Is it even possible to break into MBB from as a non-target student?

My background: Rising junior at a non-target school. I had a consulting intern experience at Big four consulting and had participated a national consulting competition. Since I'm a undergrad student, my experiences were pretty limited.

I met an associate at one ofMBB yesterday. He thought my resume is extremely unqualified because I don't have 2~3 years experience. I told him I'm just a junior student and applied BA analyst intern but he still claimed that I need years of experience. I actually have strong passion about consulting and he was surprised that I was so passionate about consulting industry when I talked about my experience. I even gave him some of my analysis for business cases, though he might think it's bullshit... But I'm not a professional.. My skillsets are diverse, I know Statistical languages, python and algorithm for data analysis. I'm also proficient in Excel and PPT since I have done several big projects and gone through some professional training. I did everything I could to fight for an opportunity. Then he told me that MBB only recruit from top 10 and he said that even if he pass my resume to recruiter, the recruiter won't bother taking a look because I don't go to Top 10. I truly understand that but at the same time I felt very frustrated. I'm really passionate about this industry but don't have chance for an interview just because of my school name. I'm not saying that I only want to go to MBB, I also applied small and middle consulting firms. But when I tried to fight for an opportunity for MBB, I was getting really frustrated. Maybe my experiences were just too limited..or he just simply doesn't like me as a person...idk.

3 Comments
 
Best Response

Hey man - I feel your pain! It is difficult to break in to MBB from a non-target school. BUT, it is definitely not impossible. I managed to break in to MBB, just recently accepting an offer from one of them (I am finishing up my senior year in UG.) I don't have any internship consulting experience but I am very active in my school's consulting club on campus.

The biggest hurdle is getting in the door. You need to network like crazy and impress one or two big players (think manager and above.) If they flag your resume internally you'll get looked at and hopefully get a first round. If you can get a partner or two (especially senior ones) to mention your name you'll most likely get in for an interview. After that, the playing field becomes much more even. You still need to do a bit better than a target school individual (because you still have some credibility to make up for) but if you are working hard on case prep and are truly passionate, it's definitely doable.

Definitely don't discount non-MBB firms either. Remember, even from the best target schools, getting an MBB offer is really hard!

 

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