Breaking in from a non-MBA master's degree?

Looking to get some opinion's on breaking into consulting from a non-MBA master's degree. I graduated last May from a nontarget school with a 3.89 GPA as a finance major. I'm currently working at a F100 biotech company on the FP&A team. I know this is the industry I want to work in (healthcare in general, not necessarily just biotech) but this type of work is extremely boring to me.

I've been looking into master's programs, specifically Carnegie Mellon's MS Healthcare Policy & Management. The program has a lot of data analysis / analytics / finance built into it which makes it look fairly interesting, but it obviously focuses on healthcare. Another thing I like is it has an internship built in like an MBA.

It's a small program, but apparently 7-8 out of the ~20 people go into consulting while another 10 or so go into the general healthcare industry. If I went into it I'd be aiming for Big 4 or McKinsey as they're really the only firms with offices in the city I want to be in.

Thoughts?

Edit: I figured with two years of finance experience (by the time I matriculate) in a large biotech, and then a specialized healthcare master's that'd be a pretty strong background for healthcare consulting. Not sure how accurate that is however.

1 Comments
 

Voluptatem inventore quisquam excepturi nemo quis. Ut consequatur voluptatem distinctio reprehenderit voluptatum. Qui labore id sequi cumque pariatur.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Consulting

  • Cornerstone Research 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.9%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.5%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.9%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $361
  • Principal (30) $294
  • Director/MD (58) $274
  • Vice President (53) $247
  • Engagement Manager (113) $232
  • Manager (170) $173
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (116) $135
  • Senior Consultant (355) $132
  • Consultant (642) $122
  • 1st Year Associate (577) $121
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (164) $121
  • NA (16) $114
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (391) $104
  • Associate Consultant (176) $101
  • 1st Year Analyst (1164) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (208) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (632) $68
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”