At what point would you draw the line on post-MBA consulting
I'm exploring consulting, and the alternative of going into psychiatry. Consulting is something I wish I did out of undergrad but I didn't. A few of my classmates got into the big 4 acc/consulting as well as the top 3 MBBs such as McKinsey, but I did CB :/.
Anyway here's my deal:
- I've been coasting since UG and haven't done much but clocking in and clocking out for work, meaning I have a less than stellar resume. Which will impact MBA admissions and I'm sure post MBA ops. I'm not unambitious or lazy it was just the circumstances of things that made me very dull.
- I am working towards the GMAT. Due to the above anything less than stellar is not an option, so I'm I'm aiming for 720 minimum. If I don't do this I'll probably pack up my things and go to med school. It seems like the most rational choice
- I will probably need to go to an MBA that isn't heavy on letters of rec as I won't have any - see bullet point one. I'm planning to change jobs but they'd probably be salty if I left within a year to pursue an MBA.
I'm trying to be rational about the investment of time and money and the outcomes of my investment in terms of career ops.
- Say I end up doing UG at USC. Realistically, with the information given above, what are the post-MBA opportunities?
- Would the post grad opportunities be worth the estimated $180,000 in loan's I'd take and lack of income for the 2 years working?
- Eve though I have a less than stellar resume I still want to work in a consulting group where I can have confidence in management being able to provide good training, an environment requiring rapid development of necessary skills and knowledge , and to work with motivated driven individuals. I haven't been able to experience these in my post UG career which honestly had a negative impact on me and led me to feeling lost and stuck. I'm not a hardo by any means, but I'm investing a lot of time and money, and once committing to this, there will be no turning back.
- Depending on the career opportunities, if I can't progress upward I'd like to be able to offer my services to small businesses <$20mm in revenue.
I was kind of thinking psychiatry as an alternative. I wouldn't mind paying 200k in schooling then being an M.D, or D.O, and making $200k+ a year working 8-5 with generous vacation time. Obviously here I'd be doing 4 years of school + residency. The debt would be similar to B-School loans.
As the title says, at what point would post MBA consulting path not be worth it?
You didn't provide us with us much of your background or experience. I've been keeping an eye on the admits at the T15 schools the last two - three years now via LinkedIn. I'm really not impressed with some of the backgrounds of these folks (no offense to them at all), compared to previous years. Scores aside, just previous experiences / background. So generally speaking, I'd say go for it. T15 gives you a pretty good shot at MBB.
The MBA is a market of itself, as all higher education is. There's two sides of the market of course, Supply and Demand. It seems the demand side in respect to hiring from MBB group and other consulting firms remains high. Yet, the supply side seems strained. Less and less demand for the MBA by current professionals each year, thus less impressive backgrounds (supply) in that 7 - 15 ranked school range. The M7 seems to be holding strong and likely will. The rest of the MBA schools are strained in their pickings. And the pressure continues the further you go out from M7, T15, and beyond to the top 50.
3-4 years in CB
Alright - I mean worse comes to worst you spend 6 months in prep, increase your quant and verbal understanding, spend about 2k on prep, books, and applications, and don’t get an interview or get in. From my perspective, not the end of the world. No risk of ruin
That's your feedback based on my background LOL. That's funny. I'm sure I can get 700+ in less than 6 months...
It's hard to stay motivated when so in doubt about it all. Like I said I'm going to have to stick to schools that don't require letters of rec, and I wonder if my past performance, or lack of, will make things difficult when it comes to recruiting given that I'll be at least 32 by then...
What do you mean don't get an interview or get in? You're talking about B-school interview? I wonder if I could network in if I get a high gmat score.
Some quick n dirty napkin math b/c I think you’re underestimating the opportunity costs since you mention being rational about time and money.
Psych would be an objectively bad financial decision unless you’re some UES shrink charging $2k an hour to listen to neurotics complain about their husband diddling the maid or you’re passionate about it. Nothing chill or 9-5 when you start out after either. You have people’s health in your hands…I know senior shrinks at hospitals starting rounds at 6am, doing procedures, consults, sessions, traveling to multiple locations a day and then taking call at night/being on call. For 200-250k? And the liability? And endless paperwork? No thanks.
Figure whatever your current path in CB will lead to in 8 years comp wise.
then:
Ignoring COL since you have to live somewhere( & ignoring drastically cutting your standard of living)…
4 years of loans, most of which won’t be subsidized. Average school over 55k a year now and going up fast but lets call it interest free for the first 4 years.
4 years of residency scraping by on ~60k. So you’re not servicing debt and interest is accruing, so you’ll come out with ~300k in debt.
You don’t mention what your undergrad is in, and if you’d need a post bacc to be competitive. And all the other bs they want for admissions these days…
Tens of thousands in board and exam fees. And maybe close to 10k to apply to ~10-15 schools. All to make less than you’d be making in 8 years?
Little dirty napkin mather’
Thanks for sharing!
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