Getting Into MBB Consulting or Other Career Paths

Hey All,

I am currently a 26 year-old living in New Orleans who is looking to change career paths. I graduated from Tulane University with a 3.97 GPA and a degree in Finance. I completed the Teach for America program and currently work as a senior underwriter for a startup fintech/lending company with over 250 employees. On the side, I have been volunteering free consulting services for small business owners in New Orleans who need help with accounting/budgeting/financial analysis. I scored a 740 on the GMAT last May (49 Quant 41 Verbal). In terms of my career right now, I feel very behind all of a sudden.

I have a few questions:

  1. To me, it seems like my best option to become successful would be to get into an M7 school for my MBA and then to try to work for an MBB or similar consulting company for a few years before going into more of a corporate strategy role. Does this seem feasible and what type of salary could I expect after getting my MBA?
  2. Would it be possible to get into venture capital or private equity? If so, what would the best path be toward pursuing this field This seems like somewhat of a longshot given my lack of corporate finance/valuation/investment banking experience.
  3. Is there any other path in finance/consulting that may be a lucrative path (corporate strategy, corporate finance, etc.)?

Thank you!

2 Comments
 

Drewjr28, bummer your thread hasn't had a response yet. Maybe one of these threads could point you in the right direction:

  • Corporate Strategy Career Path and helpful in building your resume up to getting a career in strategy and other feel that they are ... start you career in management consulting to go into corporate strategy, but it is not necessary. While ... a tier 2 strat consulting job and then jump into industry. I don't know much about that route, but ...
  • Off The Beaten Path: Commercial Banking to Private Equity (The Non-Traditional Route) the only way to get your 'out-of-the-box' resume in the shortlist is for someone at the firm ... from a non-traditional background, you're going to have to do something exceptional to get ... there's a good chance that your on-the-job skills aren't going to be enough to get you the job you ...
  • M/B/B intern looking to move into finance to get into PE. i've applied to some BBs for FT (gs, ms, leh, ml, and jpm) and i've also ... ones i want to go to... argh. others were consulting internship offers (not to many either). but i know ... hey guys, i have a bit of a situation here. i interned with mbb over the summer and got an offer. ...
  • Low GPA/no experience-How to get into consulting? IT or litigation type consulting? Regards The Low GPA Students path to consulting Getting into ... with a low GPA. Is there any hope to get into consulting? I know there is no chance of getting a good ... considering were getting an MA in economics. But I don't have the GPA to get into g
  • Career Path to become a Real Estate Developer path to take to get into real estate development or to get accepted into an MBA/MSRED program? As far ... I should take? I most likely would enjoy any of the possible paths. How To Get Into Real Estate Development ... working in brokerage, working in banking, engineering, and multiple others. The best way is to get
  • Small Liberal Arts College Student Looking To Hit Investment Banking And Curious About Paths To Other Industries trying to use their last year in college to take the courses necessary to get into consulting, investment ... banking, or an MBA. Please someone give me any guidance. Thanks, CS. get a job Consulting Career Advice ... route I wanted to go down. Yeah, I am one of those. I am beyond considering leaving the MD path to ...
  • Can I break into strategy consulting/MBB with a U Washington STEM/CS degree? reputation will carry over into the financial sector. I've seen tons of UW kids' dreams get torn ... on getting either a CS degree or- as a backup- another of their computing majors (ACMS, Informatics, ... Applied math, etc). I am very much on the path towards working in tech. I come from a family of ...
  • More suggestions...

Hope that helps.

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

Mollitia dolorum aspernatur nihil repellendus. Earum nemo exercitationem dolore odio dolorem corrupti.

Quo et veritatis neque similique doloremque quos veritatis natus. Iure consequatur est tempore voluptatibus id omnis est. Aut porro praesentium porro et eaque earum possimus.

Quod et ut quo ipsa exercitationem nemo dolores enim. Et aliquam ad at omnis quia ut.

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...”