Consulting placement in NYC

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hey! I’m kind of stressed right now and am hoping for some help.

May 1 is coming up very soon, so I have to make a final decision about college ASAP. After receiving all of my admission decisions, I narrowed down my choices to Penn and Georgetown (College at both). By mid-April I had visited both campuses, and I felt better about Georgetown in multiple categories (extracurriculars, social scene, location, campus, general feel). The only category I was really torn about was the most important category: academics.

So I applied as pre-med but realized after reflection that that was not the path for me. My back-up plan had always been business, and now that I’ve immersed myself in that, I really think it’s the path for me. I’m very much a math-minded, analytical problem-solver (that doesn’t want to study engineering). I’m specifically interested in consulting.

Transferring from the college to the business school at Georgetown is an easier process than at Penn, and I didn’t want to have that monkey on my back about transferring into Wharton throughout a whole year at Penn. Plus Wharton felt too intense for me, and I don’t have MBB as some ultimate goal. Yes there’s more prestige, and yes there are more academic offerings, but it just wasn’t enough for me to go to Penn… So I decided to go to Georgetown. Though it was hard to let go of Penn, Georgetown was a better school for me.

But this is when it gets complicated. Now what I’m about to say is not unusual, and I’m sure it’s a bit irrational, but it is a DREAM of mine to live in New York City. Seriously, I dream about it. I didn’t realize the importance of alumni networks until I became interested is business.

If I was interested in banking, I wouldn’t even have an issue here. It’s clear that plenty of Georgetown grads go on to work in banking in NYC… But I’m interested in consulting. While Penn’s Arts and Sciences career reports show that grads largely go to NYC, Georgetown’s career reports aren’t showing location information at all. And from everything I’ve read, I’m guessing that Georgetown MSB graduates going to NYC are in finance, and the ones going into consulting are staying in DC. I LOVE DC, especially for college, but I think I’d be ready for something new after 4 years.

Do you think I can land a job in consulting at one of the big four or some other reputable firm in NYC from Georgetown? If not, should I switch my enrollment to Penn, even though I’d be probably be happier at Georgetown? The NYC thing is big for me. Any advice is appreciated. (Also, in general, I’m just not too familiar with how regional consulting recruiting really is.)

2

You can get some idea of where alums are located using LinkedIn:

https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/alumni?id=18062&facets=CN.6&keyword=&dateType=attended&startYear=&endYear=&incNoDates=true&start=0&count=10&filters=off&trk=edu-up-nav-menu-alumni

https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/alumni?id=19328&facets=CN.6&keyword=&dateType=attended&startYear=&endYear=&incNoDates=true&start=0&count=10&filters=off&trk=edu-up-nav-menu-alumni

You really can’t go wrong, both schools are going to have consulting connections in NYC. I do think it would be an absolutely tragic mistake to base your college decision on which school might have more connections in one particular job field and one particular city, four years from today.

3

Thank you Pancaked. I looked through that pretty awesome feature for both schools earlier… but still felt indecisive :confused:

Exactly how regional is the consulting recruiting process? Would it just mean a little more work on my part, or more than that?

4

Your long range goals clearly say you should go to Penn. It has a lot more ties to NYC. Georgetown is a great school but I don’t think it is right for you

5

Looks like I came upon this thread a few weeks too late. There is no need to be in Wharton to get a job in the consulting world - look at career surveys and you’ll find that as many people from the College wind up in consulting as do from Wharton, at all of the same companies (point being that those companies don’t care one bit what school you are coming out of). Fortunately, Georgetown is favorably placed and is a target of plenty of consulting firms.

If you do decide that consulting is the way to go, you will not find yourself at a disadvantage coming out of Georgetown. As for wanting to be in New York, I wouldn’t fret… there are tens of thousands of jobs in NYC, and if you do well in school those doors will be open. When you apply to the big name companies (MBB as well as Deloitte, Accenture, etc.), you always have a placement preference, so just say you want to be in NYC instead of DC! Of course, if you are in the consulting world, it is highly likely that you will spend 4-5 days a week away from home… after a few years, your home can really become wherever you want it to be, as long as it’s within reasonable distance of an airport (for your own sake). So if travel is okay for you, your ability to choose your weekend home only increases as time goes by.

6

@chrisw Thank you so much for your reassuring reply. Looking back at when I wrote this post, I am now chuckling. Georgetown fit me like a glove, and I can’t wait to start there in the fall. I also love many many other cities and it would NOT be the end of the world if I didn’t end up in NYC, though it would be ideal. Glad to know it’s a possibility! Yay I feel good know :slight_smile: