Do MBB require you to put ALL of your education records on the resume?

Hi, guys, I have a question that I am dying to seek for an answer. I am now an undergrad at Columbia and I want to apply for the summer internship in the consulting field next year (preferably MBB of course). But my education background is a bit unconventional: I have attended TWO colleges prior to Columbia and being academically dismissed from the FIRST one. I attended a top 50 (not gonna specify thanks for understanding) university in the States, but due to many reasons (first time living in a foreign country, wasn't capable of taking care of my self, hard time blend into the environment, etc) I performed poorly and eventually got academically dismissed (they are nice enough to ask me to drop out myself before for obvious reasons, which I did). It was a painful and devastating experience yet I didn't want to give up. So I went to a community college in California for 2 years and later applied to transfer, fortunately enough, I got several offers and eventually chose Columbia as my final destination.

So now gets to my dilemma: even though I bounced back and once again become "qualified" enough to apply to those top forms in the field, I am torn about putting ALL of my school names on my resume. It's not that I want to hide that particular experience but my concern is that I will be rejected automatically during the resume stage because of my bad academic performance at the previous school. And if I selectively put my last TWO schools on my resume, I am afraid I will be a fraud for doing that. I honestly don't know what to do here. Could anyone give me some advice? Much appreciated!

 

No, you don't need to list the schools you transferred from on your resume. You can even say "Expected Graduation 2020" or something similar instead of listing a range of dates for Columbia. You can also just list the 2 most recent schools. Your resume is a snapshot of what you want to showcase—I don't put the fact that I was a lifeguard freshman year on my resume because it's not all that relevant to who I am now. If anyone grills you on it, just say you didn't want to take up half of your resume on your education section.

However, you will need to submit a transcript from Columbia with your MBB application which includes all the credits from your 2 former schools.

Are you transferring into Columbia this fall, or have you already been there for a year?

 

Thanks for the message! I know I definitely need to send all my transcripts but I wasn't sure what should I put on the resume. Thanks for clarifying!

Also, I am wondering if I want to share this story during the interview since it did have a major impact on me and I want to explain my progression over the years, but the flip side is that they might conceive this as deal breaker since compared to other contenders who were in Ivy or any other elite colleges from freshman. Any suggestions?

I have been in Columbia since last fall and it's been a year now:)

 
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You only need to send Columbia's transcript for the application—which will have all your credits you got from other schools but without the grades. They may ask for individual transcripts after extending an offer.

As far as your story goes, failing out of school for your excuses isn't going to look good unless you're great at spinning stories. Your path from community college to Columbia on the other hand makes you unique. It gives an impression that you've hustled more than your peers to get to where you are. It definitely won't be a deal breaker. If you're as competent as the top students at Columbia, you'll be just fine.

Considering you've been in school for 4 or more years at this point, shouldn't you have more than enough credits to just consider yourself a senior and graduate in 2019? Full-time positions are much easier to get in consulting than internships.

 

I couldn't graduate in 2019 because Columbia didn't take ANY credits toward my major (economics) from before, and they require you to follow a very rigid sequence of courses, most of my friends who were transferred into Columbia need additional 2-3 years to graduate because of that. It makes sense for them since they can get the most money out of us and the additional time also ensures the quality of their graduates.

As for the full-time position I haven't thought about that option since in terms of the timeline, getting a summer internship in junior to secure a full-time position right after college seems to to be the traditional way. Could you elaborate on why do you think getting a full-time position is easier? My understanding is a full-time position in consulting requires you to have some working experience before you come in.

 

Wow, I did not know that, thanks for the info. So even if I didn't get an internship at MBB for next summer, I still have a chance to re-apply right after I graduated for a full-time job? I always thought that getting a summer internship is paramount to secure a full-time job in consulting but it seems it's not true?

 

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