Thoughts on NYU Stern MBA for M/B/B and Tier 2 Strategy Consulting

I am considering NYU Stern (already accepted) and interested in M/B/B consulting.

NYU Stern doesn't publish their placement statistics beyond giving asterisks to companies that hire 3 or more students (M/B/B all have asterisks), so it's hard to gauge how strong they are for consulting.

 

I am admittedly a few years removed, but in my experience, consulting recruiting was very limited. Stern is heavily skewed towards finance (c.70% of students major/concentrate in finance, not sure what they are calling it now) and that is reflected in the types of firms that recruit there (i.e. almost every bank). Anecdotally, having spoken to recruiters at M/B/B/tier 2 firms, consulting firms find Stern students too focused on finance and while well verse in finance/business subject areas, lack some of the lateral, more creative, thinking abilities that are useful in consulting. Obviously these are generalities and do not hold true across the board, but they are a shortcut used by the consulting firms. M/B/B are by no means lacking potential talent and the cost/benefits of recruiting at Stern just don't make sense in their minds.

Notwithstanding the above, if you were to work hard to position yourself for consulting recruiting, I'm sure you could make opportunities through networking/resume drops. Additionally, no decision is made in isolation, and it would be helpful to know what other schools you are considering to advise which would relatively position you the best,

 

At the MBA level Stern is well represented in all of the big consulting firms, albeit less so than the MBA business schools ">M7 schools. If you're talking about business school Fuqua and Ross are better "tier 2" schools if you want to break into consulting.

 
Best Response

At the undergrad level: McKinsey: Non-target (interviews are referral only) - 0 hires on an average year BCG: Semi-target (no OCR, but a dozen or so interviews per hiring season) - 0-2 hires on an average year (usually 1) Bain: Non-target (interviews are referral only) - 0 hires on an average year

LEK/Parthenon/AT Kearney: Very few applicants (0-1 hires between the three on an average year) Deloitte S&O - Target (5+ hires) Accenture - Target (5+ hires) PwC - Target (3+ hires) E&Y - Target (2+ hires) KPMG - Target (1+ hires)

The placement for consulting is much weaker than the IBD placement. 50% of it has to due with the name recognition, but a full 50% of it also has to do with the fact that most of the top students typically stick to the investment banking track alone.

 

Thanks guys, this is all helpful.

To answer/respond to your questions:

white collar: I am accepted at Dartmouth Tuck, Yale SOM, and NYU Stern MBA. From my research, I am fully aware that Tuck is the superior school for consulting, but there are some life-factors at play here that make NYU Stern's location far superior for me. As for my background, I have 4 years of strategy consulting experience at a non M/B/B top 5-6 consulting firm and am going to school to advance my career.

Niubi: I did look at and apply to Fuqua, so from my research those schools make a lot of sense. Also, yes I am talking about business school.

Zzari: I should have been more clear that I am looking at NYU Stern's MBA program. 6-7 interns at Deloitte alone definitely sounds great but when you are competing against 400 students, 30% of which want consulting, I am curious so see how strong the odds are for getting a job at M/B/B or Tier 2 consulting from the MBA.

Sav: Out of undergrad I landed a job at one of the non M/B/B firms you mentioned and am looking to continue to advance in consulting through the MBA. I am going to avoid the ibanking associate track since I will have no experience in the industry when trying to manage the analysts on the team.

 

OP- Is your current Tier 2 employer willing to sponsor your MBA if you return to the firm for 2 years? If so what are the reasons why you are so focused on making the switch to MBB?

I'm beginning at a Tier 2 consulting shop in the Fall and have just assumed that if I want to stay in consulting post MBA I would do so at the same firm.

"No one ever wishes they had slept more in college."
 

Be careful to not compare Stern undergrad to Stern MBA. Stern undergrad does horrific in consulting. Stern MBA does a bit better, with 23% going into consulting. The median salary is $125k, so they must be getting quite a few tier 1 and tier 2 schools. That said, on Stern tier, I'd rather go to Duke or Tuck for consulting, but if Stern is your only acceptance, you certainly have a shot at MBB.

This data is a mess since it includes part-time and executive MBA (which Stern has a TON), but you can see they do pretty well with MBB:

http://poetsandquants.com/2014/01/17/where-top-mbas-work-in-consulting/…

 

I've come across that PnQ chart before but am wary of the validity given part-time programs and the like.

I am actually accepted at Tuck and Stern, but my girlfriend is working for a BB in NY starting this summer so I am trying to figure out how much I'd be "leaving on the table" by attending Stern in the interest of keeping a 5-year relationship intact.

 

Congratulations on getting admits from Stern and Tuck. If you are looking to get into MBB, Tuck is a better option. That does not mean Stern does bad in MBB placements. Since, you have a location priority, you can overlook the better employment of Tuck, work hard at Stern and land a MBB job.

 

Will give you a quick example of the limitations of Stern MBB recruiting. I just applied for the BCG Fellows Scholarship, which is basically a chance to get some scholarship money from BCG in return for dropping a resume early. Only ten schools are eligible, and Stern is not one. Interestingly, Sloan isn't either, even though they place a ton of people at BCG (so take the list with a grain of salt). I think Sloan has a special scholarship relationship with McKinsey though.

http://www.bcg.com/careers/mba_fellows.aspx

 
BGP2587:

Will give you a quick example of the limitations of Stern MBB recruiting. I just applied for the BCG Fellows Scholarship, which is basically a chance to get some scholarship money from BCG in return for dropping a resume early. Only ten schools are eligible, and Stern is not one. Interestingly, Sloan isn't either, even though they place a ton of people at BCG (so take the list with a grain of salt). I think Sloan has a special scholarship relationship with McKinsey though.

http://www.bcg.com/careers/mba_fellows.aspx

I see Sloan listed in the page, BGP2587. :)

 

All the folks commenting on this thread seem to be forgetting that he is trying to maintain/save a relationship of FIVE YEARS - as the girl works in NYC. You have to give significant weight to that. People have circumstances that might limit their career flexibility, but everyone makes sacrifices and a stable relationship might be worth the sacrifice.

