Can low ugrad GPA still be a handicap in the final round?

Hi there,

1) Though it is the final round, I wonder if that can still act as a factor against me, particularly without super substantial work experience

In theory you passed the screening already and you should be evaluated only on the interview performance itself.

If the interviewer is aware of a low GPA, this might have an impact on the interviewer's perception (some companies started to have CV-blind interviews for this reason). In any case I would not worry about it as this is not under your control.

2) If asked about it, what do I say, as I am not too far removed from it?

It depends on what is the reason of the low GPA. In general I would recommend to be honest and ideally show how you learned from that experience. You can say that you have some struggles during undergrad but managed to find your path and do better as a grad student (assuming your GPA was better there) and learned xyz from that.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

No, the GPA doesn't matter at this point. 

Basically, once you get to the interview stage, you are assessed for your interview performance. Not much else. Your CV and cover letter are a conversation starter at that point, not part of the effective assessment. 

So don't worry about it. Just make sure that you are as good as you can be in the actual interview.

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

Well done getting around the bad GPA to get an interview!

Don't worry, if you have passed the 1st round then you are safe.

GPA matters for the application but not the interview. The interviewer won't have any idea and has no reason to ask/wonder.

Good luck in the final round!

Hi,

If you have already made it to the final round, then my take on this is that no, it will not be a handicap. 

The CV/resume is a way for you to get your foot into the door. Once the foot is in, its all about the actual performance during the interview itself.

To flip your scenario to highlight this perspective - assume someone has bombed the case and did really terribly, in this instance even a perfect GPA would not save the person from getting a reject.

If you are still worried about being asked about this, I would spend a little time to prepare a good story:

• What were you focused on (ideally something positive) that did not allow you do spend more time getting a higher GPA
• What lessons did you learn from struggling in undergrad and how did that change once you were in grad school
• You could also emphasize that actually your goal all along was to get to an elite graduate institute, and although yes you did not do as well in undergrad, you made up for it by XYZ and achieved your goal

Hello,

I don't think it will be a handicap - GPA would factor in at the initial resume review, but once you're through to the interview rounds then it's really much more about your interview performance. If it's been some time since you graduated, it will matter even less. In any case, there's nothing you can do to change your GPA, so do your best not to worry about it and give a strong performance at the interview. If you graduated recently, I would prepare a good answer for why your GPA was low, just in case (e.g., are there mitigating circumstances you think are relevant? were you working part-time? etc.). 

Hi there,

by having been invited to the interviews, you have already passed the stage where GPA matters. It also sounds like you have also already passed some of these interviews. Your CV is considered to decide if you are “worthy” to get interviewed. Once you do the interviews, it is how you perform there that matters.

Best of luck