Graduated college with a horrible GPA as a biology major. What would be the best I could realistically make of my situation?
I've posted this thread before on this section of WSO but feel that the purpose was not clear enough at the time. This will be my last thread on this section of WSO and I am practically posting it because I am at a stage of my life where I am trying to decide whether it is even worth it to try and go into finance.
I am asking here because this is the most active section of WSO so I have a better chance of running into more posters on this part of the site in general.
So long story short, with a mixture of things like family pressure to go into Biology and the sciences as well as a lot of things I was going through from the ages of 18-22, I finished college with a GPA of 2.1 as a Biology major due to bad grades in some difficult upper level science classes. The truth is that I just hated the major and was very uninformed about what could come of it, just wanted to get through with it so I could graduate college and find work. I won't focus too much on the past anyways.
I did some soul searching for the past year and found that my interests are along the lines of finance, banking, and consulting. Back when I was in high school, this was the kind of stuff that peaked my interest. I loved my economics classes in high school and all of the finance related classes I took in college I aced. Now I am well aware that I will never get a job at places like Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan. I am also well aware that the traditional banking role is well out of the question.
I've been working as a lab tech for 2 years of after college and quite frankly I hate it.
I am 25 years old and am at a point right now to where I need to decide where the effort I put forth for the rest of my 20s will be worth it.
My problem is this, I have absolutely NO IDEA what fields in finance my horrendous undergrad performance has shut me out of for the rest of my life or made it so even doing well from this point on will make it impossible to get into that field. I know that I will never ever work at JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs and neither will I work at the best consulting firms that check your high school SAT scores.
Now realistically speaking, assuming whatever you recommend for me whether it is acing the GMAT or doing well in whatever Masters in finance program I can get into, what is the best I would be able to make out of my situation?
I guess a better way to phrase this question is, even if I do amazing from here on out, what is my ceiling going to be like?
What is the best I can make out of my situation if I go down this path of wanting to work in banking or just finance in general?
Also guys, PLEASE DON'T HOLD BACK, be as candid as you can be. If it is just not wise for me to bother with finance at this point, let me know so I can move to a path of finding something else.
You absolutely in some way, shape, or form need to rebrand yourself. Your past will not allow you to get any looks. Ace your GMAT and try to get into the best school possible. After that you may need to try and find some internships or do some shadowing...really anything. If you prove yourself and show people you will bust your ass then you can get something.
There is no ceiling on how well you can do but you have to be ALL IN. If you are not fully committed then save yourself the time, stress, and most importantly money. However, if you think this is something you want then go for it.
If you absolutely crush the GMAT, Bschool, Networking, Everything... you can make the best out of any situation.
Good luck.
" I am at a stage of my life where I am trying to decide whether it is even worth it to try and go into finance."
"I am 25 years old and am at a point right now to where I need to decide where the effort I put forth for the rest of my 20s will be worth it."
You want honest advice? Don't waste your time. If you're questioning whether the effort will be worth it before you even start the hustle, you don't have what it takes to make it. I presume you also weren't sure if "college was worth it" on your way to a 2.1 GPA? Wake up and take some accountability for your life kid.
Ok this is me on another rant that'll probably result in me getting mouth hemorrhoids or pelted in shit, but I will give it to you straight
You didn't try hard in college. You spent the past 7 years doing God knows what, including a year of "soul searching" whatever that means. Guess what? Your 25-year-old peers who currently fill the roles you want have no souls. They lost them around the tender age of 20, 23 tops. I get that you have had an epiphany and are now willing to work hard to rectify your career trajectory, but those motherfuckers have been slaving away since their sophomore/ junior year summers (or frosh years for the real gunners--seriously, you dorks, go out and have some fun ffs). You have been living a relatively chill life but now you are having a quarter life crisis. You have probably had some fun in these past "horrible" years--traveled, dated, blacked out on the weekends. You probably look your age.
The thing is, you are asking how you can get up to speed and break into industries that are being eyed by children as young as 11 (Exhibit A - every prepubescent retard-originated topic on this site). Yes, you can attempt for the GMAT or an MF or the CFA or some online certificate from Harvard Extension, but just be realistic of what those efforts may reap.
I don't know your situation but I know a lot of people who are facing similar crises now that we're getting to that age where our early investments are finally yielding professional returns. Those of us who never got to go to Ultra or yacht week or take selfies in third world nations or partake in stupid millenial bullshit have somehow been illustrated as the victors in this "unfair" game of life, as if we hadn't been working ungodly hours and dealing with office politics and mental abuse these past couple of years.
Your post is focused on how everything screwed you over (pressure to be a bio major, etc.) and not how you screwed yourself. Well I was a bioengineering major too and only took like 2 Econ classes in college (not even finance-related OMG the nerve of me). But I somehow finagled a finance job straight out (so unfair), as did many other physics, Chem, and even fucking philosophy and history majors.
Also, that bit about "interest in finance and econ" is bullshit because if you really did mean that, you'd go an be an accountant. Be real. You have an interest in money and prestige.
Effort and drive and humility usually do not go unnoticed or un-rewarded. You are 5 years behind those your age, so just keep in mind the amount of dedication that will need to be put in to whatever path you decide. Don't have a "woe is me" attitude though because no one will be sympathetic.
Good luck
Love the god damn intensity.
Right now this right here is focus of my thread.
God damn that was a powerful post ^
You received a terrible GPA because you "didn't like the major" and now you want to go in to finance... But you haven't done any banking/finance/consulting work.. So what makes you think you will perform well in those roles if you do not even know if you will enjoy it? What if you "don't like the work" like you "didn't like your major"?
Many people - especially on this site - glamorize finance, but in reality its just a job like any other job. You show up to work for someone else in exchange for a paycheck.
You need to find what you really enjoy, then do what it takes to carve out a happy/successful life. That doesn't necessarily start with the CFA/MBA, it starts with getting motivated, becoming a professional, finding your field, establishing connections, getting experience etc.
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