Struggling Undergrad striving to have a meaningful summer

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Hey guys, I attend an ivy league school and I have honestly just struggled especially my Junior year. I currently have a lackluster GPA of 3.1 and I know this is going to hurt me post-grad so I plan to prepare myself this summer for my future. I am currently a finance major, I thankfully obtained an internship at a corporate bank for the summer (asset management), but I am not sure which path I want to take in the business realm as I was originally a Premed my first two years.</p>

<p>I have a few questions
1) Any good books that you guys recommend? I am not very business-savvy and would like to educate myself - ones that not only would be interesting,must read books, but would also aid me in future interviews, communicating with the leaders of business, overall knowledge of the business world</p>

<p>2) Should I prepare for GMATs now? Best resources for this? I am a far better standardized test taker (2290 on SAT)
compared to school exams... Are GMATs and SATs alike at all in the preparation phase?</p>

<p>3) With good activities/work experience/recs, but a low GPA (and not many rigourous courses) how are my chances with obtaining a job immediately after graduation? at this point, I do not even expect to receive an offer from a top firm. I am just extremely distraught at the notion that I will be unemployed. I would not like to work minimum wage, but will I be competitive for middle, decent firms even with a low GPA?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help </p>

2

<p>No real books to recommend, but I can say that if I were you, I wouldn’t think about business school until you have a couple of years of experience in the work force.</p>

<p>The fact that you have an internship makes your path to full time employment much smoother. Work with career services at your school to clean up your resume, and make sure to start looking for full time jobs as soon as you go back in late August/early September. If you’re looking in finance, recruitment starts when the semester starts, and the best jobs are filled by Thanksgiving, usually.</p>

<p>Realistically, with a 3.1, you probably aren’t going to get a look at the top tier companies, but the top tier is not the only path to success. I graduated with a 3.12 and no internships under my belt, but I had gotten a job offer after six months of intense job hunting. You can do it as long as you are willing to put in the work.</p>