I think we need to get a legit masters program on our cv, once you have that i think your undergrad will become mute

most of my interviews ive had for b school have easily brushed my GPA issue aside -- granted ive done things to mitigate and counter it as well -- but for the schools i dont get in it might have been a barrier :)

but i agree on the masters

2.5 GPA. 2 years of workex. Laid off 8 months ago and doing unpaid work right now. Interviewed at one of Ross/Darden/Duke. If I can do it so can you (as far as getting an interview goes). I think you don't need 4-5 years of experience to get into b-school. Point is past doesn't matter if you can explain it away.

If you think it's rough with shitty college creds, imagine going through it with no college at all. I had to work for free for most of my professional life and get paid 100% commission or on my P&L. You'd be amazed at how hesitant some people still are to hire you even though you can't cost them a penny and they'll only pay you if you make them money.

The flip side to that is that if you survive to my age and you rack up a CV like mine, you can look at HR and say, "Fuck you. I don't try out."

This is for Short and UFO:

With a terrible H.S record and a SAT score, I have managed to maintain a perfect GPA in my 3 semesters of college. I am trying to transfer to better colleges, and the most important factor will be how I write my "Why do you want to transfer to XYZ college?" question. Especially Short, how do you think I should address my H.S record in my essays and what kind of reasons should I give for wanting to transfer?

The MBA route would make undergrad obsolete, regardless of how long it's been IMO, and they wouldn't give a crap about where you went to undergrad.

I don't know if it's worth the effort or not as it's really an individual thing. I've seen people from weaker backgrounds make it ok up the ladder to exec level, but not often without having made a serious achievement or having gone for an MBA.

I disagree on moving up at your firm. It really does depend on the company. Some really care about your background depending on your industry. IB may be different, but in AM world, it really matters. They need to sell themselves to institutional investors and most want to see the top tier schools managing their funds. As dumb as it is, Duke will always trump Florida International for a client unless you have a proven track record. No disrespect to FIU as I simply picked a name out of the air.

I had a VP hiring manager at my last firm tell me to my face that I would never make PM there due to my background. Literally, said it just like that, and I went to a top 25 state school. They told me to look at the bios of the PMs and what their backgrounds were.

This is very true. The first place I worked out of college was staffed with all Ivy League pricks and they shit all over my resume constantly (top 10 state school). I'm not even sure why they hired me if they were just going to shit on me. Anyway, I got some experience, left for a hedge fund, and now have a higher position than any of them at a younger age. My ex boss went to HBS and just got fired from the firm and I currently have the same job he had, for more money, at a better firm. People can suck an egg if they think all that matters is where you went to school. My old firm was shit anyway. Forget 'em.

Do you even live in NYC???

I think this is pretty much the answer. Some people won't care after a few year's work experience, for others this will be a dealbreaker no matter what. Just depends on the person and their background.

Yeah, I do come across as jittery. I need to work on staying calm. Colleges don't offer interviews in the case of transfer admissions.

Had a discussion today with my boss, at an internship. It got all personal and without going into detail he basically said: the problems you had in the past don't matter, don't let them influence you in your day-to-day activities in the present and PERFORM.

That's easier said than done since the past has an influence on current behaviors. It makes it even more difficult when the problems in your past still (partially) exist.

What sorts of things besides great work experience and a high GMAT do admissions people look favorably on that might help to offset some of the negatives of having a low undergraduate GPA? I know you're just supposed to do something you're passionate about when it comes to extra curricular activities, but I'm curious what are some examples of things that have worked well for people or that grad schools tend to favor more than other activities.

This is what I was talking about. After you get your foot in the door - just build a track record and out perform everyone else around you. I went to state school and as an analyst worked with exclusively H/Y/P analysts and HBS/Wharton MBAs as associates. I was the top performer and no one cared where I went to school. There are some pricks out there that would bring this up, but if you are clearly better, people will usually not care where you went to school in the long run.

I don't know much about AM (and it probably depends where you are in AM), but I'm guessing that if your investment ideas are outperforming both the broader market and your peers that will mean a lot more to clients than where you went to school.

I have a question for folks who are involved in recruiting - could a high GMAT (or LSAT) score (700/170+ clearly stated on resume) offset a low GPA for an experienced (2-5 yrs) candidate?

Pre-MBA resume for general recruiting, not MBA apps.

Basically, you're a recuriter and you recieve a resume with a low GPA and 700+ GMAT. Would you chuck it anyway? Also, assume the candidate's experience is in-line with your expectations.

No one cares, until you try to do something different. Then you have to prove yourself again.

Goes for ugrad -> BB
BB -> buyside
buyside -> MBA
and then the MBA prestige takes over, but doesn't rear its ugly head again until you try to make the move from
VP -> Director/Principal/Partner, or
Buyside firm -> Starting your own HF (matters a lot here!! Institutional backers like pedigree)

RE Capital Markets,

After a couple of years of experience I wouldn't put my GPA on my resume. That's just me though. I know not having a masters/school branding has cost me jobs at several top firms as well a potential director level post. This is less important than it was when I only had 0-4 years experience, but is still valid today as I try for VP level posts at top firms. I can relate.

There is marketing value to a good degree/programme when looking for jobs and when dealing with new clients (to some extent)... having said that, if you have a great idea / deal, you should be able to sell that on its own merits.

bclan13, was the "background check / refs / transcript portion of interview period" after you had gotten a formal offer? Or did they conduct a background check before formally extending you one?

I have a great gpa at one school and a bad one (2.86) at another. I don't put either of them on my resume because I don't want to mislead anyone with the higher gpa nor get myself dinged right away because of the lower one. Not having my gpa's on my resume still gets me dinged. Got a boutique IB internship though.

It seems UFO and I are sort of polar opposites. I fucked around in High School, for various reasons. My Dad didn't go to college, so I wasn't encouraged to study (even though I'm Asian, lol). Subsequently, I got a 2.3 GPA in HS. As you would expect, I got into a dog-shit State University, and that too because of my very high SAT score. My Boutique IBD internship in my Freshman year was interesting. Every other kid was from a Target, and had never even heard of my school, lol. I decided to transfer out, but was forced to hear an ugly truth. Colleges want to see HS transcripts *even for a transfer*. It was pure hell, trying to reason my way out of a 2.3. But in the end, I managed to transfer to an Ivy. You hear a lot of bias against Ivy kids in this board, but (excluding a few assholes) they are pretty cool.

It's pretty surprising how long a single bad decision can haunt you.