UVa Graduate Interested in IB
Hey everyone! I recently graduated from the University of Virginia as a Computer Science major but I am interested in pursuing a career in investment banking and am seeking advice with my current situation.
Since high school I've been a bit all over the place figuring out what to pursue in life. I've spent many hours volunteering at Walter Reed and Veteran's Hospitals because I was interested in healthcare during high school and then switched to technology (my parents wanted me to pursue this route) and interned at software and cybersecurity firms in college. However, working at these tech firms made me realize how unmotivated and little interest I have in this field. Even though these experiences are irrelevant to finance, I did manage to learn some useful skills applicable in a broader scope.
Academically, I've done poorly at UVa and will finish with a 2.3 GPA. I have no excuses for graduating with a low GPA. Even though I hated my major and did not study enough, I should've handled my classes with greater responsibility or switch majors at the right time.
I've always been drawn towards finance and math field and find the work done in investment banking very interesting. At the moment, my plan is to reach out to smaller finance firms in DC (I live in the DMV area) for a fall internship and apply for full-time finance positions in NYC once I have relevant experience. I also plan on applying for finance data analyst roles and hopefully transition to investment banking at some point.
I also plan to thoroughly cover Investment Banking, 2nd Edition by Joshua Rosenbaum, Joshua Pearl, Joseph R. Perella, Joshua Harris and understand the core principles behind investment banking.
With my current situation, I would greatly appreciate any advice to achieve my goal of breaking into investment banking.
Think you might need a masters to cover up that gpa. It’s going to be incredible difficult/impossible getting into any kind of finance with a 2.3. Finance is less forgiving about grades than CS.
I’ve explored pursuing a masters but with my GPA at UVA being low, the likelyhood of getting into any decent program is very small. I figured the best chance would be to work for a period (either intern at a small finance firm for relevant experience or work full time somewhere in fintech) with the hopes of going into IB later in the future. I’ve read that after 1-2 years from graduating, some larger firms don’t look into GPA anymore.
Thoughts on this and if there’s anything I should know?
You should consider a career in tech! Your EV in salary is much higher given that you are driven but don’t have a good GPA.
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