Breaking into consulting senior year, ex-premed

Hey there everyone!

For the past 3 years I have been preparing for a career in medicine, but about 2 weeks ago I made the life-changing decision to drop medicine and go into consulting. While I am on track to get into a top 20 medical school, I realized that medicine may not be what I actually love. --But I love problem solving, and so here I am seeking a consultancy position after advice and recommendations from my friends.

While consulting seems to be an almost ideal career for my interests, my main concern is that I will not be able to get job interviews/offers with so little relevant experience. I am majoring in a natural science, so I have been trained to think in a hypothesis-driven, analytical manner, but my resume has nothing in the way of impressive names or relevant past-positions.

I have a 3.85 GPA at a top 12, non-target, non-ivy university. What are my chances of getting in the door at a top 5 firm based on academic merit alone in a non-business major (Neuroscience). I feel confident in my ability to interview well, including the case interview, but I am afraid I may not get that opportunity.

I can provide more information if that would be helpful in determining my chance of landing an interview.

Thank you for your feedback and advice.

PS: I feel as though I could sell myself with a good cover letter, but I have heard that firms tend to not read or care much about them. Is this true?

 
Best Response

Hey there,

I think you have a good chance of breaking into a top-5 firm, but it depends on a few things:

(1) What did you do during your summers? Research, health startups, and public health volunteering are very acceptable, even highly desirable, experiences. Make sure you highlight those experiences and your personal impact.

(2) What do you do on campus? Perhaps you work in a professor's lab, or maybe you have leadership roles in extracurricular groups (quite possibly both). Again, highlight those and the personal impact that you've made.

(3) Perhaps most important- network! Reach out to alumni of your school and build a relationship with them so that they know why you want to go to consulting and what you plan to do with that experience.

There are only 1 or 2 schools that are "top 12, non-target." But they are only "non-target" in theory. If you go to the school that I suspect you go to, my firm has at least a couple of people from there. And I'm sure many firms, from BCG to Oliver Wyman to LEK, would be thrilled to have a well-rounded, 3.85 neuroscience major in their ranks. Don't hesitate to apply to reach out to them.

Feel free to PM if you'd like- good luck!

 

Hi,

I am also in a similar position as you. I go to a non target top 10 school and was pre-med for the past 3 years. I realize that it is not something I absolutely love. I am going to be a senior this coming fall and plan to go to the career fairs and apply. But I would love to hear how you tackle the situation.

Thanks!

 

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