Patrick Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Marks vs. Quantitative Skills: A Student Perspective Question: Is it better for me to do easier subjects which will improve my 'GPA' - Vs. - Doing harder subjects that are more quantitative and mathematical? I am a final year business school student majoring in economics, wanting to move into management consulting. What is the lifetime benefit of my GPA when applying for Short term: Internships, Graduate Roles, to then further down the track 10+ years. I like a challenge and feel that doing the harder subjects, improves my quantitative and analytical skills. And therefore better prepare me for management consulting, or a career in banking. What are your thoughts? Marks vs. Quantitative Skills: A Student Perspective Question: Is it better for me to do easier subjects which will improve my 'GPA' - Vs. - Doing harder subjects that are more quantitative and mathematical? I am a final year business school student majoring in economics, wanting to move into management consulting. What is the lifetime benefit of my GPA when applying for Short term: Internships, Graduate Roles, to then further down the track 10+ years. I like a challenge and feel that doing the harder subjects, improves my quantitative and analytical skills. And therefore better prepare me for management consulting, or a career in banking. What are your thoughts? Marks vs. Quantitative Skills: A Student Perspective Question: Is it better for me to do easier subjects which will improve my 'GPA' - Vs. - Doing harder subjects that are more quantitative and mathematical? I am a final year business school student majoring in economics, wanting to move into management consulting. What is the lifetime benefit of my GPA when applying for Short term: Internships, Graduate Roles, to then further down the track 10+ years. I like a challenge and feel that doing the harder subjects, improves my quantitative and analytical skills. And therefore better prepare me for management consulting, or a career in banking. What are your thoughts? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Spencer Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Patrick, Apologies for the delayed response (your post was for some reason scheduled for moderation). This is a great question, and it really helps to highlight the perverse incentives that the education system can impose on students. The education system tends to push clever students to challenge themselves academically, but this may not turn out to be useful for career purposes. Out of interest, what are the harder subjects that you are considering? Are they relevant for jobs like banking and consulting? I agree with you that harder subjects can provide you with more opportunities to challenge yourself and enhance your intellectual skills, but you also need to keep your goals in mind. Three (3) points to consider: 1. Relevance of the content - Are the courses directly relevant for consulting/banking? That is, do they provide practical information that would allow you to be more effective at producing value for your boss and the client on day one? They probably don't. It's worth noting that 80% of the content you learn in class will never be directly used once you enter the workforce. 2. Demonstrating success - Unfortunately, you will not get rewarded for "challenging yourself". You will get rewarded for demonstrating success. If you are a high achiever, then I appreciate that this can be hard to come to terms with because your natural inclination will be to want to push yourself to see how much you can achieve. What you need to appreciate is that consulting firms (like your future clients) only really care about outcomes, and they don't really care that you picked difficult subjects. If you feel you can excel in the hard subjects, by all means take them. For bright students, easy subjects can sometimes become boring, and so harder to focus on and do well in. 3. Long term impact - In the short run, you want to get job offers and high marks can help you land interviews. In the long run, your marks may or may not matter. There is every chance that you may want to pursue further education (e.g. masters, MBA or PhD). For Masters and PhD programs your undergraduate marks (and subjects) are likely to be relevant. For MBA programs your work experience, work references and GMAT scores will carry most of the weight. Does this help? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally McKenzie Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Hi Patrick! Welcome to the community! Marks are important, in the sense that the HR people at a consulting firm will use marks as a way to filter applications. Don't forget though that consulting firms are looking for signs of success. This is not limited to academic success, and can also include sporting achievements, leadership of community groups, or other noteworthy achievements. Which consulting firms are you thinking of applying to? Best wishes, Sally 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted August 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hello Tom, Once again I truly appreciate the excellent counsel obtained by consulting TomSpencer. The community of likeminded people who can ask questions and obtain constructive, thought provocative and quality advice is something of great value to participants, myself included. I was in a spot bother when I was doing the subject Industrial Organization (Textbook: Carlton and Perloff's Modern Industrial Organization). It seems really interesting and a challenging subject as an economics student. The lecture slides, content and structure were analogous to that which you find here by Matthew Shum from Caltech. The lecturer clearly stated to the students and then he confirmed it to me when I consulted with him, as well as the tutor that the subject isn’t for students who want to improve their GPA/marks. I could see that the subject required much time to be dedicated to it, something which is slim given I also work part-time. I felt I wouldn’t do it justice if I did it half asked. Goals In Mind: This point is a good one, and has lead me to really think further about career aspirations (tomorrow) and the study, work and life balance I currently face. I have been at the point for a while now, where I am too busy and have been finding that the fatigue and stress impedes my ability to make steps toward securing a career post university. I think taking a step back might in fact allow me to take two steps forward, in achieving my goals. The 80% stat puts things into perspective and the outcomes focus when firms hire makes sense. Thank you very much Tom, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted August 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hi Sally, Thank you for the insight. I'll keep that in mind and make sure I present that in my cover letter, resume, LinkedIn profile as best I can. I am in the process of applying for vactioner roles (summer internship) at Deloitte and KPMG. Regards, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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