College student in very peculiar situation - need advice

Hey guys,

I’m currently a junior at a top-20 business program, and I’m also a pre-med student double majoring in biochemistry. I plan on graduating in five years – regardless which track I choose to pursue – so technically I’m still in my sophomore year. I recently attended a consulting career fair, and have been doing more research on the field since. I am now on the fence about whether or not I should continue on my scientific track, or commit to consulting.

Because I’ve been so focused on my pre-med requisites, I haven’t done much in terms of networking and other things I need to make myself standout for a top firm. However, I currently hold a 3.82 GPA, have over 15 months of research experience working at a biochem lab on campus, a publication (with another on the way), and a few other accomplishments.

Since these ECs aren’t business-related, I was wondering how firms would see this – can I come off as someone who can manage a demanding workload, dedicate himself to something even though they have nothing to do with consulting? Or are they going to disregard that and focus at my track in the business school, and whatever business-related extracurriculars I can amass during the next year or so?

Assuming I decide to abandon my pre-med track, what firms should I realistically be aiming at? I know my GPA is competitive for some of the better programs, but I’m afraid I’d be hampered because of my pre-med activities. Would any of the top firms (McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte...) be realistic? Or should I aim for one of the smaller firms? Also, I’m a URM if that makes any difference.

I was also wondering if anyone knew how to get more-hands on experience with consulting outside of interning at a firm; I’m not likely to find any internships this summer because I’m staying an extra year, and reading stuff on the internet can only take you so far when it comes to finding out if you can handle the pace, workload, travel (...) associated with consulting.

 
JDawg:
bro you need to learn how to use paragraphs and/or be more concise. nobody's going to read this wall of text
TL;DR: Sophomore,GPA: 3.82, business and biochemistry major, top 20 business school, what does he need to do to get into consulting?
 

It's kinda hard to gauge, it's not strictly a yes or no question however plastic turtles might be good game for calculating comps if you have less than 3.0 GPA from not target such as Disney World.

That of course also depends if your current MD is a former MC from the nineties.

"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
 

If all that info is absolutely vital and cant be taken out at all, you have to at least hit enter a few times to break it up into paragraphs. You're probably losing potentially insightful posts with this massive text wall that people will see and proceed to hit the back button.

 

You know there are a good amount of consulting groups with healthcare teams. One of my VP's did Econ/Biology undergrad, 1 semester of med-school then dropped out and did consulting for 3 years before switching to VC. But yea, 5 years undergrad is a lot.

"If you want to succeed in this life, you need to understand that duty comes before rights and that responsibility precedes opportunity."
 

You need to practice cases. Top20 business program and interesting combo of majors (business and biochem) will get you interviews. How you will perform there will depend on how well do you do consulting cases.

 
El_Cunado:
... Would any of the top firms (McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte...) ....
  1. Pardon my English, but is Deloitte a top firm now?.
  2. Feeling a little copycat-ed given your El_(insert spanish word) O.o :P
  3. Y U No Med-School?
Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!
 

why do so many people think their situation is unique? unless your parents are partners, or you're the shoe shine guy who networked his way into an interview after countless monday mornings at the airport... your resume ends up in the same piles as everyone else's and your situation isn't unique at all.

 

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