<p>Hello,
I am a junior majoring in economics and international studies at a top 13 school and I have a 2.88 GPA (i had gotten ridiculously sick last semester and got 2 Ds...before then I had never even gotten a C).
I am retaking the D classes but as of right now, my GPA is where it stands. </p>
<p>I am looking for internships in the area of finance, marketing, media, strategy consulting---i am pretty open to any opportunity at this point. </p>
<p>do you guys have any suggestions at this point? what can i do?? do you suggest i even attempt to search for an internship with a 2.88? what can i dooo? </p>
<p>my school's career center is not helpful at all--its so sad. im sad</p>
<p>That kind of scenario should never have happened. You had other options besides getting D’s, including incompletes, extensions, and other accommodations. Did you talk to anyone in the school administration or an advisor while you were sick? Was the illness documented at health services? Was it an acute illness or do you have chronic issues that should be dealt with through the disabilities office?</p>
<p>Focus on retaking them if you can. You can volunteer in the meantime, in some area that you are interested in and can be of use.</p>
<p>telling me I coulda-shoulda-woulda done does not help me at all. it only depresses me.
i went through a period of regret throughout much of the summer so please dont tell me how things could have been different. thank you so much for your replies, however.
I had a depressive episode and a cold through finals. in this state, i really isolate myself. its not that easy to ask for help.</p>
<p>i am trying to move on from this. i just realized that it i get no more than 2 B’s this semester (with the current retake of the D) my GPA will be at a 3.1.
thats not half bad. my record literally shows straight As and Bs and then the most recent semester with two Ds. Some internships apps allow you to explain a lower GPA—hopefully they see the human side of these stats</p>
<p>See if your college/university offers an intern fair - many do. If not often other area universities do and they will allow you to attend. Take a well crafted resume, dress and act professional, be engaged and project interest. Your GPA may never come up and if it does explain briefly and to the point.
Employers recognize that most people have made mistakes or have extenuating circumstances. If you meet them and engage them your overall attitude and demeanor may trump any weakness.</p>
<p>Do you have other work experience? See if there are any on campus jobs that could give you useful experience where your GPA doesn’t matter. My son for example works/worked for the office that runs conferences and schedules speakers and arranges for summer housing. His GPA is complicated - 2.9999 apparently at the college, because they won’t count the 4.0 he had for his junior year abroad. Definitely something he has to explain for any job or interview that needs a 3.0 or better. Not every internship has a minimum GPA requirement.</p>
<p>^thank you all.
I also found out that my school has a grant given to students who volunteer or take on unpaid internships during the summer.
I’ll look for unpaid opportunities and hopefully this grant thing works out. </p>
<p>oh and I do have a higher GPA in my major. one of the D’s wasn’t even needed for my major so I can put ‘major GPA’ on my resume.</p>
<p>The reason we talked about incompletes and what not is that others may read this thread so we want to make sure they know other options for preventing the issue in the first place.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about this thread for the past day. While I completely agree with the idea to volunteer, I’m bothered by the idea to take Incompletes. How compassionate are colleges in this regard and what (additional) costs would there be to the student?</p>
<p>I took incompletes twice…one when I was in a car accident and once when I had pneumonia. It was toward the end of the semester so I finished up the not so tough classes and took an incomplete in the others, basically not taking the final at that point. So I of course discussed that with professors. At the beginning of the next semester when I as feeling better, I took the finals and finished those classes.</p>
<p>My kid had similar GPA and was able to land a paid summer research internship at a big company. His PI waived the GPA requirement because of the prestige of his college. The following summer he was able to get a paid research internship at his college. So don’t give up! </p>
<p>Couple suggestions. 1. Explore the connections you and your family have. 2. Plead your case to your college internship program office and tell them that since you’re a junior, this summer will be your last chance for a summer internship.</p>
<p>hi strongbeans – my daughter is a junior at a top 20 school and her GPA is lower than yours – she got an F freshman year and a D sophomore year and withdrew from a couple of classes, then finally sought out help end of sophomore year and learned she could take an incomplete and get registered with the office of disability services. But her GPA is shot. I wish she’d known she had options too.</p>
<p>It is what it is. Here are my suggestions as you search for an internship for this summer, which I know is an important time. In my experience the top finance jobs have a GPA hurdle and there is no getting around it – you either make the cut off or you don’t. Having said that, do you know anyone (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends) who are working in your target industry? Maybe they can open some doors for you.</p>
<p>Next step is internships without the strict GPA cutoff and/or jobs in the target industry but with smaller employers. A start up or smaller firm may be more flexible.</p>
<p>Last thought – do you have a long break coming up in Dec/Jan? If you live near your target city, I would check out temping. There is probably one firm that specializes in placing financial temps. I know you didn’t go to a top school to do temp work, but you’d be surprised at how it gives you work experience and exposure.</p>
<p>I’d second the recommendations to do some volunteer work. For example, if you want to do something marketing related, why not offer do social media for a nonprofit organization that doesn’t have anything set up. My daughter’s boyfriend was able to get a full-time job with a small marketing firm because he had social media experience. He had taken a sales job with a small, specialty food store while he was looking for a marketing job and he offered to do social media for the store owner. The owner, who was thrilled to have someone do it, even gave D’s boyfriend a small bonus.</p>