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What is the upper limit tolerated?
However things slip thorough the cracks at times but even found out it'll be a fiasco.
At the outset, let's get one thing cleared up: noone looks at your transcripts for corporate jobs — internship applications will include your CV & cover letter, and interview scheduling mostly happens through your PCC — so, as long as you get the degree in the end before joining, it's all fine.
Secondly, the important thing you need to understand is that your ranks and grades serve as a proxy to your skills and abilities for an HR personnel who is swamped with work. So if you want those to value less, you have to replace those with some really powerful achievements — and present those in a way that is easy enough for the HR to notice. I, for example, had significant mooting & research achievements — which may not have been enough for T1 HRs because they wouldn't have gone through my CV otherwise, but such achievements would probably be enough for one to get boutique & T2 internships. [If you still have trouble getting accepted in those, then try targetting & cold-mailing firms & partners that work on areas & issues related to your achievements. Of course, if you're lucky enough to have contacts, that will make this easier, but I've seen many of us get through without any contacts too — the achievements just have to be worth it.] So, I made sure to first intern with such firms run by ex-T1 people and get powerful references. Once you have those, you can then reach out to their friends, colleagues, and batchmates at T1s for internships, via a well-written short cover letter that highlights those achievements. Once they forward your application to the HR, the HR will now have to open the email and read those achievements, which would often lead to acceptances thereafter.
Thirdly, you'll also have to keep in mind that getting the internships is only the first step. At the internship, you may not be the most intelligent person, but you must visibly be the most hard working. This can be done through effective, meaningful, and well-rezearched communication. For example, your 'I'm available for work' mails should mention your key experience & knowledge relevant to the practice area and, if possible, the ongoing work. When you get the work, you should get clarity on what you're supposed to do before doing it, and if possible, keep the seniors informed on the progress and direction of the work — it's best to ask rather than waste anyone's time. You must also keep the seniors informed of possible inevitable delays, and post submissions, ask if there are any follow-ups that you can contribute to — and if they have any feedback. You must visibly inculcate the feedback, once again. In fact, once you get an idea of the key set of applicable sections & laws, you should ideally pick up e-books on that and read up in order to keep doing better. The more privileged you are, the easier it will be for you to develop quick familiarity with the words & the law — so if you've also not attended a top school etc, you'll also have to spend more hours here. I used to read up for 3-4 hours daily after office.
Fourthly, once you feel you've created some goodwill with the seniors, it is very important for you to ask them for some time & have a clear and frank conversation with a senior — one where you inform them that you're a serious candidate, and are strongly here to be meaningfully assessed for a PPO — as such, any recommendation from their side to the partner for work etc would be deeply appreciated. Once you do that and eventually get to work directly with the people responsible for giving PPOs, repeat the process and work even harder.
At the end of it, in the absolute worst case scenario, you'll have another recommendation from their side to another T1 firm, or a callback, or a PPO interview. If you show up as well-researched for interviews as well, there would be no reason for them to not take you — they won't need your rank to serve as a proxy for your ability & performance because by that time they would've already seen your performance, and liked it.
Yes, a good rank would probably enable to bypass this whole process and get a campus placement. But honestly, this will make you a much better associate & a lawyer than that. Just keep repeating this process till you get an offer — which, for the record, I'm sure that you're fully capable of getting. All the best!