MBB/Tier 2 Recruiting at Top 15 MBA
I'm currently set to begin at a top 15 mba program in the Fall, think Fuqua/Darden/Ross; I plan on recruiting for MBB primarily but Tier 2 if that doesn't work, unfortunately I have a sub 3.0 UG gpa and 760 GMAT.
My question is how will my UG GPA, affect my chances at MBB's/Tier 2 firms, am I automatically dinged or will I still stand a chance to get interviews?
My previous WE is finance/operations role at a startup, if that helps.
Thanks!
Well, keep it off your resume and they won't know until the application drop. It probably won't matter. There might be one or two firms where it keeps you from an interview but at the end of the day they have other ways to evaluate you and that's just a piece of the picture. Just crush the networking, if they already know they want to interview you before apps drop then they're not going to rescind based on GPA.
Also, you don't need to state that you're primarily recruiting for MBB. Literally every MBA student targeting consulting is MBB>rest. It's like saying "I'm going to try to watch the Empire Strikes Back this weekend, but if I can't find it, I'm going to try for the Phantom Menace". Nobody in their right mind would take the latter over the former.
It might sound like a stupid question but what is the massive tangible difference in terms of in terms of actual experience plus exit ops between MBB and "the rest"?
I am looking at doing an MBA in 2018 with a view of getting into MBB. But I'm not convinced I'd be that gutted if I ended up at Accenture Strategy, Monitor Deloitte, Strategy& etc. Just wondering what you really see as being the huge difference which I should really strive for with MBB.
Bump* Interested in this as well
Of the three you note, Accenture pays less on the bonus end and comp drops off faster than the other two compared to MBB. In terms of exit ops, very similar outside of PE. You certainly will not be gutted. That being said, if you have cross offers from Bain and Deloitte, I pretty much guarantee you'll take Bain.
It's a few things.
1) MBB are able to charge much higher margins because of their brand. This has a couple implications on you as a consultant a) Higher margins allow you to promote more people and faster, resulting in a faster pay progression if you stick around in consulting b) Higher fees correlate with more impactful work. Not saying every MBB project is a sexy strategy project for a F50 company. But the sexy strategy projects with F50 companies definitely go to MBB and not 2nd tier
2) The selection bias effect. Regardless of whether you perceive MBB to be a cut above or not, the majority of MBA recruits do. And so if you end up at a T2 firm, people will assume it's because you went for MBB and couldn't cut it in the interview process. This isn't always the case, but it usually is, and that will impact your branding. If a recruiter's looking at two resumes and they're identical in every way except that one says BCG and the other says Deloitte, guess which one gets the nod. It's not everything, but it's not nothing.
Coming from a law school, but I received interviews from ~2 of MBB with a low 2's undergrad gpa. If you are at Ross, shoot me a message.
Deloitte seemed to have a hard GPA cutoff (maybe 3.0, maybe 3.1 or 3.2) as a lot of people at my school with lower GPAs didn't get interviews and one was told it was a GPA issue by the recruiter. MBB don't really seem to care, McK may scrutinize it a bit more in the overall scheme of things, but if you check the rest of the boxes and the consultants at the office you are targeting like you it doesn't mean anything.
As an FYI, BCG will ask for your undergrad transcript before your 2nd round interview, so if there are any really bad grades, may want to give a heads up.
Just to add another datapoint - I was not asked for my undergrad transcript before my BCG 2nd round, its possible this may vary by school and/or office as the process became very office-specific when it came to final rounds (to the point where some offices used written cases and others did not).
MBA business schools">M7 MBB Recruiting (Originally Posted: 12/17/2015)
I have recently been accepted to several MBA business schools">M7 MBA programs (Booth, Kellogg, Columbia), and have a couple questions about MBB recruiting. My background pre-mba is 1.5 years at Deloitte S&O and then 2 years in a F500 corp. strategy role.
1) How much of a regional aspect is there to MBB recruiting at the M7? I do see a disproportionate % of MBA business schools">M7 grads go to MBB offices near their school, but is that just self selection or is it because it is easier to get an offer in the offices near one's school? Basically, if I want to end up in NYC long term, how much am I shooting myself in the foot if I go to Kellogg or Booth?
2) How will MBB evaluate my career path to date (Deloitte to Corp. Strategy)? Do I get points for having prior consulting experience, or will they question my commitment to consulting long term, since I left Deloitte early? My story would be that I went into industry in order to really learn that industry firsthand and in-depth, and now want to move back into consulting so that I can focus on the highest leverage problems that companies in that industry face.
1) The regional aspect works in your favor, not against you. A lot of students just want to stay in their home region. But every MBB US Office will recruit at the MBA business schools">M7. You aren't shooting yourself in the foot.
2) They don't ponder your background/story very deeply. Yours is fine. On-campus the GMAT is a bigger filter than a lot of people expect. They cast a wide net, filter heavily based on your case performance, and then filter heavily again based on case performance (with a little bit of story/fit thrown in afterwards).
The closest big office to your school is where your recruiter will be and where most of the consultants will come from, so its easiest to network in the closest office. But that doesn't limit you, you can use those contacts to get on the phone with those in New York to build some relationships. So overall location for consulting does not matter.
MBB will probably like it because it is VERY EASY for you to display your transferable skills. But since coming from S&O, make sure your story is really tight.
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