How can I get into high finance careers (IB, Private Equity, etc.) or am I just delusional for thinking that I have a chance??
I am about to be a junior and my GPA is currently 2.7. I had a rough start and I had heavy depression and sadness tbh through my first two years. I was in college thinking a lot about my major and I was undecided with what I wanted to do but I recently decided that I was interested in law school or high finance. My current major is in Business and I am interested in knowing if I have a chance. I also have about 5 W grades so I had to withdraw from 5 classes due to some personal issues and mistakes. If I calculated the highest GPA that I can get by graduation, it will be around 3.3. My old college GPA is 2.6 but I transferred colleges and the GPA reset I also have a chance to get a high institutional GPA of 3.6-3.7 at my current college if I get straight A grades from now on. However, my combined GPA from the two colleges that I attended is going to be less than 3.7+. Is it possible for me to get accepted anywhere? What should I do to stand out?? I had to withdraw from Calculus 1 twice due to bad professors but I am thinking about trying to pass all of the prerequisites and to succeed. I am mostly scared about the W grades, which will hinder me a lot in applying to anywhere. Is it a chance to get in or am I just wasting my time?
Edit : I don't go to a target school and I understand very well that this could possibly take a lot of hard work and effort but I am willing to bust my ass to make the connections and the right steps. I am not talking about immediately after undergraduate but I am also talking about maybe a couple of years down the road and some time to get into a top master degree or MBA if possible. What can I try to do?
-Firstly understand high finance (especially IB and PE) out of undergrad is the most competitive industry on the market, it's hard for even 4.0s at Harvard to break in if they have no other hooks
-You still have a lot of opportunity though and I wouldn't fixate on a particular entry job, you can start with something like corp fin or a corporate job, get an MBA, etc, and break in to PE or IB as an associate
-Don't stress about the "Ws" too much, a lot of places won't even check your transcripts
-Getting good grades at your new school will definitely help and you can consider ways to represent your GPA best on your resume
-If you have any 'hooks', aka you are diversity or have connections to certain firms, use them and will make the process 10x easier for you
-Network, network, network!
-Also, remember IB and PE are some of the most stressful jobs on the planet and not necessarily conducive to good mental health
Good luck!
so I am thinking about getting into a good job but my combined GPA most likely is going to be less than 3.5. What can I do to increase my competitiveness and get somewhere decent in finance??
It’s not hard to get a banking job from a top target. There are alumni at every reputable firm and every firm will recruit from the school.
I go to a non-target school, not a target. What can I do after college to get into high finance roles??
Don’t go to law school. It really sucks, the profession sucks even more than law school. Even with a bad gpa you don’t fix from a non target, there’s so many better things you can do with your life.
so what other decent jobs can I do to get decent money? I am talking about $60k-$90k per year white collar jobs
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