<p>I'm a recent B.A. economics major from a well-known (top 50) public school. I have a low cumulative GPA (2.9), but I was able to earn a 3.9 GPA for my last two semesters. I am also graduating a couple years late because of some problems at home that forced me to take a leave of absence. My life has been really screwed up over the past few years.</p>
<p>I decided not to participate in on-campus recruiting last fall because I really needed to improve my GPA. I've participated in student organizations and worked as a server in a restaurant, but I do not have any relevant internship or work experience.</p>
<p>My question is, am I really screwed in terms of finding a decent job? I've always wanted to work in finance (and maybe accounting), but I've really messed up my GPA.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice? What kind of jobs should I be looking for at this point? Should I be looking for paid/unpaid internships instead?</p>
<p>Shoot for some low ranking masters programs. You will have a shot depending on some of your other stats (masters programs, etc) and then you can go from there. It’s probably too late to do this, however I would recommend you stay another semester to a year for undergrad, even take some summer classes. Try to get your GPA above a 3.0 and take some Quantitative classes to improve your chances at masters programs.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to do this, network your heart out to land a full time job somewhere.</p>
<p>Consider Econ PhD programs.</p>
<p>PM me if you want a forum link catered to Econ PhD’s who can help you out hopefully.</p>
<p>However answer this first: What are your interests and what kind of careers would you be most interested in?</p>
<p>I would try to get valid work experience, even by an unpaid internship, before heading to a low ranked graduate program. Last thing I would want is a low GPA and a master’s degree that meaningful employers consider mediocre. For some reason, I want to say apply for some municipal positions…</p>
<p>Yes find some work experience… Cold call if you have to to relevant local firms, etc. You have plenty of time from now till application time (if you choose to do the grad school route)</p>