Advice with Applying to Firms
Hi, I am an undergraduate business student approaching my Senior year of college, and I am interested in applying to some management consulting firms (definitely MBB; as well as the MGT Consulting practices at Deloitte, Accenture, etc.). I go to a US New & World Report top 10 National Public University. My university would definitely be considered a target school for all major consulting firms. I have between a 3.75 and 3.8 overall GPA, and a 3.9 GPA for my major (with the overall Campus GPA for my University being between a 2.9 and 3.0). I have 4 internship experiences, and I have been involved on campus in several leadership roles. I am currently interning at a consulting firm that is rated well by Vault (top 40 overall, top 20 in the "prestige" category), but primarily works in more niche fields and practices (mostly financial services). It has been an excellent experience, but I want to look into management consulting at the big 3 and maybe a few other firms. The problem I have is my SAT and ACT scores. I am definitely at the lower end of what many firms would want. I received between a 1200 and 1250 overall on the SAT, but I did well on the Math section with a score of 660 (which may be important, since Consulting tends to be more analyitcal and data focused). On the ACT, I scored a 28 overall, with a 31 on the Math Section and a 28 on the English (which some people consider to be the ACT Verbal equivilant). I know these are not great scores, but I am curious to know if anyone can give me any feedback on my chances of being turned down for interviews (given the positives of my work experience, GPA, etc.) because of lower-end SAT/ACT scores. I also welcome any advice dealing with this issue.
Let me try to give you a friendlier response than most. You are talking about applying to the 3 best consulting firms in the world. Everyone and their mother wants to work there. Your stats are pretty weak by their standards. Sub-3 overall gpa will hurt as will SAT scores because anything below 700 on math is weak by their standards. And your school is definitely not a target. There targets are Ivy league with a few others. Basically top 20 U.S. news schools. When shooting really high, you need to understand what you are up against. Do you know anyone at a big 3 firm? If not, make it your mission today. Go on Linkedin and find alumni at Big 3 and talk to them. See where that gets you. Accenture, Deloitte may be more realistic but still stiff competition so network, network, network and then make sure not to ask future questions that you could have probably found answers for with a 5 minute search.
poster has a 3.8 gpa not a sub 3.0
misread it. everything else still applies
660 on Math is too low of a score. Unless your other scores are 700+, I'd omit the SAT from your resume.
Consider forming paragraphs for readability.
lol at the misinformed shit responses. Berkeley, Michigan, and UVa are targets for MBB - not just ivies (which clearly the other posters likely don't attend). You'll be fine OP. Your gpa is stellar and test scores only matter for one of MBB. I went to Yale and interviewed for these firms - they primarily care about your math score (which is fine). A 31 math ACT is considered about equivalent to a 700 on the math SAT. Make sure to attend the recruiting events on campus to get your name out.
If you want to find out if your school is a target, go here: http://www.McKinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting1
See if they have on campus recruiting events. If so, it's a target. Here's UVA's schedule for instance:
http://www.McKinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/university_of_virginia
Here's Yale's:
http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/…
Conversely, Cornell (a shit ivy) is not a target (it doesn't even have its own page):
http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/…
[quote=blahblah2000]lol at the misinformed shit responses. Berkeley, Michigan, and UVa are targets for MBB - not just ivies (which clearly the other posters likely don't attend). You'll be fine OP. Your gpa is stellar and test scores only matter for one of MBB. I went to Yale and interviewed for these firms - they primarily care about your math score (which is fine). A 31 math ACT is considered about equivalent to a 700 on the math SAT. Make sure to attend the recruiting events on campus to get your name out.
If you want to find out if your school is a target, go here: http://www.McKinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting1
See if they have on campus recruiting events. If so, it's a target. Here's UVA's schedule for instance:
http://www.McKinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/university_of_virginia
Here's Yale's:
http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/…
Conversely, Cornell (a shit ivy) is not a target (it doesn't even have its own page):
http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/…]
It appears you may have not read closely as well because last I checked Berkeley, Michigan and UVA are essentially top 20 on U.S. news. All the OP said is he goes to a top 10 pubic school, not a top 5 public school. A top 10 public school could be UCSD...very different tier. But yes, the OP is better off sticking to your advice and finding out what are targets and what are not and then hoping campus recruitment works out as opposed to pounding the pavement and networking with alums on Linkedin.
if you are concerned about your SAT score, just put down your ACT score instead. A 31on ACT math is like a 700 on the SAT
SAT isn't as much of a dealbreaker as you're making it sound like. Just put down ACT and hope for this best. A high GPA generally outweighs a lower SAT/ACT anyway.
This doesn't look like an MBB profile to me. Not to say it won't hurt to try.
If your ACT percentile is better than your SAT percentile, use that, as others have told you. But I hope you have something that differentiates you...kids with 3.8 GPAs and okay internships are a dime a dozen. Those people can get into MBB (I did) but many others don't.
High grades + low test scores = a plugger who might not be that good under pressure, or that smart.
That's better than low grades + high test scores, which equals lazy generally (unless they're engineering or something)
Only the top 5 publics really place many people into MBB, at least that I've seen.
Also, pretty sure test scores matter at multiple MBBs...at least the 2 I am most familiar with.
It is really hard to predict whether or not one can get an interview or hope to get a job at MBB based on statistics, no matter which school you go to or what GPA you have. While the school and GPA and GMAT can get you a foot in the door, end of the day it comes down to acing your case.
I will be commencing work as an analyst at MBB this Fall. However, I do not have the Ivy League pedigree. I went to a large public school that is ranked somewhere in the top 5 - 15 range. That said, my experience isn't the norm - but rather an indication that if you demonstrate real interest, you do have a chance. If MBB already recruits at your school, this is probably covered for you. If not, I would definitely suggest focusing on your resume, cover letter and networking skills to see if you can get a foot in the door.
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