I did a degree, took time off, now I'm doing a second degree but thinking of dropping to pursue consulting?

I graduated from the University of Toronto a couple years ago with a liberal arts degree. I became a bit disillusioned due to realizing I didn't want to do what I thought I always wanted to do and family issues and ended up taking a year and a half off travelling -- now I'm in the exact same place I was before but with much less money. I ended up going back to school, doing a degree in mathematics. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, and figured it's general enough that I could apply it to a few different fields when trying to figure out what I want. I ended up meeting someone who was telling me about his goal of becoming a consultant with McKinsey, though, and I looked into consulting for the first time and I've become quite interested in pursuing it as a career.

Now, I've read that they'll hire people with humanities degrees, but I have a couple years between me and my degree with nothing to show for it (but pictures), but I'm only halfway done my new undergrad, meaning at best I'd be considered for an internship for another two years until I graduate. What are my options here? Should I try emailing someone at McKinsey and explaining my situation and hope I wouldn't be considered for just an internship? Cry at my poor life choices? Sorry for the massive wall of text

3 Comments
 

bump. I feel like I should mention, my specifically naming McKinsey doesn't mean my heart is set on McKinsey, just that my cities McKinsey had a very easily found email address. As great as it would be to work for McKinsey, it's not McKinsey or bust.

 

Quis ut dolorum cumque voluptatem ex velit beatae. Sed dolor ipsum est officiis doloribus suscipit. Qui hic aut sit maxime. Aut eligendi accusantium ea autem perferendis maiores. Qui corrupti id iste recusandae totam quia. Excepturi assumenda sunt veritatis neque mollitia. Magni dicta eaque quis nemo reprehenderit.

Alias sunt hic molestias qui. Placeat maxime eveniet impedit alias. Ut est perferendis rerum quasi possimus temporibus qui.

Sint velit blanditiis aliquam error nulla quasi saepe. Quibusdam est quia consectetur vero. Blanditiis quas est modi qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • McKinsey & Company 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Consulting

  • Cornerstone Research 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.4%
  • McKinsey & Company 97.9%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.5%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.9%
  • McKinsey & Company 98.4%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.9%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $361
  • Principal (30) $294
  • Director/MD (58) $274
  • Vice President (52) $246
  • Engagement Manager (114) $233
  • Manager (171) $173
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (116) $137
  • Senior Consultant (355) $132
  • Consultant (642) $122
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (164) $121
  • 1st Year Associate (577) $121
  • NA (16) $114
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (393) $104
  • Associate Consultant (176) $101
  • 1st Year Analyst (1164) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (208) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (640) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”