Why freshman GPA is ridiculously important

I know everyone says lots of factors impact your career but in my opinion freshman GPA is the most important. Here's why?

freshman GPA leads to your freshman internship
freshman internship, which was a direct result of freshman GPA, leads to sophomore internship, which leads to junior internship, which leads to FT

FT is a combination of GPA (includes freshman GPA), freshman internship (a result of frosh GPA), soph internship (a result of GPA, which includes freshman GPA, and freshman internship, which includes freshman GPA), ad infinitum.

consider that PE funds consider GPA twice (since they look at GPA and FT job which is based on GPA), and that B-schools consider it four times (GPA, BB which is based on GPA, PE which is based on GPA twice), and all of that stems from the freshman internship, which is from freshman GPA, it really is incredible how embedded it is in your future plans

 

Networking and connections are what really matters. GPA in general are important, but I wouldn't consider life being over because you don't have a 3.9 after your 1st year in college.

I am surprised baldness isn't on the rise with the level of stress kids nowaday have. Do well in school, meet people, help others and you will be fine. The kid with a 3.9 gpa tweaking out over everything isn't going to go over well.

 

Stop scaring these kids. I never had a finance related internship (had a 3.6 at a target), and actually did something cool by living and working in a 3rd world country my junior year. I worked in banking for 3 years at MM shop and currently work on the buyside at a well respected PE fund. Enjoy your youth while doing something interesting and worthwhile. Tools like this guy are a dime a dozen. Differentiate yourself.

 
IBD4PE:
Stop scaring these kids. I never had a finance related internship (had a 3.6 at a target), and actually did something cool by living and working in a 3rd world country my junior year. I worked in banking for 3 years at MM shop and currently work on the buyside at a well respected PE fund. Enjoy your youth while doing something interesting and worthwhile. Tools like this guy are a dime a dozen. Differentiate yourself.

OP is still in school so he was just asking a question.

I do agree with everything you say, get a solid GPA and then worry about becoming the best person you can be.

 
Best Response
AnthonyD1982:
IBD4PE:
Stop scaring these kids. I never had a finance related internship (had a 3.6 at a target), and actually did something cool by living and working in a 3rd world country my junior year. I worked in banking for 3 years at MM shop and currently work on the buyside at a well respected PE fund. Enjoy your youth while doing something interesting and worthwhile. Tools like this guy are a dime a dozen. Differentiate yourself.

OP is still in school so he was just asking a question.

I do agree with everything you say, get a solid GPA and then worry about becoming the best person you can be.

to take it a step further one thing people forget to think about is do you want to be the best person in your eyes or my eyes? I live my life the way I want to for me not anyone else

 
IBD4PE:
I think any person who sees a freshman/sophmore with worthwhile internship will attribute it to that persons connections rather than GPA
+1, one of my interviewers kept asking me about how I got an internship my frosh summer until I admitted it was mostly from personal connections.
 
pantherdb26:
IBD4PE:
I think any person who sees a freshman/sophmore with worthwhile internship will attribute it to that persons connections rather than GPA
+1, one of my interviewers kept asking me about how I got an internship my frosh summer until I admitted it was mostly from personal connections.

agree to this. my brother in law interned with us during winter break of freshman year and will be on a desk this summer as a freshman. he didnt even interview... i had to "co sign" for him but he was good to go. Use every connection you have

 

I would have to say that networking is just as important as your GPA freshman year, a software developer of a PE group isn't goingto not get the job because he had a c in freshman english, what matters most academically, besides where you attend and their career resources, is the transcript because your transcript shows your performance in classes that are the most relevant for the internship you are applying for. Just my two cents.

 

dude you need to chill out - i didn't even know what banking was when i was a freshmen and i taught middle school kids that summer, my GPA was 3.2 or something like that. I have to say that luck struck my way when time came for me to break into banking (and obviously i tried hard), just do the best you can while have fun in college, you don't even understand how much you would miss college after you enter the workforce

 

Seriously...if you spend the entire first year of college working towards getting a great GPA so you can work in an industry you, in all likelihood, don't even know for sure that you wanna work in you've wasted what could've been the best year of your life.

 

IMO, who your parents are is the most important, because it determines how smart and good-looking you are, which determines what your SAT score is and how much you got laid in HS, which, of course, inevitably determines whether you get GS TMT or MS M&A. God forbid such a travesty.

 

Excepturi officia aut et consequatur quia omnis. Ad quia ut sequi et. Minus pariatur nemo ad repellendus aut expedita. Dolor nostrum necessitatibus perspiciatis consequuntur.

Incidunt ex perspiciatis dignissimos sequi veniam. Maiores ea necessitatibus error maiores. Harum maiores ratione qui ut harum. Autem qui non aut dolor sint velit pariatur. Inventore aliquam dolor placeat sit saepe.

 

Atque ipsum dolorum quis ut dolor ea voluptas sequi. Voluptates ut excepturi aspernatur sed quia. Aut cum atque maiores non facilis non quae. Sunt et iure ut eum voluptatem accusantium suscipit soluta.

Quos ut sunt expedita exercitationem. Et voluptatem suscipit alias pariatur eos repellendus molestiae. Aut sint aut dolores tempore. Rem eius consequatur omnis qui omnis eos. Maiores et minima sit alias omnis quos. Illum odit voluptatem autem ipsam quia. Reprehenderit rerum amet enim commodi a molestiae dolore corporis.

Et aut labore assumenda optio dolores. Laborum in repellendus aut veritatis. Quis quidem facere enim exercitationem quisquam inventore.

Et corrupti et corporis quod laudantium molestias. Voluptatem rerum omnis non quia. Veniam optio iste nam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”