MBB Full-time vs. Intern Acceptance

I have read strikingly conflicting things all over the internet as to whether it is harder (acceptance rate-wise) to get into MBB as a full-time new grad applicant vs the internship application.

I have seen some posts that say their McKinsey office accepted 2 intern roles and 6 full-time (meaning clearly that full-time is easier), and others that say for example Bain only takes full-time if it needs to replace an internship student that either didn't meet standards or that didn't accept the return offer (meaning it must be substantially easier to get in as an intern).

I am really looking for someone to shed some light on this, since I can't make sense of these conflicting arguments. Please offer thoughts --- McKinsey's internship and full time are still open so this is specifically what I am trying to answer. (Bain and BCG early deadlines have closed for both).

11 Comments
 

Have never heard the thing you said about Bain. That might be office specific - my office hired a substantial amount of full time ACs after giving returns to almost all the interns

Most people typically say that ft recruiting is easier for MBB

 

Have never heard the thing you said about Bain. That might be office specific - my office hired a substantial amount of full time ACs after giving returns to almost all the interns

Most people typically say that ft recruiting is easier for MBB

Maybe that is how it works at some smaller offices, that's a good theory -- I did heard that information directly from someone at that office though so I have to expect it to be true

 

Eh, I work at one of the largest Bain office in NA. I do think it’s seasonal / office dependent though - Chicago barely hired any FT for their incoming class and simply signed all their ACIs

 
Most Helpful

I think things have changed a bit recently. When I was recruiting for MBB (~4-5 years ago... damn I'm feeling old!), there was a lot of full time hiring for people who didn't intern. But when I started, they began to shift to mostly intern recruiting (where maybe ~66% of the class interned, so it's definitely possible to land a full time offer if you didn't intern there). But this could have been due to market conditions, as things have tightened up recently and they kept pushing back start dates, so they might not need to hire many more people full time. 

 

You know you can apply for both right? You should apply as an intern and if you don’t get it you can apply the next year for full time. Not getting an internship offer doesn’t have a negative effect on applying full time

 

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