Screening and recruiting at MBB

GPA and test scores are standard for consulting. Failure to include them strongly suggests you have something to hide. The move from first round to second round is purely based on interview performance. Don't know what % makes it to the second round...have heard various % ranging from 25% to 50% (my personal experience has been closer to 255). Offers are also given primarily on interview performance. At the margin, with all things equal/near equal there may be some diversity considerations to consider though this is rarely raised explicitly. Second round accepts tend to be higher...30-40% by my observation but this clearly matters by firm...those firms who are less selective if the first round have a lower yield in the second round.

Thanks for the response BigPicture. I have a follow up question: Say my GPA is quite low (3.3ish) but I get a high gmat score this year (750+), would the GMAT score sort of "outweigh" my poor GPA and put me in a competitive position? This is assuming I already have great internships/leadership experiences.

Many thanks!

each person looks at resumes differently. i guess i just like high test scores.

maybe because personally i always had very high test scores, but in undergrad my gpa was lower. self bias? no idea.

other screeners may be different.

I always start with coerletters instead of resumes, often b/c the other people in the review group don't read them. You catch a lot of things this way - people who are really arrogant often come across in the letter, people who write in the wrong city or wrong company name, people who don't speak english well, or spell their own name wrong (no kidding!).

We score each applicant individually, then meet as a group to talk through each applicant and make a final list. Key topics are usually whether their history shows analytical horsepower and a strong record of accomplishments, as well as comments from people who met them in person. At core schools there are tons of interview slots, so most applicants will get a slot. Though it's different for 2nd year MBAs when there may be only 0-3 positions open in the class.

We're starting the summer internship selection process and every year it blows me away how competitive these juniors that get selected are.

Generally, we're looking for leadership, work experience, and academics.

I tend to focus more on work experience and academics (typically major + GPA), but others have different biases.

There's a big conference call with the whole school recruiting team and you go through resume-by-resume discussing each candidate. Typically there is arguing about the top candidates and it comes down to who does the best job selling their point of view on why a candidate should get an interview.

Part of the consulting staff doing recruiting for a target undergrad school for a few seasons.

A few points. We read every resume, barely glance at cover letters, and dig up transcripts when someone is on the border If you don't include test scores and GPA on the application or resume, we will ask, and we do not give benefit of the doubt if they are not offered. Typically 5-10% of applicants get interview slots, that is decided by the school team and recruiting of that ~30-50% get second rounds, purely based on interview performance, of that ~25% get offers, based on your interactions and interview, surprising how calibrated the partners are at picking the right people. They talk about every interviewee, and decide if we should extend offers. So it is about ~1% conversion from apps to offers.

If your GPA and test scores are lopsided, usually that is a deal breaker, unless you have done something. (Rhodes scholar, 2+ banking/consulting internships as an undergrad). Or have strong internal recommendations. The truth is, there are bunch of other kids w/ super impressive resumes. After a few seasons, I am constantly amazed at how I was ever hired in the first place, especially when I do summer recruiting.