Does your GPA stay relevant past first round?
I just got a first round interview with BCG for internship with a 3.456 GPA at a target school (not even top 50% percentile in class rank). If you look at my transcript knowing anything about the school I go to, the 3.456 doesn't reflect an academic performance that has been pretty good; math + econ major, graduate coursework in economics and environmental science, and overloading every semester.
I feel confident that I have a pretty strong resume outside of my GPA. If they looked past it for the first round, is it going to continue to be an issue? What about for other firms?
First of all, congratulations on obtaining the interview.
It will only be an issue if you make it an issue. GPA is mainly used for the initial screening process, and it looks like you made it past that. I would focus more on nailing the cases than worrying about something you can't immediately change. Believe me, this comes from experience.
I don't know about the US, but I know that in several EU countries nobody gives a shit about your grades.
All what is important to them is that you have the right brand name on your CV so they can bill the client 2000$/day.
Consulting firms don't look for math whiz they look for people who can think and break down problems in a very structured manner, communicate well and show strong interpersonal skills.
Just work hard for your case studies and impress them.
Clearly you've taken some challenging coursework so that should somewhat negate your GPA. That said, GPA DOES matter after the initial screening process, albeit much less than before the resume drop. I've personally been in a situation where an interviewer told me that they had chosen to go with another candidate who, despite performing somewhat less impressive than myself during the interview, had a better GPA than myself. That may be an isolated experience, but I do believe interviewers do use GPA as one of a few "tiebreakers" in case of similar interview performance. Just my opinion, however.
Westside brings up a good point. If you are offered an interview with a sub-par GPA then they are not going to ding you for your GPA...but they will ding you if your explanation is not sufficient. If you worked 30+ hrs a week and founded a club or start-up and took difficult courses outside your major (which it seems you have), then your interviewer will be happy to know that have a hungry kid with interests and accomplishments outside of academics.
I will add a caveat that I think it's a little different for consulting (consulting internships are very difficult to land v. full-time). I don't know exactly how each firm in consulting views GPA, so I won't comment on each firm specifically. Good luck bro.
.
I have a 3.7 GPA in honours engineering from a target in Canada, and I haven't heard back from any firm here yet. So I think you'd be up against pretty tough competition in term of GPA. You should probably prepare a good reason why your GPA is average and pitch it to them upfront.
BCG interview with a ~3.5 is pretty impressive. You must have good work/ECs
not really
.
.
YES
Yeah it's a tiebreaker at the second round, but do your best it sounds like you have good stats otherwise. All it takes is one interviewer to start questioning your gpa, but you might get lucky
Et aspernatur ut recusandae illum dolores perferendis est. Odit perferendis omnis qui ullam sit. Dolores voluptas magnam enim dignissimos.
Quod praesentium est ipsa impedit doloremque mollitia voluptates quia. Quae non et exercitationem aliquid nesciunt cupiditate. Nisi eum omnis cumque omnis dolor.
Quasi molestias quas necessitatibus cum in enim est. Magnam id ut optio. Repellat blanditiis ut aut voluptatibus cum veniam eveniet ea.
Alias animi blanditiis molestiae et necessitatibus. Rerum assumenda minima repellat occaecati magni. Rerum sed inventore voluptas ut placeat quis sint blanditiis. Ea qui et labore fuga porro maiores. Dolores sunt suscipit eius ab.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...