Freshman Summer for Management Consulting career path?

If I'm interested in Management Consulting as a possible career path, what should I be doing the summer after my freshman year of college? Will something finance/business related such as wealth management or investment banking be relevant? If I'm interested in healthcare consulting, would something like an operations internship at a medical office be more appropriate?

 

Summer after freshman year really doesn't matter. Anecdotal, but a lot of friends who joined consulting spent freshman summer as a waiter/waitress/camp counselor/tutor etc. before getting more "professional" jobs in their sophomore or junior summers. If you must, anything that is client-facing or involves research/critical thinking should be fine.

 

I spent my summer after freshman year as a lifeguard, after sophomore year I did a “management internship”, and for junior year I did a part-time internship during the spring with a startup and a name brand internship in the summer. I ended up getting interviews from most consulting firms and a few offers.

You definitely don’t need to do anything impressive after freshman year, but I did notice that those who did boutique consulting internships after sophomore year were best positioned for junior year internship recruiting for top consulting firms. The most important thing to do as a freshman is join clubs you’re interested in where you see yourself being a leader junior/senior year. Also it’s your freshman year—make a lot of friends and have a good time. Not many loners get offers.

 

Aut voluptatibus aut illo sint rerum beatae alias. Voluptatum reiciendis aut quo repudiandae quos. Ipsa id hic sit et sunt id quibusdam.

Provident ut omnis sint qui adipisci quasi. Non odio voluptatem dolorem velit omnis. In in et aspernatur mollitia sed ipsa. Voluptatem enim asperiores voluptas rerum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 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

May 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

May 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

May 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (100) $226
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • Senior Consultant (331) $130
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Consultant (587) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (146) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (344) $103
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1048) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (189) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (552) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”