What Was Your Highschool GPA?

Mine was a .5 at first. YEP. I didn't do any work at all. I just went and talked to my friends and eventually got booted out. I then did an online independent school and raised it by A LOT. While I wish I could say it doesn't matter it affected my ability to get into top tier schools if ANY schools and I had to go the community college route. I have a great job I am thankful for now but if I had focused in the first place I could have skipped a lot of trouble in finding jobs as an adult.

Good question!

Graduating from high school this week with a 4.39. Theoretically it should be correlated with success. High HS GPA -> prestigious school -> successful job, but in reality, it's probably a case of correlation not causation. Yes, people with higher HS GPAs tend to be more successful, but that's not to say someone with a lower GPA can't make it, because they can, often do, and would probably (at least in IB) end up being more sociable and make a better MD. The guy with the higher GPA is probably better at analyst work, and the guy with the lower is probably better at higher up positions (although there are exceptions to this). Thing is, you need a decent GPA to break in in the first place (3.5+ ideally, but that's college). So, on average, if you measure success in IB by making and being a good MD, statistically they were probably an analyst at one point by getting a decent college GPA and going to a target/semi-target school which they got into with a decent HS GPA. Someone going to a non-target would probably have to have a higher college GPA to enter, but definitely could have had a lower HS GPA. That said, there are many exceptions. Many people don't do well in HS and turn it all around in college. All GPA is is an indicator of how hard you can work/last doing that, but that's only academically, and even then it's limited, and does not necessarily apply 1:1 career-wise. Unfortunately, banks and colleges need some metric on which to compare numerous applicants, and it just so happens that GPA is a universal one that's become the de-facto. Note that a bad GPA can be salvaged by a good essay (for college) or a good internship (for IB). The higher the better, obviously, but there are many dimensions to winning jobs and college applications. Yes, if you do well in HS you'll probably do well in college. But again, you could always improve from HS to college or even get lazier from HS to college. There are many exceptions.

HS: 3.3 college: 3.4

I think a 3.3 in HS and pretty similar in college. I made the mistake in HS of just being incredibly lazy. I was on/off lazy in college. I would either end a semester with a 2.7 or 4.0, not a lot of middle ground. I’d either not study at all or study day and night.

Looking back it would have been nice to have worked hard throughout the duration of both high school and college beyond job purposes. I think in most cases your work ethic follows you throughout life. It took me a while to realize that.

Highschool ~ 2.6 college ~ 2.5.

It definitely matters initially getting looks and actual offers. Additionally my network isn’t the best from school- good deal of my good college friends (great guys) are now managers at PE backed portfolio companies . . . Sycamore Partners and Roark companies.

HS: 2.7 College: 3.7

I didn't care much for school until I got a wake-up call during my first year in college.

HS: 4.0 College: 3.95 (Three undergrad degrees at same time)

I have never had a problem with learning. I prefer learning things on my own and feel that class/formal education is a waste of time. There is no stimulation of thought, only memorization and repetition without analysis or critical thinking.

I’ve always had potential to do extremely well in school (went to a fairly bad public school) but never cared. I had 3.7 I think, teachers gave me good grades because my sister was a 4.0. I don’t regret not trying enough to get a good gpa but I didn’t care about my ACT and got a 24. Little did I know that it follows you. If anyone is in high school get at least 95th percentile or it could hurt you.

College GPA: 3.83 - non-target

HS (Prep School): 3.91

College (Target): 3.65

I put as much effort into studies during college as I did in high school, but I had a lot more extracurriculars and side jobs going on than I did in high school that contributed to the slight decline. No regrets though as what StrictlyMonkeyBusiness said holds true about your fellow students. I don't think a good high school GPA is necessary for success in the industry, but I think it can be a good indicator of someone headed on the right track.

Sub 3.0 in HS, graduated near a 4.0 in college. Yet for some reason, the HS GPA will follow me more than my college GPA.

2.67 in HS, like yourself I had a lot of potential but was lazy and didn't ever do any homework. Would barely study but still managed to pass all my tests with little problems.. somehow.

College GPA now: 3.7

Graduated from high school with a 2.987. Spent 2 years at a non target and then transferred to better school. Just graduated college with a 3.5.

Kind of funny seeing how little my high school performance ultimately affected me as my parents were certain I was going to be a huge bum.

3.6 Highschool - Ethnic parents drilled me hard to succeed a lot so I did 2.0 First year of college - Did engineering, didn't care, got C's in everything and failed an orientation course for skipping too much 3.1 Now - Switched majors, been getting better grades and tryna break into consulting or something sexy like that

studying at my school was rather easy so I usually had A grade

I had a 2.3 in HS. It really should have been lower than that, but by junior year, I was an indispensable player on my school's football team, so teachers gave me As and Bs based on doing no homework and openly asking them or better students for answers on tests. I legitimately don't recall ever doing homework during HS. Graduated college with a 3.97.

Although HS was the most fun time of my life, it probably would've paid to have worked hard on academics back then. Ended up doing two years at a shitty construction job then two years at a shitty JUCO before getting to an actual college because I fucked around so much in HS.

HS: 3.4 College (semi-target): 3.9 EB: Top bucket

Remember kids its never too late to start trying