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If I was interested in finance, I'd do OW; else-wise, Deloitte S&O. Strategy& has been on a downward slope, and Accenture strategy is a tier below. All great jobs though.
Disagree on the Strategy& comment as the firm has been growing. Growth is from PwC partners networking Strategy& into their connections -> increase in the number of new projects.
opsdude1 is pretty dead on.
Unless you have a clear interest in financial services or want a small firm experience, Deloitte S&O is the clear choice. It has a much more structured program for new hires than strategy& or Accenture strategy, great grad school placement, and exit ops.
Strategy& currently has similar exit ops and grad school placement but has suffered greatly from the PwC acquisition. Accenture strategy is potentially on the rise but is still very far from being a OW, S&O, or S&.
I agree with the comments previously mentioned. I would add that in deciding between OW and Deloitte S&O, you'll likely see more 'strategy' work at OW and you'll have to compete among your peers if you want any non-ops work at Deloitte, even in S&O. Deloitte S&O is probably more known for M&A work (at least in NYC) and Healthcare Ops work. OW on the other hand is much strong in Financial services, Retail, Aviation and a couple more niche industries. They're also very different cultures (OW being more academic and Deloitte more of a Big 4 culture), OW also isn't a 'program' so it allows for a bit more flexibility and your peers at OW will likely come from more prestigious backgrounds / schools.
Deloitte is only strong if you're looking at the US market. Elsewhere it is pretty much tier 3, in Germany and Europe nobody wants to work for Accenture and Deloitte, at least not if you're MBB caliber but didn't get a shot there.
Strategy& in Europe is very strong, in Germany they pay much more than the market and grow fast. I have applied for all of them and the difference between Monitor Deloitte and Strategy& was almost 40k per year for the graduate position (Deloitte is not paying a bonus + S& pays almost 15-20k more in base).
I did not accept the Strategy& offer since I had better alternatives, but given they remain as independent as they are now they would have been my second choice after MBB. Oliver Wyman is pretty much the same as S& in Europe, they're stronger in FS but for the rest they are rather weak.
In Europe:
Tier 1: MBB Tier 2: OW, S&, ATK, LEK, Berger Tier 3: Deloitte Tier 4: Accenture
In my view, before deciding which consulting firm to choose, you should think about what are your criteria. In general, salary and exit ops are the two big men. After a career of over 20 years in the industry, my list would be the following: (I put in bold the ones you asked about specifically):
Tier 1: MBB
Tier 2: Accenture Strategy, OW, ATK, LEK, Berger
Tier 3/Big Four: Booz, Deloitte S&O, etc.
Explain to us how ACN has better exit ops and salary than S&O. Two very quantifiable things that are not true.
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