If you have a low GPA (under a 3.3), it will be an uphill battle getting into a front office Wall Street position. There are always exceptions, however. Don’t let anyone tell you it is impossible. The primary way to overcome a low GPA is to start building your network with alumni, friends, family and anyone else that may know someone in the industry or firm you are targeting. Remember, most of the career success in this world is determined by WHO you know. So go meet a lot of people and develop meaningful relationships with them. Use Linked religiously and try to network your way into strong internships during the year or at the very least during the summer during your undergraduate degree to make up for that weak GPA. There are some extenuating circumstances that could help you overcome a low GPA, but they will have to be explained to recruiters:
- Overwhelming Personal Circumstances: parent passed away, major surgery (brain surgery or open heart surgery), devastating illness (cancer)
- Started a business: This doesn’t mean you set up a website, worked on it for a month or two and then gave up. This means you worked hard for at least a year, experienced some level of success and can speak intelligently about what you learned and the mistakes you made.
- Internships: Good internship experience can help you overcome just about any shortfall in your resume when coupled with strong networking skills. Sorry, having a 2.5 GPA and a fall semester PWM internship won’t cut it for most careers in finance.
- Networking: If you treat this like your studies, it won’t help you. Plan on cold-emailing/calling 500-1,000 people. Minimum.
Don’t play with fire, do your best to get good grades in your classes. It’s not worth it to waste all that money to come out of school with a mediocre GPA that won’t get you started in the career you want.
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Relevant Discussions:
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- Best way to get around a low GPA?
- Low GPAs who successfully entered banking
- Low GPA, no “real” internships, no experience, seeking advice
- How low can I go?
Additional Resources:
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- Relevant WSO Guides: Networking Guide
- Relevant WSO Services: Wall Street Mentors and Career Coaching and Finance Resume Review
- Relevant WSO Forums: Getting A Job
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Category: Finance
