<p>I really want to be a consultant for these reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>Money-Family of immigrants and money is important logistically :(</li>
<li>I love group work-i absolutely love working with other people</li>
<li>I love meeting new people, clients, group members etc</li>
<li>Love traveling...with the booming economies in Asia, I think consulting will be a great path</li>
<li>Presenting is a strong point, I geuss I am extremely social and "well liked"</li>
<li>I speak multiple dialects of chinese fluently....great for the future?</li>
</ol>
<p>Ultimately, My goal is to work for a company like McKinsey or BCG. However, I did poorly in HS and attended my local state school, and will probably be transferring to UNC chapel hill. My understanding is that top firms like BCG only recruit from top ivy league universities.</p>
<p>Since i dont attend HPYSM, what should i do after college? I have an excellent GPA and all the time in the world to study for LSATS or whatever exam i need. Should i pursue a top 5 law degree to get into consulting? Or a PHD from HPYSM/top school? I want to attend a top school in general, and was thinking law, but I have been told law school is for people who want to become lawyers NOT consultants.</p>
<p>Thanks for any information! I am truly lost at this point</p>
<p>Im majoring in political science/econ minor ATM. Basically, im told that if i want a consulting job with firms like BCG i need to have a prestigious degree. Since i cannot get into a prestigious college, I am willing to get into a top PHD or JD program… Is this my best path?</p>
<p>I vote for becoming an accountant .My 24 yr old son is making 60k as an accountant ,and will receive his Masters in Accounting in Dec .He is very smart and didn’t go to HYP . Accounting requires a lot of attention to detail ,and can be boring at times ,but the money is good . It could be a springboard to consulting .Good luck !</p>
<p>A lot of people from my uni (University of Maryland) go into consulting, usually in the advisory arms of places like KPMG or at Accenture. Surely one could eventually work somewhere like BCG or McKinsey if they do extremely well at a “lesser” (hate to use that word since all those other companies are still pretty fantastic) consulting firm. Heck, all it might take is rubbing elbows with the right person at the right industry event.</p>
<p>My d. is finishing up her masters in accounting and CPA at American U. (where she did her undergrad), and is well employed at KPMG. She was chosen over hundreds of other applicants, many of them from Wharton, Stern, Georgetown, Yale, etc. She will likely end up in the consultancy arm (she is very much a people-person). </p>
<p>I know nothing about BCG, but basically you’ve been told wrong.</p>
<p>No, you are quite, even emphatically, wrong. (In my d’s internship group, 70% of whom received job offers upon completion), there wasn’t even ONE HPYSM-Penn student.) I’m sure students from these schools do well - because they are good students, and recruiters know it. But she saw no evidence of this exclusivity, even among the applicants, no less those accepted and who received job offers.</p>
<p>My d. has friends from her school who received job offers from every single one of the Big Four.</p>
<p>I emphatically agree with mini. In D’s Big 4 intern group, there were NO ivy students whatsoever - and you’ve probably never even heard of D’s university. It didn’t hurt her a bit, internship-wise or job-wise.</p>
<p>You do need to be a top notch student in whatever environment you are in to land with McKinsey, Bain, or BCG. An MBA from a top school with a few years of good work experience would help. However, there are plenty of other consulting firms that meet all of your criteria (pay REALLY well if you make partner - big IF - but they pay pretty decently before that as well, travel, group work, require good presentation skills, etc.). Some of these firms have already been mentioned by others on this thread. And most of them will hire an undergraduate from UNC if you have great grades & some good internship experience (does not have to be in consulting). You are doing the same thing people who pine for Ivy acceptances do… ignoring a lot of other strong options because they are not the top 3.</p>
<p>SIL is a recruiter with one of the firms mentioned on this thread, and they do NOT even go to the Ivy’s at all.</p>
<p>They recruit, hire, and then you have to go get your MBA, for which they will reimburse every B or above, if you work for them for two years after you finish. They get you into the named MBA programs, because they want those names on their door. But, more than anything, be prepared to live out of a suitcase and to work the kind of hours that mean you are “in the life.” Only traders, IB, MD’s and attorney’s work more hours starting out.</p>
<p>I’ve known a few associates who “dropped out” of consulting because of the reasons poet mentions…the ones I know when to good colleges for BAs but none were ivy league undergrads.</p>
<p>Poetgirl, does your SIL work for McKinsey, BCG, or Bain? The other firms mentioned on this thread (Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, etc) consult in a somewhat different business sphere than those other firms. Some overlap in clients, but generally the strategy consulting arms of the other firms are smaller relative to their other consulting offerings. I worked for one of the “others” for about 10 years. I do have the impression that McKinsey, BCG, and Bain recruit only from top schools, and strongly prefer masters level degrees for their employees. Not just HPYSM (eg, an MBA from a school like Wharton or Michigan has a shot as well). But still, they are not recruiting for undergrads from your typical LAC.</p>
<p>BCG and McKinsey are known for recruiting primarily at HYPMS schools–not sure how prevalent exceptions to that rule are and I’m not sure how wide that umbrella of schools is. </p>
<p>However, there are other less prestigious consulting firms where you can use your skills.</p>
<p>Grad school at a top university can help get into the McKinsey/BCG echelon, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it right out of school. Go work for a consulting firm for a couple of years (if that’s what you want,) then apply to the top MBA schools (Harvard, Stanford, etc.) Don’t go to law school to increase your ability to get a consulting position.
To the others on this thread, often kids need to know that the absolute top is still possible, so that’s why I mention a route to BCG/McKinsey here. There are still other firms where you can be fulfilled and use your skills.</p>
<p>Also, there are different types of consulting firm. McKinsey/BCG is more general. I think Accenture is more for consulting based on specific skills (science, etc.).</p>
<p>I think you’ve described the type of work you’d enjoy in your reasons. Perhaps you need to do more research on where those job skills would be used in a high paid, satisfying job and not only look at consulting for one of those firms. Your skill set and personality type together with hard work should lead to a fine career. There are a lot of consultants in the world who do project type work and travel.</p>
<p>I was told that McKinsey recruited at a select group of schools by a friend who worked there. He intimated it was HYPMS-type level, but didn’t specify exactly. </p>
<p>I’m sure you are correct that there are exceptions, but I’m not sure how I reconcile what my friend said (and what is popular belief) with what you are saying here. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.</p>