At McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, a candidate must have at least a 3.6 GPA to be considered for a job. However, lower GPAs don't necessarily mean that a person is disqualified; a resume with a 3- or 2-GPA can still make it to the next round if it shows outstanding achievements in other areas. The review process for both of these resumes is conducted by a team of 4 to 8 analysts, associates, and managers. In addition to the standard set of elements that resumes should have for the best consulting firms (a GPA of at least 3.5, a degree from a target school, high scores on standardized tests, etc.), other factors can also influence the standard (raising it above 3.6 or lowering it below).
These include your specialty, the school you attended (a Harvard graduate will have more leeway in terms of GPA than a Dartmouth student), your ethnicity, your work experience, etc. So how do recruiters from management consulting firms view your resume? And is it possible to get an interview with a GPA lower than 3.5? While this is possible, the rest of the resume must be excellent since 3.5 is a common limit and for competitive industries such as consulting, there will be many other candidates who meet this requirement.
