IB vs. Consulting

Hi all!

I am currently in the midst of planning my career path and stuck between IB and Consulting.

I am a final year international student from a tier 1.5-ish target school in the UK. Interested in pharma/life sciences and have plans to go to a U.S. M7 business school for an MBA in a couple of years. My long term goal is healthcare/life sciences PE or VC.

I like consulting for the more generalist exposure and wider range of exit opportunities. However I am worried about not making it into MBB in London (which is my target city). Being international with limited country experience is a handicap, and from what I see, MBB London hires almost exclusively from Oxford and Cambridge.

My other target firms include LEK (one of my primary targets) and Monitor Deloitte.

My biggest concern is not making the cut for all of the five target firms and ending up in a role/firm that is less strategy/DD focused and more implementation. I feel there are more opportunities in IB to be learning similar skills thus having a lower variation in terms of exit oops as an investment banking analyst, whether in GS or Barclays or Moelis or Greenhill.

My preference, in order, is: 1. Heavy Strategy/DD consulting, London 2. Investment Banking (Don’t mind smaller shops), London 3. MBB, Regional Office (Home home for me)

Should I go ahead and try my best for top consulting firms in London? Do you think I will stand a much better chance at landing my second preference if I focus on IB roles and cast a wider net (in terms of number and range of firms)? Am I missing something important in my thought process?