I'm not sure how the US works (Europe MBB here), but at least in Europe we are relatively agnostic about your degree. I know people from my start class with Law, Econ, Finance, Humanities backgrounds. As long as you can showcase Leadership / Teamwork / Achievements / Solid grades / some good work experience, I don't see why you couldn't apply for a grad job directly without waiting for an MBA.

If others know better how the US MBB job market considers uni majors, please feel free to correct me. But in general I dont see a good reason why not.

 
Most Helpful

Again, I can only speak from an EU/UK perspective (with limited exposure about the US). At my MBB, in the UK, a few years ago you would have needed to come from Oxbridge or the London unis to get looked at, but this has changed quite a bit. Now, while we focus most of our intentional recruiting on major universities, we'll definitely look outside of the usual suspects.

For the US, I admit that most recent US hires I have met were usually from top schools (HYPSM). But I met some people from UIUC, UVA, etc. So, while those schools are very good, I dont know if they qualify as targets per se. Happy to stand corrected by my US peers.

And if this is the case indeed (that the school you come from matters so much) then maybe you should indeed look into starting elsewhere (e.g., Top Boutique, Tier 2) and lateraling in a few years. Who knows, you might like it where you are and choose to stay there.

 

I’ve been thinking about doing boutiques and T2s as well but I’ve heard they mostly do operational consulting rather than higher level stuff. If that was the case, I’d rather stay where I am.

Are there firms outside of MBB that does mostly strategy consulting? Based on my research, there doesn’t seem to be much.

 

Tempora recusandae et quod. Consequuntur minima error ea perspiciatis rem sunt voluptatem. Fugit quod explicabo dolores iste porro. Nemo sapiente voluptas saepe impedit quibusdam et sit. Eius ullam laboriosam architecto quis accusantium vero adipisci.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (99) $225
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Senior Consultant (329) $130
  • Consultant (586) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (145) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (342) $102
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1046) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (547) $67
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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”