How difficult is it to get into McKinsey from MBA?

I'm planning how to make it at McKinsey and finally be one of god's people. Just wondering how many massages I'll have to give before I get there.

Is Stanford GSB > McKinsey a doable path? I hear they take very few junior people and recruit more heavily at the consultant level?

 
Best Response
ibankingreject:
Breaking into McKinsey: so easy a caveman can do it

^not serious. My friend got an offer from blackstone but didn't get one from McKinsey. I hear they are huge on GPA and quant skills.

This is just one example. Blackstone is definitely more selective than MBB (at least private equity). Yes they are huge on GPA, not as much on quantitative skills though (I mean you cant be bad at it obviously). They hire history/sociology/anything majors and it is unfair to expect the same level of mathematical ability as say a computer science or math grad.

 
mmonkey:
ibankingreject:
Breaking into McKinsey: so easy a caveman can do it

^not serious. My friend got an offer from blackstone but didn't get one from McKinsey. I hear they are huge on GPA and quant skills.

This is just one example. Blackstone is definitely more selective than MBB (at least private equity). Yes they are huge on GPA, not as much on quantitative skills though (I mean you cant be bad at it obviously). They hire history/sociology/anything majors and it is unfair to expect the same level of mathematical ability as say a computer science or math grad.

This is interesting. I always considered Blackstone/McKinsey to be on a par for selectivity, as at a post-MBA level they seem to have a similar number of places/applicants. Do you perceive Blackstone to be more selective because of their narrower recruiting patterns (I.e. no grads, more PE-experienced focus)?

 

Even from top MBA programs its difficult to land a job with McKinsey. This VC's blog I follow worked for McKinsey. He was an EE from Princeton (around a 3.8 im guessing) interned at Oracle & GS IBD. He said they told him he was an ideal candidate if that helps at all.

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7S:

dont quote me on this, but i believe its slightly easier going in as an MBA than out of undergrad

One of my interviewers told me this in my interview.

There are probably fewer schools they look at for Associates than BAs, but they probably hire deeper into MBA classes.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 

They recruit heavily from H/S. As a matter of fact, they're interviewing people starting this week and they had a LOT of open spots. I think that MBB had more open spots than could possibly be filled. Interestingly, I've also seen they advertised heavily to gather interest but they're being somewhat conservative in extending offers. Perhaps because a lot of people are targeting other things and are just hedging with MBB which causes them to be under-prepared for the case interview. That's what I've observed.

 

As much as I like ripping on consultants, it is really rad if you can land a position with them out either undergrad or MBA. But what's the big benefit (relatively). I haven't seen nearly as many McKinsey people in PE or really even VC for that matter. I may be off, but it seems 3~4-1 at least. Where else do MBB's exit to?

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 
westfald:
As much as I like ripping on consultants, it is really rad if you can land a position with them out either undergrad or MBA. But what's the big benefit (relatively). I haven't seen nearly as many McKinsey people in PE or really even VC for that matter. I may be off, but it seems 3~4-1 at least. Where else do MBB's exit to?

Remember there's far more banking positions than consulting for starters.

The other major exit is corporate positions, more than PE/VC.

 

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