MBB Aspirant at T10
Hello all,
I am a freshman at Northwestern studying economics and another (easier) social science with a business minor. I aspire to be at MBB or another top consulting firm. I made a decent consulting club and the top consulting club here, but utterly flopped the finance clubs' application process. I got an internship in my hometown, but only at an employee benefits firm. I tried for wealth management and other fields but got nothing. My peers are getting insane internships as freshmen. My profile is extremely boring otherwise and I have almost no social skills and study 24/7 when I am not in clubs. I do not know what else to do from a low-income Asian male background. My SAT of 1550 is solid, but not spectacular for MBB. I do not know what internship I can get as a sophomore as without diversity or connections (all family in STEM), I cannot get anything at a name-brand company. Please tell me how to strengthen my MBB profile. Worst of all, my GPA is absolutely garbage at a 3.75. It could even go lower to a 3.7, I am trying my hardest. I started out in an econ-adjacent, more applied math kind of program and did terrible so switched to econ. This meant I kind of got on the hard econ classes track even as a freshman. I know the top consulting kids delay their hard econ classes to junior year when they secured MBB and then get bad grades (they get a 4.0 before that). Am I screwed? Should I transfer to UPenn?
As someone who’s incoming at MBB in a U.S. office, is this a troll post?
It really is not. I asked this to some NU people and they think as an Asian male my GPA is horrible. I guess I will go into accounting or audit then. Waste of my low-income parents' money even after financial aid to go to this university instead of my state school.
You are a freshman and have plenty of time to “recover” your GPA which is already good enough but not a head-turner. Focus on extracurriculars and other unique experiences to earn an interview. At this point all that matters is your casing performance, and I recommend preparing far in advance. Don’t get all existential if you don’t land MBB, there are plenty of other jobs
I will dedicate my summer to casing. I am focusing all my energies on my GPA, but I am too dumb for econ, I guess. I will probably just bite the bullet and end up at like Infosys or Cognizant.
Dawg I'm marked as HyPo for one of the MBB and I have a 3.5. Last cycle I got a final round with a 3.38. Take several deep breaths. You're a freshman. You're fine. My freshman summer I worked at a summer camp and made $4/hr. Literally do not sweat it. Keep your (already great) GPA up, work hard to get leadership positions in your clubs, case, and network. You'll do fine.
Again NU is not Harvard, so the general perception is that my GPA is extremely low for MBB here. What does HyPo mean? Congratulations, I am very happy for you that you landed in one of the MBB anyways. I will wager that you went to a better school than NU (BBA programs like Ross/Stern/Haas count), or are not an Asian male (statistically you are predicted to not be one), and you are definitely a very social, great human being with a warm personality and excellence exhibited outside the classroom. Getting leadership in these clubs is insanely hard because you have to basically become friends and do favors for the outgoing leadership and so on. My parents pay for me to get the maximum possible grades, not kiss up to other people to get leadership.
That last sentence has me thinking this is a joke post. Try being a warmer human being then maybe? Solidify your personality for interviews so you actually get somewhere and are memorable + establish a network. Not everyone can get McKinsey first year analyst.
This post is insane, 3.75 is more than fine. Relax freshman, get off WSO and go get laid. Touch grass and you'll make it brah
The internal NU perception is that my GPA is garbage, but obviously outside of NU people will say anyone can do anything. As an Asian male, I hate when people say this whole chill and get laid BS. Although I am failing school, my parents are at least happy that I am fully committed to my academics and clubs and not doing any of the stereotypical American college activities like drinking, drugs, sex, and so on. I have never even come close to having sex and I will never have it until I get married. Knocking a woman up is going to hurt my chances at MBB. Besides, I am just the nice, studious guy who is risk-averse and gets friendzoned daily anyways.
Stop making us asians look bad bro
Definetely a troll post lol
It isn't, though. Unlike IB, with consulting the salaries and prestige levels fall off after MBB/elite boutiques/Big 4 rivals like EY-P and S&. If I do not make any of these firms, I do not know what to do!
I’m an Asian male who got two MBB offers and incoming to one. You need to relax you’re just a freshman. Fun fact: MBB doesn’t want hardos who grind 24/7, they want hard working enthusiastic or genuine people who have good personalities and also know how to relax.
I didn’t have prestigious freshman internships and most people didn’t. I have friends who got MBB ft offers and have done zero internships before. You’ll be fine, just keep your gpa up and start case prepping your end of sophomore year. Also Over doing case prep can make you more canned and less creative
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I do not think it is one of the easiest majors at the school. I am not in the intro sequence, I already completed two of the intermediate ones. I am nearly done with my core requirements already and will start my electives in fall and end my core at the end of fall.
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Well MBB ain't for me, thanks for the harsh truth! Hopefully trying the deferred Kellogg MBA route will eventually get me in.
Buddy life isn't all about MBB. There's so many good jobs out there. Any of the tier-2 firms you mentioned are great, and there are many other paths besides consulting.
