Does your GPA stay relevant past first round?

I just got a first round interview with BCG for internship with a 3.456 GPA at a target school (not even top 50% percentile in class rank). If you look at my transcript knowing anything about the school I go to, the 3.456 doesn't reflect an academic performance that has been pretty good; math + econ major, graduate coursework in economics and environmental science, and overloading every semester.

I feel confident that I have a pretty strong resume outside of my GPA. If they looked past it for the first round, is it going to continue to be an issue? What about for other firms?

 

First of all, congratulations on obtaining the interview.

It will only be an issue if you make it an issue. GPA is mainly used for the initial screening process, and it looks like you made it past that. I would focus more on nailing the cases than worrying about something you can't immediately change. Believe me, this comes from experience.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - DT
 

I don't know about the US, but I know that in several EU countries nobody gives a shit about your grades.

All what is important to them is that you have the right brand name on your CV so they can bill the client 2000$/day.

Consulting firms don't look for math whiz they look for people who can think and break down problems in a very structured manner, communicate well and show strong interpersonal skills.

Just work hard for your case studies and impress them.

 
Best Response

Clearly you've taken some challenging coursework so that should somewhat negate your GPA. That said, GPA DOES matter after the initial screening process, albeit much less than before the resume drop. I've personally been in a situation where an interviewer told me that they had chosen to go with another candidate who, despite performing somewhat less impressive than myself during the interview, had a better GPA than myself. That may be an isolated experience, but I do believe interviewers do use GPA as one of a few "tiebreakers" in case of similar interview performance. Just my opinion, however.

 

Westside brings up a good point. If you are offered an interview with a sub-par GPA then they are not going to ding you for your GPA...but they will ding you if your explanation is not sufficient. If you worked 30+ hrs a week and founded a club or start-up and took difficult courses outside your major (which it seems you have), then your interviewer will be happy to know that have a hungry kid with interests and accomplishments outside of academics.

I will add a caveat that I think it's a little different for consulting (consulting internships are very difficult to land v. full-time). I don't know exactly how each firm in consulting views GPA, so I won't comment on each firm specifically. Good luck bro.

 

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