Industrial Engineering vs BBA for Consulting from a top school in both

I am a freshman at the University of Michigan, in Ross, but considering transferring to the Engineering school

I am leaning toward working in consulting, but I am not even entirely sure about working in business yet.

If I were to do industrial engineering and do well in school, would I be able to get a job at a top MC company, ie MBB, McKinsey, etc..

The reason I want to do IOE is that I prefer something technical way more. I like math and believe IOE will open more possible work opportunities, or is this wrong? If I were to do business, consulting would be pretty much the only thing I would be interested in.

Or does doing simply doing a BBA make it much easier? Also, I don't want to do a dual degree.....

Passing up Ross and its name/prestige, shrewd, retarded? Any advice would be helpful.

9 Comments
 

Double major takes 5 years and it's too much stress, I either want to go one way or the other.

My biggest fear with dropping Ross is losing all the consulting recruiting because Ross is a hotspot for those companies. But if I were to do well enough at IOE, you guys are saying that the opportunities will be there regardless? Or will they be much harder to obtain....

 

Since you appear to have ruled out investment banking, both programs have similar opportunities in consulting. The top handful go to MBBs. The next group of people go to the Deloittes, Accentures, etc. It's generally the non-consulting options that mostly differ. If you don't make it into consulting, Ross has alternatives in Big 4 accounting and corporate finance roles. IOE, on the other hand, offers a variety of operations and supply chain roles along with a few industrial engineering roles. Most of this is predicated on the firms that show up to each school's respective career fair. With some networking, you could always cross-over on some of these roles because, frankly, neither finance nor ops is rocket science.

If I was in your shoes, I would suggest staying with Ross and minor in Math or Stats because commuting to North Campus in the winter sucks.

 
Best Response

I would go with engineering for the following reasons: 1. MBB loves engineers. 2. A technical degree confers technical knowledge that would give you a leg-up in relevant industries and practice areas. 3. Leaves door open for an engineering career if consulting no longer interests you. 4. I don't know if U of M is a target school on a university-wide level, but as long as MBB comes to recruit Ross students, you can probably get an interview.

However, 1. A high GPA is pretty much a prerequisite for interviews with MBB. Not saying engineering is always harder than business, but your ability to get a high GPA in either major should be taken into consideration, especially within the context of your specific school.

 

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