And a 3.75 GPA is solid! Relax, go out and have fun (being sociable is very important to success at MBB), and gear up for interviews. A 1550 is great, you have an internship as a freshman (I didn't and I'm at an MBB), and you go into the consulting club (most people, including me, did not get into their school's consulting club!).
And most importantly, get a better attitude! Nobody will want to work with someone who thinks like that, and nobody with that attitude lasts long in consulting!
My Tier 2 preference where I would be super happy would be OW/LEK/Kearney/S&/Accenture Strategy/EY-P. Beyond that, I will feel very disappointed and Northwestern will have been a waste. I hope these firms are a notch lower in selectivity. I also hope that their base salaries as listed by managementconsulted are accurate (almost every other website reports lower base salaries, although managementconsulted claims to have the most recent information). There are not many other paths besides consulting as I failed the banking/finance clubs and NU is not a target for banking/finance, at least not even close to consulting (I am also just way worse at stock pitch stuff). I do not know what other high-paying careers exist in the business field. Business roles in tech exist, but the recruitment process for those is much more secretive and more of a Ross/Haas affair.
Econ is one of the least rigorous majors but tons of people successfully recruit with Econ from NU lol, you are a freshman, you have so much time to get it up to 3.8-3.9 or even higher at least should be very easily doable, I hav3 friends who started with 3.6 freshman year and had 3.9 when recruiting
I finished all the core reqs excepting macro. No electives done and corp fin is also a hard BIP class. I think I will take all of these classes senior year or maybe junior year. That way I can get close to a 3.9 by internship recruitment.
This reads like someone co-splaying an exaggerated version of a socially clueless Asian male
This is legit!
Don't sweat the GPA- do sweat personality. Get a nice haircut, work on interviewing well, improve your general knowledge, and you'll have a great shot with your GPA. I am an Asian male with no hooks, and I networked my ass off and got MBB with a 3.5 from a school that trades ranking with yours. Improving your business sense is ESSENTIAL, no one can teach creativity and breadth of knowledge and that's what they're looking for. take interesting classes, become an interesting person and you'll be fine.
General knowledge is what I excel at the most. Networking is something I am unfamiliar with, but my consulting clubs have helped clear up my path. At the same time, I keep hearing that networking can save you from so many situations and I do not know if I should start doing it as a freshman (when consulting deadlines are still one year and change away).
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you gotta be trolling, there's no way
I am not trolling. As someone said in the above thread, I am a retard because my grades are so low in econ. I just hope I end up at one of my top 20 consulting firms and not just MBB now. I will be a disgrace to my family, but at least I can somewhat get a return on investment.
lmao, you're at one of the best universities in the world with a great gpa complaining.
take a step back and look at your situation objectively.
and stop acting like it's the end of the world, you're basically just fishing for pity on this forum.
If this isn't a troll post, I want to give you some perspective as another Asian male who had similar thoughts as you. While I'm happy and fortunate to be attending my current school, I was initially very upset about not getting into an ivy league school like many of my peers. I had a big chip on my shoulder and wanted to prove the world wrong by working at a top BB/EB. Even before I came to school, I scouted out all the finance clubs and talked with current students. However, when push came to shove, I got rejected by every club. Despite many finals rounds, I was very upset and thought how impossible my goal now seemed. Like you, I was very frustrated at the outcome and complained about everything I lacked. After talking to some others and reflecting, I realized I took everything way too seriously. Does being in a top club and having good grades help? Absolutely but there are ways to make up for it. Even if you have the best resume and grades, it only guarantees you an interview. Given your attitude, no one is going to hire someone who's victimizing himself. You're admitting defeat without even starting the process. There's still time to work on things you're worried about, and instead of complaining, take some accountability into your own hands. That being said, life isn't about MBB and you need to relax a bit. You're never going to be in college ever again, and try to make the best out of it.
My biggest problem was EDing to Northwestern when I could have made UPenn and then transferred to Wharton. Wharton is the best program in the world for undergrad consulting placement. Given my family's struggle to foot the bill even after so much financial aid, MBB does really matter a ton to lift us out of our difficult life. Maybe an MBA will get me into MBB.
If finances play such a role in your position, why not switch into tech? CS works less hours, pays more, and is less networking based. You are at a great place in life and no doors are closed.
Going to Penn vs Northwestern won't change anything. If anything it'd be harder to get a good GPA at Penn. But either way you're the same person- the bad attitude (not your GPA) is holding you back!
This guy is obviously trolling. Laughing my ass off to his comments.
Dude, I have faced rejection and uncertainty everywhere. Just coming to terms with the fact that this quarter I may get even less than a 3.7.
r/ApplyingtoCollege and its consequences have been a disaster to the human race.
I'm a 3.4 at Northeastern and currently at a T2 consultancy.
You'll be fine.
Good to hear.
Your first mistake was trying to sneak in Northwestern as a T10 school, bud
Definitely. Even though I go to NU, it is one of the most fraudulent T10s out there. Even now, we are tied for 10th in USNWR. I just said it to make me feel better about myself. Perhaps a transfer would help?
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