Top Consulting Firm from a Non-Target School?
Is it possible for me to get into a Top Consulting Firm from a Non-Target School?
Background:
I go the University of Washington. Top 50 School, not quite the hottest recruiting site of top consulting firms.
Graduating Year: 2011
Internship Experience: None (Maybe I need to get started, haven't really looked)
Undergrad Major: Double Major in Computer Science and Mathematics. UW has a Top 6 CS program. I also have an Associates in Business.
GPA: 3.7 (I'm hoping to have this at a 3.8 at the end of my years at UW)
So is there any good way I can get into at Top Consulting Firm? What will I have to do?
If top is very unlikely, what kind of consulting firm will I be more suited for? Are consulting firms like this considered good, or competitive for business school admissions?





Things undergrads from
Things undergrads from non-target schools can do:
1) Network your ass off with university alumni and upperclassmen (who will be moving into fulltime analyst/consultant roles)
2) Start a consulting club. Great for skills, personal experience, and meeting consultants at target firms
3) Get a spotless GPA (3.9 and above is preferable)
In your position, I'd focus heavily on #1. At a school like UW (without personal experience), your best bet will probably be boutique/local firms that recruit regionally there and the occasional top-tier strategy consulting firm that has a strong alumni base from your school (again, back to #1).
Good luck.
Kevin
www.managementconsulted.com
You've got a strong double
You've got a strong double major, but you do need to get your gpa up. Kevin made some great points. You have some work to do, and should definitely be casting a wide net. Look at as many different consulting opportunities as you can for the summer, and start implementing the things you can do now to position yourself better for not only a possible internship, but a full-time opportunity when you graduate.
Here's some great advice written by a McKinsey guy
5 things strategy consulting firms are looking for
http://www.gottamentor.com/viewAdvice.aspx?a=159
Andrea
www.gottamentor.com
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uw alum
hey i just graduated from UW with a degree in fin. we are obviously not a target school for any top consulting firm so you have to try pretty hard to get out there. by the numbers i can tell you that i only know of one person in the '09 class that got into bain, none at bcg/mck.
uw, like the other average bschools cranks out middle managers. you will have absolutely no trouble getting interviews with accenture, deloitte, and the rest. however, if you have your sights above that mark, yes it will be extremely difficult to even get noticed. at the very end of the day it is risk aversion on the consulting firms part. who is more likely to be hard working motivated candidate out of two people with identical resumes but different schools? if they going to look like an *** and hire someone bad, they can save face by saying he/she went to HYP.
also, another problem you will face is the fact that we are from seattle which is decent from the tech side, but we have little to no presence in banking/consulting.
anyway, work your ass off, get good EC's and maybe you can get interviews! i wasted my time getting a good GPA which seems to have been the wrong move. good luck!