GPA, Summer Intership Suggestions
I'm a junior at penn, "majoring" in both wharton and biology. I'm looking for a summer internship. My gpa is miserably low (high 2.xx) though so far it has been slightly improving each semester.
Everyone knows where many of the students with great GPAs and resumes go--BCG, McKinsey, Accenture, Monitor, etc. So any suggestions on less known consulting firms who have undergraduate programs or will take on undergrads in the summer? Any other ideas on how I can try to be strategic in my search?
GPA is probably too low and there's really little chance of boosting it much in 3 semesters. Networking would be a stretch too unless the contact is your immediate relative. If you are an alum, would you push the resume of a 2.x kid?
My suggestion would be to forget about the job market and boost your GPA, but since you are a junior, it might be rather late to do that. You probably chose the wrong major and missed out on your education.
If you raise it to exactly 3.0 or 2.95 so you could round, you should be in a lot better shape to grab an internship. Not showing your GPA on your resume is definitely a killer. I hope you participated in a lot of EC's and played a sport.
Yea... honestly you are going to have a rough go of it. 2.xx is just too low. Even if you get it up to a 3.0, you are competing against your fellow UPenn kids who are "majoring IN wharton" but have a 3.8. But good luck with everything...
NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com
[quote=Convenience Software]Yea... honestly you are going to have a rough go of it. 2.xx is just too low. Even if you get it up to a 3.0, you are competing against your fellow UPenn kids who are "majoring IN wharton" but have a 3.8. But good luck with everything...
NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com[/quote]
people with 3.8's are typically not applying to the lesser known firms
Wow dipset and chanky sweet advice! Next time try answering the question instead of re-iterating what the OP already knows. To the OP: I am in a similar position as you albeit not looking at consulting. What I am doing is just mass dropping during OCR but also contacting local boutiques back home. Many of them are willing to listen or take a look especially if you come from a top school like yourself (yes, I also go to your school) especially if they normally do not get applicants from those places. I would suggest looking in the Washington, DC area as well because consulting is a big deal down there. In this job market it is easy to get your head down but persistence is key and if you look long and hard enough I am sure you will have a shot at something.
GoodLuck!
Saidso,
I understand that the GPA does not look good but to solely attribute it to lack of focus and time management is ridiculous. I am a prime example of that: both my mother and father were ill my first two years of college and I was forced to go back and forth between home and school to care for them. They are doing much better and since then I have pulled a 3.6 in the last 2 semesters of classes. Just saying you never know the reason why a persons GPA is low and sometimes it is a mistake to start assuming.
I'm in a similar position (3.0 basically) at a similar school and from my experience you have a couple of options:
1) Network like crazy 2) Take jobs at smaller firms that will give you big responsibility 3) Load your Resume with EC relevant to what you want to do 4) Get your grades up
This time last year I was able to network my way to ~6 interviews at some pretty good firms and it was because I had some other internships on my resume that showed that while I didn't have the best GPA in the world, I could still perform at a high level, and that I did a lot of stuff on campus. What I did was I went to career services and pulled up as many top people at mid-tier firms off the alumni network and shot them an e-mail. They'll be more than willing to help you out.
You might have to take a FT job that isn't great, but that will still give you experience - the key at that point is to try to be the big fish in the small pond if you will, so that you can jump into the bigger pond with all the other big fishes. In other words, you'll be fine in the long run if you keep doing whatever it is that got you to Penn in the first place. I did an internship at ML Ops, and I spoke with one of the MDs in S&T who is an alum of my school and he graduated with a 2.4 and dropped out of Rutgers Law and he ended up being a MD at 35. His main point was that things will suck for 3-5 years, but if you work hard enough maintain the right connections and then right the ship in business school, you'll be fine.
Tenetur deserunt qui nam vel voluptas et excepturi. Distinctio adipisci labore nesciunt tempora. Numquam autem id officia odio quasi voluptatum sequi non. Eum corrupti molestias quae laboriosam laborum facere qui.
Sed tempore dolorem laborum dolore voluptas autem. Omnis beatae illo rerum rem.
Nobis vero necessitatibus minus magni delectus eaque quo. Expedita dolores ducimus ipsum dignissimos in.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...