Is MBB still a lucrative career path out of undergrad in 2025?
How does one build long term wealth starting out of undegrad at a MBB NYC/Bos office.
Here is my complaints with starting in this field:
1. MBB has the least pay out of all the traditional career paths (tech, IB/high finance, consulting, medicine, law) yet has the second highest hours per week
2. It is advertised as a massive learning & development stop with huge exit opportunities, but the highest paying of which (PE & VC) are 20x more easy to get coming out of IB/high finance. Most other exit opps (corp strat, operations, marketing) will sacrifice long term career earnings for less hours. This is fine if you want a chill life comfortably raking in 150K-300K, but not conducive to building long term wealth. The exit path I haven't mentioned is being a founder or early employee at a startup, which certainly has a high upside, but it also has insanely high volatility and a low probability of panning out.
3. Can build top 1% wealth if you stay and eventually are promoted to partner, but very hard to make senior partner, and SP classes are shrinking every year. The up or out culture is very real, so its easier said than done to ride out MBB until you get to earn profit share. Even if you do want to stay, you will often be pushed to do an MBA (with the decreasing value of b-school, one could argue it is a waste of 2 years and a high opportunity cost even if the firm sponsors)
4. Retarded travel 60% of the week to BS destinations which a lot of times isn’t even factored into the hours per week
5. Grind all year for a shitty bonus that is at best, 50% of IB bonus, at worst 10%
6. Every says its a prestige farm to have on your resume, but getting less and less valuable with larger analyst classes across all MBB and the future of the entire industry is in question due to AI. Whose to say MBB carries the same prestige in 10-20 years
All this isn't to be dismissive of MBB, but if one's goal is solely to build a lot of wealth, why would they chose MBB over other career paths? Sure, law and medicine have high input costs with the extra schooling, but even if you take those out why would one choose MBB over tech or IB (assuming they have the ability to get a job in either industry).
Based on the most helpful WSO content, MBB consulting remains a lucrative career path out of undergrad in 2025, but it may not be the optimal choice for those whose sole goal is to maximize long-term wealth. Here's a breakdown addressing your concerns and how one might build wealth starting at an MBB NYC/Boston office:
1. Pay vs. Hours
2. Exit Opportunities
3. Partner Track Challenges
4. Travel Demands
5. Bonuses
6. Prestige and Industry Future
Why Choose MBB Over IB or Tech?
Final Thoughts
If your primary goal is to build long-term wealth, IB or tech may offer a more direct path. However, MBB can still be a lucrative option if leveraged strategically. Focus on maximizing the opportunities MBB provides—whether through rapid promotions, strategic exits, or leveraging the brand to pivot into high-growth industries.
Sources: Checking in 6 years later [IB to MBB transition], Choosing between McKinsey, Bain, and BCG?, Is BCG a viable path to Private Equity?, At MBB soon. Steps to take to generate long-term wealth and passive income, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/school/got-paid-360k-do-i-go-to-bschool?customgpt=1
This seems to be in line with a bunch of random IB hate on consulting posts but here’s some quick fire answers:
1. MBB pays more than residency and the majority of law careers (big law represents a very small percentage of the market) it also costs less as these careers require advanced degrees. Law and medicine also have worse hours on average, especially residency years and big law. IB will pay more but also has worse hours.
2. Obviously PE and HF will have more IB people working there as the careers/skill sets are more similar. If your goal is exit opps with largest salaries then yes it could be better. However, a lot of people prefer small comp boosts with better hours.
3. MBBs are moving slightly more towards not needing and MBA, however, a lot of people who have gotten them still see value and enjoy the endeavor. Up and out is real in every major industry like this, IB included so not much different. B school value is a whole different discussion.
4. Travel has and is still going down, 60% is not accurate for most.
5. IB pays more but again works more hours so makes sense. ~120k base for MBB Before bonus puts recent grads in top 1% of early 20 year olds.
6. Who is to say what will have prestige in 10-20 years.
Overall what jobs people pick depend on what they enjoy doing and what they personally want from a career. IB can definitely pay more, however, they will work much heavier hours, especially for new hires. Consulting has a different workload and different but similar exit opps. If your goal is purely financial and nothing else in your life (work life balance, different exit opps, etc) then sure do IB. I will say big law (which is what you really mean by law) or medicine (after med school AND residency) are not comparable at all across most metrics.
This is incredible! Could you elaborate more on MBBs moving towards not needing an MBA? I was considering an MBA for MBB. I have heard similar things from my friends yet no real evidence. How would associate recruitment look like then?
In this case they mean current analysts aren't pressured to get an MBA to advance to consultant/EM roles. Consultant recruitment post MBA is here to stay at least for the near future.
why is this posted every 3 months lol
most people who do consulting did not want to do IB. and same is true vice versa.
Not gonna comment on most of this post because someone else addressed it, but the point about pay is just illogical.
Yeah IB pays more, but you can’t really compare the pay of a job you can get out of undergrad to the pay of jobs you need an advanced degree for (law, medicine). You have to wait years to get that higher pay, in addition to the fact that you have to pay to get the degree.
You do know these paths eventually ladder up GM/C-suite, which is in the millions in comp.
Lol the chance of every MBB exiting to corporate making C suite is the same as a random IB analyst making partner at BX (I.e. shouldn't factor in career decisions)
But there's a path, and if you get stuck somewhere on the way, you can still make fine dollars.
Why do you care about prestige so much?
As you mentioned, we have no idea what is "prestigious" 20 years from now. In 2005, your parents would have killed you if you dropped out to join Y Combinator. Now it is one of the most sought after paths for young professionals.
Dude, please stop.
Long term I'm 100% sure that MBB leads to better outcomes than banking for the median and average analyst. (And nobody there is just "average", if you're suggesting that you're better.)
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