Do employers care about gpa?

What if I have a pretty crappy gpa, but got an internship at Merril Lynch this summer anyway and it's below a 2.5. It's a 2.1 I still got a year left and hope to pull it up as much as I can, but I really want to go into investment banking. Do you think this internship will help me make my chances better?

I've been a hiring manager (in accounting not investment banking) for years, and we were generally looking for people right out of school. I'd tell you that your internship and experience you picked up there are extremely important. For one thing, you've already gotten your feet in the water in the business environment.. plus they can call the folks at Merrill that you worked with and ask about you.

On the other hand, 2.1 is *quite* low. If I got a copy of your transcript (and I would, you can be sure) and saw all C's with a scattered in B and a scattered in D... I'd wonder if you had adequate foundation and understanding to do the work.

Chances are they don't care about your GPA if you already got the internship.

Good luck with your new career!

I have been told that they do. For example if they have 2 candidates with the same level of experience and education they may select the best GPA for the position. Otherwise I don't think so.

GPA is a huge thing. Some good companies don't even bother to look at resumes under a 3.0. Your intership is good, but when I see a 2.1 and an intership at a prestigious company such as Merril it makes me think that your parents work there and got you that job so that you are not slacking off during the summer. The only reason I would give you an interview is if I had a extra spot open and was very curious on what you did at Merril. Otherwise, a 2.1 really shows me that you do not have the ability / not willing to learn new things and the real world is a whole new ball park where big companies need to know you have the ability to learn new things.