Consulting recruiting guide for 2026. Semi target - 3.7 GPA

Summer Associate in Consulting:

I'm going to be at MBB this summer, and I go to a target with a 3.8. I'm not a recruiter so take my advice with a grain of salt, but this is basically compiled advice and strategies taken from other people, some casebooks, and some posts from this website. This is mostly copy and pasted from a huge word doc I wrote up for some underclassmen. Feel free to DM.

Also, I'm a straight Asian male. There are some pre-internship programs out there not mentioned below that you might qualify for depending on your socioeconomic status.

0 – General things

A – Understand what you want to get out of it. In my opinion, consulting is shoved down everyone’s throat in undergrad, and you shouldn't do it simply because you don't know what to do/it pays well. Having something concrete will be a good motivator and also help with the next point

B – I think your “story” is important. “I am smart, a hard worker and I love solving business problems” is not very unique. 

C – My general impression is that consulting wants to be less douchey and less try hardy than banking. Reality may be different than this! But think about the type of person you choose to portray throughout the cycle.

D – According to Case In Point, there is something important called the “Airport test” that you need to pass in consulting – Say it’s 9PM, you are snowed in at the Buffalo airport and delayed for 4 hours at the gate. Is the person you are interviewing someone you wouldn’t mind grabbing dinner with/spending a few hours with? 

E – Spreadsheets are your best friend to keep track of networking and firm deadlines. I think Oliver Wyman is the earliest of the notable firms (May? April?). If a firm has multiple deadlines, the earlier ones are better, but if you're not ready don't push it. I went with the more selective later deadline and still got in.

1 – Getting an interview

A – The Resume

• Has to look aesthetically perfect.
• “Stress your analytical and client-facing skills.” Everyone says and does this, so I don't think it really differentiates you. You should do it, but that’s not enough.
• Interests, Extracurriculars, Leadership -> You need them, most people have them, and it's a great way to show you’re interesting/not insufferable.
• Consulting/Consulting Club/Finance/F500 experience is a huge plus. I think at least 95% of my class checks off one of those boxes.

B – The Cover Letter

• Show you did your research – (apprenticeship model for BCG, home office Bain, specific diversity programs, an article you read that you thought was interesting)
• Name drop some people that you networked with to show you did your homework.

C – Networking

• Start networking as soon as possible! (Tbh I only started a month before the deadline)
• It's very valuable, not for referrals sake but for information’s sake
  • Specific things that you can’t easily find on the website shows you care (office speciality/culture)
  • Name dropping them/saying you talked to them in your cover letter/interview probably helps
• I used LinkedIn for networking and tracked who I reached out to in a spreadsheet. Firm -> People tab -> filter by School/degree of connection is most helpful.
• Find an article the company published that you find interesting and try networking with the authors who are entry-level.
• Entry-level is miles easier to get a hold of. I wouldn't bother with partners.
• Expect rejection. I think I had a 25% hit rate on my cold reach outs.

D – Misc.

Can I just apply to the really small office to maximize my chances of an interview? 

WSO seems to think this is a really bad idea because the recruiters there can sniff you out. Unless you have a strong tie to a small office (worked there, hometown, place of college), it seems you should not apply. Big offices (SF, NY, Chicago, Boston) are usually exceptions to this rule.

Do I need a referral to land an interview? 

No. I didn’t need one. Other people I talked didn’t need one, so sample size of 3 says it doesn’t matter. Partners can maybe ask to get your resume really looked at, but people below that can’t do anything.

2 – Casing

• They're not that deep. They're simplified business problems that you do live.
• I was told there are 4 things to be good at casing: good business knowledge, good frameworks, quick and correct math, and the little stuff.
  • Good business knowledge – How do companies work? It is more helpful to learn the process/function rather than memorize things. For example, how do high copper prices affect Apple? Pick a random Fortune 500 company. Can you explain their business model? If not, read into it.
    • An exercise I did was pull up a news article about a company that had a bad earnings report and then do a framework on how to solve the problem.
    • Read the Economist or WSJ or listen to a podcast.
  • Framework
    • Framework is most important part of the case because it guides your thinking and illustrates that you can “think like a consultant” and not leave crucial things out of a project.
    • “Don’t memorize a ton of frameworks” is what you will often hear. This is somewhat true, but you should memorize the structure of the basic problems: Profitability, growth, market entry, M&A
    • Generic buckets, but specific bullet points.
      • I just brute forced the 3 C’s [Company, Customer, Competitors] for every case and it worked out fine.
      • I made it specific within each bucket e.g. for an insurance company “revenue is how many people are we insuring * average insurance premium and our COGS is average payout per customer” rather just saying “Revenue is price times quantity”
  • Math
    • It has to be correct, but also not excruciatingly slow.
    • I used https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/ for mental math practice. My quant friends use it also.
    • Put numbers in context. E.g. “The margin is 20%” vs. “The margin is 20% and that seems really good for an industry with high competition”
    • Ask the interviewer before you start rounding.
  • Make sure the small things are habitual – Casing is like playing a formal sport. Those who practice and know the rules will be better than a raw rookie.
    • Recommendations should have risks and next steps
    • Hypothesis after the framework – take an educated guess on what’s causing the issue.
    • Drive to quantitative after a qualitative question and vice versa.
    • Framework should drive the case. You should explore everything in the first bucket, then everything in the second, then the third.
• How to practice casing
  • When do I start casing? I only started during the recruiting season. IMO the utility of starting really early is quite low. I started only a month in advance of the application deadline which I think is definitely okay and gives you more than enough time.
  • How much should I case? People give this really bad “when you’re comfortable” answer which is not helpful. I think you can stop when you can do all the small things and create good frameworks. I think I did around 20 cases.
  • Where are the cases? Use Google. I know WSO has some sitting around in someone's post.
  • How do I case? Do some live cases with a case partner (friend). Try your career office also. Casing with a current consultant is also really helpful to help you shake off your nerves. Maybe try asking someone you networked with.
  • Keep in mind that you don’t need to do an entire case every time. You can practice just doing a framework or giving a recommendation or just doing some math rather than the whole 30+ minute exercise.
  • Be adaptable. It's fine to make minor mistakes, but you need to be able to recover/maintain your composure.

3 – Behavioral

• Arguably more important than casing. A good behavioral will make up for a meh case, but a good case will not make up for a meh behavioral. Being a consultant is a teachable skill. Being a decent person is not.
• All the generic advice (STAR method, have a lot of stories to pull from for multiple questions etc.) applies.

4 – Interviewing Generally

• Ask the interviewer questions about them/their experience (people like talking about themselves).
• Really think through questions and give a good response to their question. "What was your favorite project" I've been told is bleh.

Misc.

• Matt Huang on YT is a good guy to watch. He's pretty wholesome and has helpful videos.
• Avoid browsing this website too much if you care about your mental health. It’s good for some information (what is culture at X firm like? What is attrition rate? What exit opps exist?), but should be a last resort.
• Think about if you want an MBA or not. Some firms fund it! But it doesn’t help your career progression at said firms usually.

Wow. Thank you so much man! Really really appreciate it!

Not OP but I'm currently a junior at a target looking to recruit FT. I loved the write up but it won't let me PM either. Do you mind sharing your doc?

Thanks for the write-up, do you mind if I PM as well? 

Definitely possible but MBB will look at you weird for only having a 3.5 gpa. Best way to get around that is networking.