Hi there,
They will affect your CV review but won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker.
Different companies/offices also judge in different ways grades. Few years ago McKinsey Milan was really strict on grades, while BCG and Bain were more open.
There are three main things you need to be invited for interviews:
- A great CV
- A great Cover (not required for some offices/companies)
- A referral – the more senior the person the better
For the CV, you can work on the following to compensate for the low GPA:
- Internships/work experience in relevant companies (other consulting firms, IB, strategy roles in big brands, entrepreneurial initiatives)
- Volunteer/leadership experience
- University achievements: top GPA for your master, exchange program, university clubs
Definitely underline your GMAT as 750 is a great score.
For the Cover, you can structure it in 4 parts:
- Introduction, mentioning the position you are interested in and a specific element you find attractive for that company
- Why you are qualified for the job, where you can report 3 skills/stories from your CV, ideally related to leadership, impact, drive and teamwork
- Why you are interested in that particular firm, with additional 1-2 specific reasons
- Final remarks, mentioning again your interest and contacts
In part 2 – the one you are referring to – you can write about experiences that show skills useful in consulting such as drive, problem-solving, leadership, teamwork and convincing others.
It is important that in part 3 you make your cover specific to a particular firm – the rule of thumb is, can you send the exact same cover to another consulting company if you change the name? If that’s the case, your cover is too generic.
For referrals, you can find a step-by-step approach at the following link:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176
Best,
Francesco