I am a undergraduate chemical engineering student at a southern target school with a 3.5 gpa. I have offers from both Capital One and Accenture for their respective analyst positions. I worked at Capital One as an intern this past summer and really enjoyed my experience. I was wondering which would would put me at a better trajectory for getting into a M7 business school and potentially MBB in the future?
Sep 29, 2016
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Need more info on the positions. Accenture tech or Accenture Strat? Capital One Strategy team?
Sorry about that. The Capital One position is to work as a Business Analyst currently but I had talked to HR and they said they would work with me if I would like to switch to a Strategy Analyst position. The Accenture position is to be an entry-level Strategy Analyst.
Capital One, but only if it's the Strategy Analyst spot.
Do you go to UT Austin? Take Accenture Strategy.
Yup. Why do you value Accenture Strat?
http://capitalonestrategy.com/about
Read the bios of these guys - WAY better pedigree than any team at Accenture. Also, if your goal is b-school, if you go to Accenture you'll be competing against a ton of your peers; Cap One strategy is a far more unique position and Ad Coms will love that. That said, if you go to Cap One you're going to only work in FS (obviously); at Accenture you would have the opportunity to work in multiple industries so that may play a factor for you.
I'd do Cap One.
One of the main things I was considering is the hours and ability to stand out in either position. I believe both favor Cap One even though I may not get the breath of experience working with multiple industries. Do you think when applying for an MBA at a M7 school Cap One job experience would be valued? Especially considering my lower than average gpa.
Based on the website posted, if you can get a position on the strategy team, it looks like a way better shot for b-school. Idk what rankings they judge by but it says 90% of people from the group go to a top 5 business school. So you should be a lock for M7...
In short, yes, your Cap One job experience will be valued - a lot. You will also be able to stand out by nature of the position; it's a small, high-impact group and not many people right out of undergrad get the opportunity to work directly with the C-Suite of their company.
3.5 GPA is fine to get into pretty much any b-school, especially since it's in engineering. 3.5 UG GPA + engineering degree + Cap One Strategy + demonstrated success in the position + good recs (which come with demonstrated success) + solid GMAT = pretty much any b-school you want.
EDIT: Additional commentary added
In terms of standing out, I also think you'll have a better opportunity to stand-out at Cap One. If you join Accenture Strategy, you're joining a group of hundreds (if not thousands) in the practice. At Cap One you're joining a group of like 25 people but with the advantage of a strong brand name behind it. You'll work exclusively on high-impact projects at Cap One; at ACN strategy you could get staffed on shit projects that you won't be able to market effectively.
As you can tell, I heavily suggest Cap One with the caveat that if you want exposure to multiple industries (which is an advantage right out of undergrad) you can get that at ACN; at Cap One you will only work in FS.
Is it me or everyone there came from Harvard and Yale only? Also HR will work with you needs to be converted to you actually you have a spot in the group before making that decision. Cap1 hires lot of business analysts and I'm sure many would like to move to the strategy group.
PM me for detail.
Wow this is great information, is there any chance I could contact you with some other questions I have about Cap One?
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