MBB scholarships for incoming first year bschool students
So MBB firms have these programs designed for incoming business school students, to provide scholarships and opportunities to network. (McK Emerging Scholars, BCG Fellowships) Is anyone familiar with them, or have participated in the past? Other than the monetary help + getting invited to network, it sounds like they might help selected candidates receive first-round interviews, as well. Are they competitive? Thank you.
Guaranteed offers? McKinsey Emerging Scholars and The BCG Fellowship program
The Emerging Scholars Program and the MBA Fellows programs are extremely selective. The scholarships are also relatively small, ranging between 2 and 5 thousand.
There is an advantage in applying for these scholarships. Scholarship acceptance does not guarantee you a position over the summer but it does offer an opportunity to increase your exposure through direct mentorship.
Some applicants say the same is true for rejections. If they like what they see you’ll probably get an opportunity to connect with an on-campus recruiter earlier than most.
Key Takeaways
- These programs are extremely selective. But applying may offer some upside.
from certified user @brj"
Yup. If you get in, it provides a slight advantage ( maybe more for programs with URM requirements). Definitely not a make or break and the sample size is tiny.
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Yes, definitely competitive. Wayyyy fewer people receive these small scholarships (they're only 2k or 5k depending on award level) than receive internship or FT offers. It is basically a near-free way for the firms to gauge interest and start connecting with candidates. I know two class of '15 people at the school I'll be attending in Aug who applied to the McKinsey Emerging Scholars program last year. Neither received the scholarship, but both ended up getting summer offers through the normal recruiting process. The (very small and non-deciding by any means) advantage was they had already connected with the recruiter assigned to their school once they got rejected from the Emerging Scholars program so they were on their radar. They also told me that knew two people from our school who did receive the scholarship last year, and one ended up getting a summer offer, and the other didn't make it past the first round. So, it's by no means a lock for a summer offer if you get it. Anyway, It's a very low risk way to start connecting with the company since all it is is a resume drop and scores/GPA submission. Likewise, this means that unless you have amazing stats, you probably won't get the scholarship since they're not going off very much data outside the basics. It's still worth throwing your hat in just for the benefit of showing early interest though.
I got my rejection email yesterday actually from McKinsey Emerging Scholars. Recruiter heading the program said it was an extremely difficult decision, tons of qualified candidates, blahblahblah and they'd like to keep in touch and then email introduced me to the recruiter for my school who then sent me a separate quick note as well saying they're looking forward to meeting on campus and learning more and all that stuff.
Anyway, are you already heading to school this year? If so, you missed all the deadlines for them anyway. Best of luck if you applied and didn't get a rejection yet though.
Yup. If you get in, it provides a slight advantage ( maybe more for programs with URM requirements). Definitely not a make or break and the sample size is tiny.
got my rejection email yesterday too
Make that three of us
@"OpsDude" @"GlobeTF" Glad I'm not the only one.
@"Darkstar19" I highly doubt it since it's only a few grand. No big loss for the firm. They're really just trying to spur interest across the board to make sure they've got the attention of as many viable candidates as possible and to give themselves an information advantage over other firms.
Interestingly, while McKinsey and BCG offer this program, Bain goes a non-monetary route, but does offer to connect and meet with you over the summer if you apply for their "Connect with Bain" program. It's formatted very similarly with a simple app and resume drop. They're essentially going to get the same info without paying anything to anyone. These programs are pretty new though, so maybe they'll end up switching to McK/BCG's model in the future, who knows.
Agreed that Bain's approach is definitely a little different from the others, but would note that it is somewhat competitive in that they do not extend invitations to their events to everyone. I am attending a Connect with Bain event tomorrow in Washington, DC and received a few details regarding the topics of discussion. It seems we will be doing a quick case with informationals about the company and probably some networking time. Will let you guys know how it goes! Also, would note that this is BCG's first year doing this type of program.
Is the scholarship contingent on anything? For example, if you get it but then don't even apply for the internship later on do you lose the money? Would be awesome to hear from people that have participated in these programs and later lost interest in consulting
It's a just a carrot that helps them start building their email list. I have friends who did McK ES, Connect with Bain, and Deloitte CIP. For Bain and McK, it definitely wasn't about identifying rockstars, just getting the word out. Deloitte is a bit more touchy (e.g. doing their case competition matters... a lot), but they know most people aren't even aware of the program, so not applying probably doesn't hurt.
I had no clue these programs even existed and it didn't hurt me for internship recruiting. So feel free to apply, but don't worry about it if it doesn't pan out. You'll have more than enough touch points with all three firms once you start business school.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think last year was the first year McK did one? It appears participation is growing though. Not sure how long BCG's has been around.
Sounds about right, westcoast. PwC has a new one for this year called MBA Edge.
And agreed, impact is very minor. Low risk, low reward.
Thanks everyone for your input!
Interesting. I didn't look at the details, but met an admitted student who mentioned to me. It seems like these programs, whether short internships or small scholarships, are trending.
I applied for both, and did the first interview for McK this week. The recruiter told me they received ~2000 applications, are interviewing ~200, and will select 30 people who will receive scholarships ranging from 2k - 5k. There are two more interviews, which include "fun case studies" with practitioners, so assuming you have a good relationship with the practitioners that could give you a competitive edge (albeit slight) over others who may not.
Congrats! What were your stats if you don't mind me asking?
Sure!
27 yr old, female Washington DC area Matriculating at Tuck GMAT: 730 Background/Experience: 3-4 yrs in account Public school undergrad and graduate degree (non-MBA)
Did the recruiter say how they determine what amount the scholarship is?
No, but my guess is your performance on the cases and your ability to bond with the practitioners.
When you're staring down the barrel of MBA expenses, the difference between $2k and $5k feels like the difference between a yellow bill and pink one in Monopoly. Which is to say, not much. The exposure on the other hand...
I didn't even know about the PwC one until now (which is odd since I scoured the web for pre-MBA programs). I don't really want to end up at PwC, so its no biggie, but a summer internship in a different industry wouldn't have been an unwelcome change.
Anyone interview for/get DCIP?
Made it to final round interview for Deloitte but was not selected for the program. Process consisted of a couple of interviews with behavioral questions, nothing crazy. Was also invited to a Bain event (surprised to hear that they didn't invite everyone that applied). Dinged by BCG and McKinsey. I am a white male w consulting background (and I think that finding diversity candidates is an implicit goal with these things) so didn't really have high expectations for these various events/scholarships. Mostly just wanted to get my resume/name in front of them, everything else was a bonus.
My girl friend got invited to the "Connect with Bain" program as well.
@TuckYeah: You mentioned that you attended one in DC. Would you mind letting us know how it went? Was it helpful?
I got a phone call from a BCG partner, saying I didn't get the BCG scholarship (He said VERY few got it), but they were very interested in my profile and would have a mentor getting in touch with me shortly. Did everyone from BCG get a call, or is this a good sign for fall recruiting?
Got the same call yesterday.
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