Hi Giulia, My marks are very average in terms of academics. What can I do to get an offer from McKinsey? I will be graduating in next session. I still have one year to go.
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Is it important to have good academics in order to start a career at MBB post to your Undergraduate degree?
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Hi Aniket,
in general, if you don’t have a strong GPA it is more difficult to be considered for interviews, unless compensated by strong achievements. However, there may be different criteria according to the company and country you are applying to. In Italy, for example, McKinsey tends to accept candidates with full mark at graduation only, while BCG and Bain are less strict.
If you don’t have a strong GPA, you can also compensate it with a referral, you can find some suggestions for that at the link below:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176
Best,
Francesco
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Hi,
In my personal experience, unfortunately it is.
Unless you have a stunning career after your degree for, I would say, 5+ years. But it has to be really brilliant.
A colleague of mine, Associate experience hire, 6+ years of work in Accenture, was considered for interview only because she had a strong recommendation from inside. However, the HR people turned up their noses for her undergraduate degree mark not being the maximum achievable, also when she had a master degree with the highest mark.
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Hi Aniket, either you wait and develop a huge expertise in a field (but we are talking about 10+ years) or, more in short-term, you find a strong internal referral that can “force” HR people to pass you in the CV screening. If you send your CV without the highest marks, the chances that you pass the CV screening are very very low, unfortunately
Hi,
As mentioned by other experts, grades have an important role and generally seen a hygiene factor. Just to give you an idea, most colleagues of mine at BCG had 3.70+ GPA score.
Nevertheless, if your GPA is a little lower than this, you may stand a chance if you have an outstanding professional (e.g. internship at a global consulting / IB company) or extra-curricular (e.g. exec role in a respected student society) experience.
Best,
Deniz
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