3.5 non-target- What tier firm should I aim for?

Some quick stats: I'm junior at a non-target state school going into corporate finance internship at a tech company, F1000. My GPA is ~3.5. Don't have any current connections really but have a few months to network and may have some family connections that might pan out.

I want to try to land some consulting offers, in case I don't like my internship. I'm asking what are my options? I'm thinking it's not even worth trying to go for MBB at this point but should I go for Tier 2- ATK, S&O, etc or for tier 3- big4/accn MC.

Also do you have any advice for particular boutiques to apply for?

Would greatly appreciate any advice.

 

Based on my recruiting experience, non-target 3.5 (assuming non-quant major) will be extremely tough for MBB, and the likes of ATK, OW, etc. People who fall in this bucket at these firms usually have something exceptional to make up for it, like insane internship or entreprenurial experience.

I don't want to tell you not to apply to those firms though. It requires work to put forward applications, network, etc. but it's not impossible. You WILL need referrals though as I just don't see any other way given what you've said.

I think big4, accenture, etc. are realistic targets to score some interviews, especially if they've hired people from your school.

If you find that you don't have the time/energy to split networking across all of these firms (because it is a lot...), I would personally recommend focusing on the big4, accenture, etc. category. You're more likely to realize actual results there.

 
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Above commenter is probably correct that 3.5 non-target will be really difficult for MBB/T2.

> Thanks for the answer Auston. I eventually want to get into strategy consulting or corporate strategy. How possible is it to start in big4 MC and then get into these areas in your opinion?

Very possible. Here's some options in what I'd consider to be decreasing difficulty.

  1. Big4/ACN --> transfer to strategy team in same firm (e.g. ACN MC --> ACN Strat)
  2. Big4/ACN --> lateral to strategy at another firm
  3. Big4/ACN --> MBA --> re-recruit
  4. Just go work in corporate strategy, recruit directly for that out of undergrad (some companies do hire fresh undergrads for it)
  5. Realize that the work 'strategy' probably doesn't need to be an important part of your career goals, there are plenty of interesting jobs and careers outside of 'strategy' (which is not clearly defined for most jobs) but my guess is you're probably in a position where you think it sounds cool and fancy and want to do it because you think it's inherently the best - not knocking you, that was where I was and most people are at your point IMO, it's so hard to figure out what's what and strategy sounds cool so we latch onto it before we understand it. Just make sure you don't put too many eggs in one basket.
 

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