Is a data science internship okay to take before recruiting for management consulting full-time?

Some context: I'm a 3rd year engineering student in Canada that has an offer for data science at one of the big Canadian banks for my junior year internship. However, I want to recruit for management consulting (particularly MBB/T2/B4) for full-time. The position is less data analysis and more so predictive modelling - high opportunity for impact at this internship, which is attractive to me.

Is data science a good internship to take to recruit for management consulting full-time? Am I pigeon-holing myself too much as an "engineer" and not a consultant by doing this, in your opinion? Will my story be too hard of a sell coming out of a data science internship?

I want to go with this data science offer for an internship because I feel like it might be a useful skill set (even in consulting) and provides a viable back up career in case I strike out in consulting recruitment full-time. Wish I could go through consulting recruitment as well for the summer, but I have to accept this offer well before interviews occur in Canada.

As for the rest of my profile, GPA is very strong and well rounded resume - variety of leadership positions and EC's. Past internship experience in a more soft skills oriented environment at Deloitte in advisory.

Any insight in guidance is appreciated! I have an interview for an analogous role (data science) for a larger brand name (think P&G/Unilever/Nestle) but interviews are after this offer explodes (and this internship I have in hand looks to be higher impact).

Tl;dr --> engineering major, past internship at Deloitte in advisory (not S&O), data science internship offer on the table. Concerned that a technical internship in data science will not be good for MBB et al.

4 Comments
 

Thanks for the response! In Canada, consulting firms recruit pretty late for summer internships (Dec-Jan) so the one unfortunate aspect is that I won't get a shot at recruiting for summer consulting internships (this offer explodes this week and I don't want to pass it up).

Do you think missing out on summer recruitment and only recruiting full-time is a big deal? Am I making a mistake/missing out here?

 

Hic rem ea delectus neque voluptas et et. Voluptas saepe distinctio ut explicabo non quam. Nam et mollitia excepturi sequi et possimus.

Corrupti dignissimos molestias possimus rerum facere voluptatem et. Ab est in incidunt expedita aut at delectus. Aut quod ratione architecto quae consequatur nisi. Ratione architecto commodi ut mollitia. Ad molestias officia ea earum voluptatem quasi qui. Doloribus molestiae magnam sit eos cum dolor quae.

Sint vitae sint ut. Provident distinctio eos molestiae aliquam. Est est cum molestiae unde tenetur quia explicabo odit. Et facere eos inventore ipsum similique ut esse culpa. Tempore perspiciatis cumque perferendis commodi odio sed officiis. Accusantium eos voluptas dignissimos velit.

Consequuntur error ut quia esse est. Non esse iste illum assumenda ullam sequi aliquam. Ea et eveniet recusandae rem et et omnis dolores. Id doloribus aut aut fugiat perspiciatis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 99.0%
  • 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 99.0%
  • 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 99.0%
  • 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 (171) $173
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (116) $135
  • Senior Consultant (354) $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 (1163) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (208) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (634) $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
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”