlete: Answer is in short yes on resume screens, but is huge advantage in networking, and helps in interviews. I think in the long run you'll be just fine, but requires a little more elbow grease to open the doors and get in front of the right people.
Can confirm it does, but not if you’re reaching too far in terms of a 3.0 vs a 3.4. I played a non-revenue sport for a D1 mid major no-name non-target. Managed to get interviews and offers from numerous MM banks and boutique firms. Every interview had a large portion of discussion revolving around my time as a student-athlete, as well as their interest in recruiting them for their groups/firm. But main thing is to have a relatively competitive GPA or else you won’t get in the door regardless (unless you are a top NCAA player who the MD watches on TV with his second wife).
Do you think it is more helpful for boutique or bulges?
Can’t speak to BBs. May be more structured there since they will have definite cutoffs. Could be wrong.
I’d have to say that it depends for MMs vs boutiques. Less structured for boutiques normally so could help in a major way if they are very focused on student-athletes at the firm. For my boutique, our MDs were group heads at MMs, so they follow the normal cutoffs and requirements as their previous banks, but are more “forgiving” if you were a student athlete and maybe had a 3.3 vs a 3.8 non-athlete. High GPA doesn’t always equal a better candidate than a lower GPA, nor does student athlete vs non student athlete.
Also could be group by group more or less important vs GPA since the large the bank/firm, the more structured their recruiting and cut-offs would be. Just imo.
Very interested in talking with you privately. I played at a D1, non-target, NCAA top 25 ranked, mid-major school myself (3.8 GPA/Finance), fortunate enough to get drafted and play professionally for a few years. I'm 2 years removed from undergrad and am looking to get into IB. I am grateful for any help/advice. PM me, if possible.
At the MM I work at about 5 of the 18 new analysts were athletes. Ranging from target D1 revenue sport to D3 country club sport. Unfortunately for OP, I think the lowest GPA of the athletes is about 3.6
ex ACC revenue sport athlete. Was huge in recruiting and even in my 2nd and 3rd roles out of college, people still ask for sports stories/experiences etc.
In networking/sourcing, I always look for other athletes because they will 9.5 times out of 10, give you at least a few mins to chat no matter how cold the intro
athletes get stupidly preferential treatment for banking. But once PE firms start asking for their SAT scores, the script flips
Someone sounds salty
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