 

Well, I certainly feel a bit better about my reading comprehension skills now. Weird that 1) Sloan wasn't on there before and 2) That they randomly added them now.

@KingFalcon They really don't seem to advertise this program all that well (or at least as much). I did some digging to find it, whereas the Bain and McKinsey summer programs were marketed all over the place.

 
viks0004:

Looking at the latest report, seems McKinsey and BCG hire 3+ while Bain hires less than 3. Does anyone have a better idea about how difficult it is to get into MBB through Stern?
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-...

Bain hires 20 from Kellogg (for internship...even more for full time), if they're taking less than 3 from Stern, I think that speaks for itself of the difficulty.

 

NYU Master's student here - while I'm not a Stern student, I've taken a couple of Stern courses and have a few Stern friends with whom I did consulting case prep and attended recruitment events.

I can back up what others have said above re: Stern MBAs' slant towards finance/banking. Consulting firms are well aware of this skew, and adjust their hiring targets accordingly. With that said, there is a healthy amount of Stern alumni and current students who accept MBB offers for internships and full-time hiring, so I wouldn't use each school's hiring target as a basis for whether or not to attend.

Moreover, I'd expect that 4 years of strategy experience would position you very well for MBB employment - and that it would ultimately come down to whether or not it's the right fit with the firm.

 

Thanks. Appreciate your thoughts. From what I understand. If an MBB likes the candidates at a school they will just hire them and the targets for each school are but flexible. It all depends on how the school prepares you and how good you are in terms of Casing, analytical thinking and communication. Your previous experience is not a big factor although it might help you in developing your analytical thinking but that is it. Correct me if I am wrong please. Does anyone have any idea about on an average how many students at Stern seriously target MBBs for full-time/internship and how many actually end up getting it. I believe the hit ratio for banking is pretty high at Stern but how is it for MBB consulting?

 

to add my opinion:

  1. as mentioned by @"JMeister", there seems to be a bias in your analysis of placement statistics. students in NY universities (NYU, Columbia) seem to favor finance firms from their side. this may have something to do with the fact that they probably PICKED said school because of the geographical proximity and reputation with the street. so in the first place, not many SEEK employment at MBB, but rather prefer BBs (into which they get accepted).

that being said,

  1. point 1 leads consulting firms to understand that they will be second choice (at best) for most students, so they lower their recruiting efforts there. considering the fact that recruiting one MBA to MBB costs around 100K (according to some stuff i read), they probably realized that it's just not worthwhile to make ANY efforts there, and simply contend themselves with interviewing referrals only, as mentioned above.

so no, Stern or Col. don't make you dumber in the eyes of MBB, but they certainly put you off their beaten track for recruiting.

"... then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."
 
dagro:

to add my opinion:

1. as mentioned by @JMeister, there seems to be a bias in your analysis of placement statistics. students in NY universities (NYU, Columbia) seem to favor finance firms from their side. this may have something to do with the fact that they probably PICKED said school because of the geographical proximity and reputation with the street. so in the first place, not many SEEK employment at MBB, but rather prefer BBs (into which they get accepted).

that being said,

2. point 1 leads consulting firms to understand that they will be second choice (at best) for most students, so they lower their recruiting efforts there. considering the fact that recruiting one MBA to MBB costs around 100K (according to some stuff i read), they probably realized that it's just not worthwhile to make ANY efforts there, and simply contend themselves with interviewing referrals only, as mentioned above.

so no, Stern or Col. don't make you dumber in the eyes of MBB, but they certainly put you off their beaten track for recruiting.

Thanks. Appreciate your reply. Its quite helpful and will help me make my decision for sure!
 
dagro:

to add my opinion:

1. as mentioned by @"JMeister", there seems to be a bias in your analysis of placement statistics. students in NY universities (NYU, Columbia) seem to favor finance firms from their side. this may have something to do with the fact that they probably PICKED said school because of the geographical proximity and reputation with the street. so in the first place, not many SEEK employment at MBB, but rather prefer BBs (into which they get accepted).

that being said,

2. point 1 leads consulting firms to understand that they will be second choice (at best) for most students, so they lower their recruiting efforts there. considering the fact that recruiting one MBA to MBB costs around 100K (according to some stuff i read), they probably realized that it's just not worthwhile to make ANY efforts there, and simply contend themselves with interviewing referrals only, as mentioned above.

so no, Stern or Col. don't make you dumber in the eyes of MBB, but they certainly put you off their beaten track for recruiting.

You're overselling this. Wharton, Columbia, and Booth (schools with a finance-oriented reputation) each send 30-35% of each class into consulting. It's usually the no.1 career path at all three. Stern likewise sent 28% of its most recent class into consulting, and it's fair to say that all of aspiring consultants who aren't sponsored are applying to MBB. There are also students who don't end up getting any consulting offers or who choose to do something else. I don't think it's a stretch to say that 35% of a Stern class could be floating applications to MBB.

 

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