Best MBAs for Consulting Recruting Outside of the M7/Top 10?

UVA, Duke, Tepper, Haas, Tuck, Stern

I should also note that only your first job will be mostly determined by your MBA (in addition to prior W/E--so you should realize your MBA won't make up for that entirely), After that, its how well you perform in the industry--not what brand you have. I am speaking from what other told me, not my own experience. I am a career changer getting ready to attend an M7 school, so I will let you know how it goes.

Add UMich and CMU. Is Cornell part of the top 10? if not add that. you can also go a little lower and add G-town, USC, maybe also notre-dame.

You know- all these school publish mba career reports that detail where their graduates go and their compensation. The smart research would be to just look these up and see which get a lot of consulting hires.

CMU is Tepper buddy.

Also, there is Yale SOM

You can land an M7 school with a F500 background. Its the H/S/W types that are very hard to break into. I got into an M7 with a sub 3.0 GPA and a low 700s GMAT. I am a white male from a non-traditional background.

What about Kellogg? According to US News, they are in the same league as HSW this year. Otherwise, which M7s outside of HSW are more forgiving to people like me and are solid for consulting? You say a non-trad background, so what do you mean by that?

Also, is F500 experience a decent feeder for consulting or should I aim for something else?

Don't pay attention to the rankings. There are the rankings in a magazine, and then the rankings that everyone knows are the truth. It goes like this:

Tied for #1 (depends on the person)

HBS Stanford

Solid #3 Wharton

The rest of the M7: Chicago Kellogg MIT Columbia

The rest fo the Top 7 are all pretty much eqivilant in career opportunity. Choosing between these schools on the basis of pretige is a waste of time--just pick the one that fits you the most. For example, I want to live in NYC and go into Banking, and don't care about the mid west. Though Chicago is slightly more prestigeious and is more known for its deep academic roots, I dont really care about that. Kellogg and MIT are also "higher ranked" than Columbia, but they are Marketing & Consulting schools. Columbia, for me, is the obvious choice. Bottom line, there is H/S, then W, and after that its all good from 4-7. Any school in the top-15 mentioned in this thread is a good school and can lead to success. The determining factor, even if you do go to the coveted H/S/W trinity of holy schools touched by God himself (cough...bullshit....cough), you still have to demonstrate drive and ability through your interviews and work ethic. I'll take a Darden grad with a great work ethic and something to prove over the guy with a perfect resume, HBS MBA, and a sense that they are God's gift to the human race.

What you have to do is write amazing essays. Look at the types of essays are required now, and over your career seek the types of experiences that will allow you to shine on paper. Volunteer, apply yourself. Don't just participate. Lead those around you--whether you are in a formal position to do so or not. Take lessons from your successes. Fail as well. Learn from those failures and write down the lessons you learned. Rock the GMAT. Shoot for low 700s at the least. Its not the job you hold that matters, it how you impact your organization, and the recommendations you can get from your supervisors. If you were weak in a subject in your undergrad, take it over at a local college and earn A's in them.

I started my goal for an MBA 3 years ago--and all the planning ahead paid off. Its a bloodbath right now, so you have to give yourself every edge. Shoot for the top 3, 7 and 15 schools. Yogi Berra said it best: "Its better to shoot for the stars and miss, than to aim for the gutter and make it."

I realize McCombs is kind of its own island but BCG, McKinsey, Booze, and Deloitte all recruit there, with the latter 3 serving as "corporate partners".

I'd echo what Killer_Queen said, but remove MIT. Those schools she mentioned are the only ones I would put aside geographical desires to attend. In other words, I'm not going to Ross/Darden/Fuqua and that ilk over McCombs, because I want to work in Texas. I would, however, go to one of those 6 above regardless of my intentions post-grad.

Thanks for the responses. So, you're telling me there's a chance (Dumb and Dumber reference in case anyone caught it) at getting into consulting even from schools outside the M7 then I take it. I guess if geography were to matter, I'd be aiming for the mid-atlantic region (i.e. North Carolina/Virginia and Atlanta even though ATL isn't mid-atlantic), Texas (Dallas/Austin) or the west coast (particularly Seattle or San Diego). So does anyone have any idea about firms that place well in those parts of the country?

Also, ignoring MC positions for a moment, what about other positions in corporate finance (not banking)? Are there schools known for putting people on the fast track in F500 firms, or is MC the best way to do that basically?