How to spend freshman summer?
IB
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(Baboon, 174
Points)
on 12/7/10 at 10:33pm
Hi,
I'm a freshman at Dartmouth College looking at a major in psychology and a minor in economics. I would eventually like to get into consulting but I know there's absolutely no way I'll be able to land a consulting internship freshman summer. That being said, how do you think I should spend my freshman summer? Also, are there certain activities that I should do that would help me get a consulting internship in the later years of my college career? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.





Do something in a big name
Do something in a big name company. I interned at KPMG during freshman summer, and literally did some excel crap all day long. But..the KPMG name actually helped me out in an internship after...so just get something in a decent name company and you should be OK.
Or, screw it all and travel. Don't spend it just on drinking and partying, that's kind of a waste in my opinion!
Spend it just on drinking and
Spend it just on drinking and partying
Do whatever you're interested
Do whatever you're interested in, whether it's splicing rat brains in a lab, or working at a ski resort in New Zealand. All you need is a cool story you can tell in a minute in an interview, and if you're doing something interesting + fun, that should be easy.
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Yeah this summer is the last
Yeah this summer is the last one that doesn't really matter (sophomore summer you're looking for an internship that will help you get the MBB or whatever internship junior summer). Do something fun that sounds cool in an interview. If that means working as a trek guide in the Appalachians or doing psych research, it doesn't matter.
One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
Spend freshman summer getting
Spend freshman summer getting drunk and "meeting" women. You will miss it very soon. When I was a freshman, I could usually count how long it had been since I had a drink in hours, now it's more like days or sometimes weeks.
When you are great, people will often mistake candor for arrogance.
If you have the money I would
If you have the money I would suggest studying abroad. Lots of fun, you'll learn something, and you'll have something to talk about when trying to line up a sophomore summer internship.
Ditto what has been said
Ditto what has been said above. However, I would look into Dartmouth's Bridge Program run by Tuck for the summer after sophomore year. Its a very good program and would help you land some consulting gigs later on.
Start a business. It's
Start a business. It's something you don't have to interview for in order to do and it can be as rigorous of a summer experience as you want it to be. Document your activities along the way, taking note of anything that trains consulting skills (there should be tons of consulting skills you can pull from a new venture).
Even if it fails, you have a cool story to tell.
My two cents.
Proboscis
Proboscis wrote: Start a
Start a business. It's something you don't have to interview for in order to do and it can be as rigorous of a summer experience as you want it to be. Document your activities along the way, taking note of anything that trains consulting skills (there should be tons of consulting skills you can pull from a new venture).
Even if it fails, you have a cool story to tell.
My two cents.
Great suggestion. I ran a business in my fresh/soph year in college, and I literally repeated my business' story in EVERY single interview. It is an excellent indicator of many things consulting firms look for - 1) Drive, 2) Leadership, 3) Passion, 4) Brains, 5) Ballsy attitude, etc etc.
bbjhva wrote: Proboscis
Start a business. It's something you don't have to interview for in order to do and it can be as rigorous of a summer experience as you want it to be. Document your activities along the way, taking note of anything that trains consulting skills (there should be tons of consulting skills you can pull from a new venture).
Even if it fails, you have a cool story to tell.
My two cents.
Great suggestion. I ran a business in my fresh/soph year in college, and I literally repeated my business' story in EVERY single interview. It is an excellent indicator of many things consulting firms look for - 1) Drive, 2) Leadership, 3) Passion, 4) Brains, 5) Ballsy attitude, etc etc.
Agreed. It never failed to come up in any of my college internship/full time interviews either. The earlier you do it, the more beneficial it will be for you throughout your undergrad.
Proboscis
that's a great suggestion!
that's a great suggestion! How would I go about starting my own business though...?
a lot of good suggestions...
a lot of good suggestions... bottom line, make sure you enjoy it cuz being 19 and living the dream is a great place to be in life... do something business related that will transfer well to your resume if possible, and try to get some good stories... never underestimate the power of "likability" ... I'd love to go back to freshman year summer and live it up again... have fun bud and don't get too worried about the future just yet...
1/2 of the WSO Bash Brothers
"Licensed to Ill It"
We all know Bro J did it...