HOW important is GPA?
I go to a large public semi-target and I’ve noticed a very wide gap between the banks that people from my school with a 3.9 end up at for SA gigs vs those with a 3.8, and and even larger rift between those people and the ones with a 3.7. I’m wondering if this is more of a correlation vs causation thing (people with 3.9 tend to have stronger profiles all around) or if some of the more competitive banks literally jsut throw out your resume if you have below a 3.8 or something. Some follow up questions related to this:
- I currently have a high 3.8 but after this semester (I’m a sophomore) it’ll probably go down to a mid 3.7. However, there’s a chance I can bring it back up next semester - what banks/types of banks usually recruit after May? Is this the majority or the minority?
- let’s say I go into recruiting with a 3.76. Would it benefit me to round up to one decimal place and just put 3.8 on my resume? Or will this look sketchy?
Sorry if this post comes off as redundant or nitpicky or whatever but I just wanna know how hard i should be kicking myself in the ass for not trying harder this sem. Insight from anyone who’s gone thru SA recruiting recently would be appreciated. Thanks!
GPA matters a lot in the sense that if you have a 3.1 you're probably not in good shape. You have a 3.76 so I would not worry about it all, I would also round it to 3.8.
3.69 HSW, going to great EB next year. I definitely got screened out at some places [where I didn't network enough] but you can network around it.
3.79 GPA here. Going to a top coverage group. Beat out many students from my school who had higher GPAs (~3.90+). I think after a cut-off point, it comes down to interviews and other parts of the resume. Then, GPA only comes into play if and when the candidates are really close and you are essentially nitpicking.
Did you consider just putting 3.8/4.0 on your resume? And if so why did you decide not to?
yeah, I put 3.80 on my resume because many of the applications online ask you to choose from (3.5,3.6,3.7, etc.) so 3.70 imo isn't a fair representation so I just put 3.80 in my resume for consistency as well.
Had a shit GPA and had to exclude it from my resume / explain why in almost all my interviews including SA roles and subsequent PE roles two years later. It's pretty much always considered for junior roles so it's always in your best interest to get the best you can
Had exactly a 3.0 and put it on my resume, will be doing IB at a BB.
Whoa how’d u overcome that? Are u from a top target and/or just network really well?
dad works at GS
Jk congrats on overcoming the gap
Actually curious, what did you say to explain that? Or did you have a higher up batting for you? Either way huge props
So it definitely was something I had to prepare to explain for on the superday. I have been in school longer than 4 years due to having different priorities, one of them being trying to start an online business which had some small success but was hard to scale to something I would find worth dropping everything over. So I took some extra semesters to get my grades up and try and find a path I would find rewarding enough, which happened to be IB in my case when I researched more about it. This was my final chance at IB as I had gotten dinged on the Hirevue's last year. On the superday, I had 3 different interviewers with only one of them asking that pivotal question "Why is your GPA a 3.0".
I had my story laid out and he asked me if I had regretted trying to start a business in sacrifice of my GPA which I answered no because I learned a lot of sales skills and having people I had never met before give me their money. He seemed to like my answer and I knew I was able to overcome that hurdle because of my confidence per say. The other interviewers didn't seem to care at all (they were directors) and we got along pretty well. Definitely not the optimal path to IB, but people need to get rid of the preconceived notion of a 4.0 or bust mentality, as fit more than anything can land you a job.
It matters but it’s not the end all be all. So just get a 3.7+ and no one will care
The way this was explained to me is that it does matter, but only to an extent. For my target school, for example, alumni who run recruiting usually look for people with a 3.5 or above. If the applicant pool is particularly strong, they sometimes use GPA as a way to knock some people out of contention and decrease the size of the pool (say, only strongly consider applications from students with > 3.65 or 3.7 unless there is an exception for a student). Once you've ticked the box, though, I don't think it tends to matter much beyond that- who gets the offer at the superday usually isn't determined by a marginal difference in GPA.
That being said-- does it make a small difference in terms of others' perceptions of you as a candidate? Imo, yes. If you have a really high GPA, it can function as a really effective signaling mechanism for your work ethic when you're being interviewed by senior bankers who didn't graduate from your alma mater. Heading into recruiting, I had a GPA that put me in the top 10% of students at my institution, and that was something that almost everyone that interviewed me commented on. To be fair, I also sacrificed my level of campus involvement to get that GPA, so I did occasionally have to explain why I chose to prioritize academics over other stuff that would have been more fun (rip lol). Conversely, having a below-average GPA relative to other competitive applicants (especially from a non-target school) will likely be something that people notice too. Certain schools which send a lot of people into IB have a significant amount of grade inflation. If senior people at a firm are used to looking at resumes of superday candidates and seeing kids from very prestigious schools with extremely high GPAs, they will notice if presented with someone from another institution with a GPA that is meaningfully lower, even if that person's GPA is very respectable for their given university.
Basically- if you're in the acceptable range, you're fine. Higher and it might help a little, lower and it might hurt a little. Don't worry about trying to be the perfect candidate. It's one of many factors, and things like personality, networking, showing appropriate enthusiasm for the firm/role, making meaningful connections, etc will ultimately be what gets you the offer.
Get above a 3.5 and then it doesn’t matter
Recruiting is like baking a cake. Relevant experience is like the cake ingredients, networking is the icing on top, and GPA is like the oven you'd bake the cake in. Ultimately, everyone loves the icing most of all, but you won't have any cake period without a working oven.
By that I mean, GPA is the most important thing of them all to a point, then least important of all past that. Your GPA is probably fine unless you go to a super duper non target like Panhandle State or something.
I had that exact GPA situation, and I was able to get multiple offers this past summer. Went to a target/semitarget public school (depends on bank). As long as you spend your spring doing a few calls a week, you should be fine. Only thing to watch out for is applications are often driven by resume experience. Make sure you have had some quality roles/jobs that you can speak to.
that makes me feel a lil better, did you round up to a 3.8?
I didn't but I probably should have
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