Med student looking for entry point
I'm a second-year med student at a mid-tier medical school with a Georgia Tech biomedical engineering degree (3.8 GPA) looking to get into consulting.
Long story short, I spent 2 years out of college in med school, decided that I didn't like it, took a year off to reflect/explore my career options while being a full-time caretaker to my grandfather. Came back and made the resolution to stop myself before I waste 2 more years doing something that I have no passion for and decided to switch over to the consulting->MBA track.
My resume looks like any other med school applicant's: 96 percentile on my MCAT (should I even mention this?), LOTS of research experience, public health work at the CDC, volunteering, a stint as major representative in student government during undergrad but no industry experience to speak of and sparse on extracurriculars for the past 3 years because of med school. Would appreciate any advice I can get on possible entry points and how I should package myself.
I have junior-level contacts at Deloitte and Accenture who are willing to make a sales pitch for me in front of a recruiter, but not really knowing where I stand and whether I'm even close to getting a phone call from top 10 firms is giving me pause. I know Deloitte recruits heavily at Georgia Tech undergrad and I probably would've had a real nice shot if I had made this decision coming out of college but I'm 3 years removed from the program. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks guys.
Lots of healthcare consulting companies out there as well, take a look at them -- sounds like they could be up your alley
Yeah, I figured healthcare consulting is what I'll default to based on my background. I guess my ultimate question though is this: I am 26 years old, turning 27 in may. On a scale of 1-10, how good of a salesman do I have to be to make recruiters at top-10 firms ignore the fact that I'm 3 years removed from undergrad and treat me like an inexperienced new hire willing to do an unreasonable amount of grunt work for low compensation, live in an airport, and eager to align myself with the firm's vision? Or to put it another way, what would I have to do get the top-10 firms to evaluate me on raw talent and potential alone? I've been doing mock behavioral and case interviews in the mean time and I think I can KILL the interview if I just get a shot.
If you don't mind me asking, what didn't you like about med school? Seems like you were on the right track.
I put myself on the pre-med track on a whim one day during my sophomore year and had a GPA/MCAT score good enough to get into med school without having to convince anybody, including myself, that I actually wanted to do medicine. Once in I found that I loved helping patients, loved interacting with the brilliant people around me, loved the collaborative aspect of medicine, but had ZERO passion or interest in the actual diagnostic work/procedures and constantly found myself more attracted to the business side of things.
After my second year, my grandfather's condition was deteriorating and we couldn't find a caretaker for him in China. I saw it as an opportunity to re-evaluate things and to help out the family. Went back to china for a year to do a lot of soul-searching and to be my grandfather's full-time caretaker. Now I'm back in the States and ready to take on consulting.
I would actually recommend you to stay in medical school and apply to McKinsey, BCG, and Bain for a summer internship between your third and fourth year. If you think that you can get a job with one of them (you will need to network and do a lot of case practice) then its definitely worth staying.
Also, if you get your med degree you might come into Deloitte's life science S&O practice with a higher, better paid position.
agree with isomonkey...what school do u go to? give us a range and i can tell u if top consulting firms recruit there.
Wish I had talked to you guys 2 weeks ago....already turned in my withdrawal paperwork. Regardless, I was stuck for 2 years in Bumfuck, Georgia studying subjects I had no interest in and doing work I had no passion for. Think I would've done nuts if I stuck around for another 2 years.
Email them and tell them you were depressed at the time, and that you've reconsidered. If its possible, See if they can work with you or if you can go back later. If you can't go back soon it might be worth doing something that involves chasing your passions. Great Resume item for MBB. Otherwise, just apply to Deloitte and try to get in their Life Sciences practice. Keep moving forward. Just don't feel like you've wasted an opportunity.
Thanks for the sound advice isomonkey. Say that my school will not allow me to reconsider (most likely outcome since the paperwork is already processed), am I to understand from your post that trying to lateral into management consulting right now would be extremely foolish and impractical? Also let's say that hypothetically I have a LS consulting offer from Deloitte and a pure strategy offer from a less prestigious firm, which offer generally allows for a smoother transition to top MBA programs? I've heard that "prestige" of the firm matters very little to top b-schools unless you're MBB, is this true? Thanks.
I think its unlikely that MBB works out particularly because there will be individuals with equal qualifications that have a Med degree recruiting the same year. However, if you have something distinguishing then I'd apply. You would have better luck immediately graduating with a degree (after MBA maybe).
As for your question that depends a lot on you and how you do in the firm. Deloitte, boutiques, and other healthcare consulting firms can get you into an MBA program. I just said Deloitte because it was on the top of my head and you mentioned you had a contact. Each firm has its own prestige and reputation. Deloitte Strategy and Operations (their consulting arm) gets a few people into HBS. Of course, maybe so does Analysis Group (Healthcare arm), and other reputable firms. Personally, I wouldn't have withdrawn until you had a job lined up. But if you can't get back in. Its all fine and well because you still have opportunities to create stories about yourself. Maybe work in a med device company and apply to MBA after a couple of years etc. Try to create a story about yourself, even while you are applying for jobs.
I realize I didn't answer your question about Deloitte vs. less prestigious firm. I would go with the more prestigious one because Deloitte will get strategy work. Its just going to be upto you to get on those cases. Relative prestige always matters to MBA programs, at least the ones that are worth the cost.
I would say, TRY YOU HARDEST to get back into your med school.
Beg, cry, use whatever sob story you can muster (eg. your grandpa, etc) .... but the key is to FINISH your med degree .... because right now, you are just a random undergrad who hasn't done anything for three years.
A medical degree gives your a lifelong "legitimacy" and especially so if you are going into healthcare consulting.
You don't care about patient care, etc ... well, you have no plans to actually practise medicine so that's no problem.
yah you gotta finish up dude
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