Finding an internship with a learning disability
Hello!
I am a 4th year student at UC San Diego. It’s not a target school for finance, but it’s considered a very good school. I transferred to this university from community college. My major is International Business, and it incorporates all kinds of business classes, including accounting, finance, marketing, etc. My minor is Real Estate.
I am currently looking for my first internship, and really want something to do with finance. My current GPA is 2.5, it’s not that good, and in most jobs that I find listed online, I see a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher required. Unfortunately, I don’t think that I can achieve such a GPA. I have very few classes left to take, and will graduate soon. My university operates on a quarter sustem, and it’s very fast.
The thing is, I always had some problems since young age. High anxiety, poor social skills and a poor short-term memory. I took tests at the psychologist, and scored high on both autism and ADHD. Lately, I am struggling with depression and mood swings. I live with my mom and her being an alcoholic caused us hard life struggles that I’d rather not mention. In all, I’ve been through a lot of bad stuff and it shaped my outlook on life.
But the thing is, because of having these hardships in life and plus learning disabilities and difficulty socializing, I think that I am worse than my classmates in the same major. I am detached from life, not confident, comparing myself to my classmates all the time and it makes me feel even worse. I’m having trouble with joining student organizations or staying in them, but I am still trying. Clubs that have entrance interviews scare me away.
A career in finance is my first choice right now because if I can financially help myself and my family, I can finally be happy and live my life to the fullest. I am interested in the way that money works and how it shapes the world, why some people have a lot of it while others are destined to live in poverty, and how the stock market works. I am learning to make money in the stock market through penny stocks and so far I have been successful. I am intellectually curious, I’m learning Korean and Japanese and reading financial self-help books.
Please don’t find my post annoying, I am having a crisis right now. I am terrified that despite my degree and all the effort I put into it, I will be underemployed. I’m just not fitting into the school system perfectly because of my circumstances, but I don’t want to be punished for it by underemployment. My potential is much higher and I’m afraid to not meet it.
Therefore, I have a few questions for you and would be curious to ask your opinion.
1) If employers are requiring a GPA of 3.0 and higher, and are also an equal opportunities employer, and my low(er) GPA is a result of my disability, should I mention it in my cover letter? What is the best way to do that?
2) Do you think that I should go to professional student organization interviews despite not having any prior internship experience or significant accomplishments?
3) What was your greatest challenge in entering the finance field as an undergrad or a recent graduate?
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