Hello, so currently I am planning on pursuing a business major for my undergrad degree. I really want to go into management consulting when I graduate (MBB is the dream). I originally wrote off the ivies (minus Upenn) because none of them had undergrad business degrees. But now, upon further research, it seems that they send many kids into ib and consulting jobs. I would love to attend an ivy and I had wanted to apply, but decided against it due to them not having ug business. Is it worth a shot to apply? What major would I take; I was thinking economics or something along those lines.
Which ives should I try for, if any?
note: finances are not a big issue and I have pretty good stats (35 act, 6% rank, 17 APs, I have a chance me up if youâd like more info)
also, yes I know that these are dream schools for any candidate and I donât have any incredible hooks, but I want to take a shot at it. You miss all of the shots you donât take
Harvard undergraduates (as well as undergraduates from other colleges) can study through Harvard Business School, which would expand your opportunities to study business should you pursue this direction.
I donât know why anyone would want to go into management consulting as a career. The consultants travel M-Thu with not that much pay - compared with other jobs with similar hours (minus the travel). I know most people get out after few years and they do it by going to graduate schools to pivot.
MCs recruit well beyond the colleges in the Ivy League, and they donât actually favor business majors. Anecdotally, I know recent grads at pretty much all the major MCs, and none of them have a business degree (to be fair, thatâs partly b/c none of them went to a school with a business major). Sample majors: geology, history, Italian, theology, math, biochemistry, english, political science, etc. Quanty subjects are hot tickets. Subjects that touch on sectors in which their clients are based are noticed as well.
The MCs recruit mostly at ânameâ schools- but that includes names like Bucknell and Vandy. The golden ticket is the summer internship after Junior year, which frequently leads to a post-graduation job offer.
I used to work in management consulting. You do make decent money but in exchange, you work incredibly long hours. Forget having a life. I donât think I ever had to cook dinner while I worked there because we always ordered in. I also was never able to really establish a social life in the city I lived in because I was on the road most of the time. I spent months flying out on Sunday night, and home on Friday nights.
The running joke at the time, amongst those of us who worked there, was that you didnât have a $100k per year job. You had 2 $50k per year jobs.
As for the prior post on Glassdoor, Bain Capital is the investment arm of Bain consulting. I donât know if salaries are similar. If you are going to look at salaries, you should know that someone with an undergrad degree is an associate. Someone with an mba is given the title of consultant. Or at least thatâs the way it was in my day.
And yes we recruited at all the Ivy League schools, and we didnât care what you majored in.
@oldfort For a student that enjoys/doesnât mind traveling, MC, especially at MBB, is a great first career. The work is interesting and challenging. All in comp for first year is around $115-$130k with tons of perks, great exit opportunities, and MBA sponsorship (worth $200k+). IB and CSCI pay more, but both also have their downsides. CSCI pays a lot but those high salaries are usually in high cost of living areas. And many find the work repetitive and boring. IB pays the same base as MBB but significantly higher bonuses. But many donât enjoy the work, the hours are awful, the culture harsh, and the turnover/burnout rate is probably a little higher than for MC.
My D does not attend a target school. But what Iâve observed is that a large percentage of those who do an IB internship junior year end up recruiting for full time MC because they didnât enjoy their IB internships. My D really enjoys MC and though many recommended she go into IB, she hates everything about it and the higher salary wonât change her mind. Interestingly, the higher bonus in IB say at Goldman in NYC would not compensate for the lower cost of living in our area. So on a relative basis, sheâll make more than IB analysts in NY.
MC firms, and other professional services firms (advisory, B4, etc.) will work you quite hard, with a lot of travel. However, once you get to Engagement Manger (about 5 yrs in) the compensation gets pretty strong and if you can grind your way to Partner it is very attractive.
More than compensation though is the actual experience (full disclosure - not a consultant but know many including both of my brothers). You will work on interesting projects with interesting clients. Most importantly, you will be given extraordinary client facing experience / responsibilities at a very early stage in your career. This is why the MC path is such a great launching pad to whatever else you learn you want to do. Many use it to get in to a top B school. Others use it to move into industry at a much higher level than they would have without the MC experience. Think of it as âBusiness Bootcampâ. WIthin a few years, youâll get real experience in analyzing data, defending and presenting your ideas (internally and externally), project management, people management, process management. All of this across many types of companies, industries and projects. Youâll also develop a great network, which will try to recruit you away after a few yrs.
âŠBut as others have mentioned, itâs a grind and not for everyone. Youâll meet great people and rack up a lot of travel points, but you wonât have much time for anythjing else.
I agree with @collegemom3717 that a business major wouldnât be a favored choice. In recruiting that would have led me to question someoneâs quantitative skills in a way that a degree in say economics, especially in combination with a minor in math or CS wouldnât. Plenty of people make it into MC without a degree in a quantitative subject, but quant skills are incredibly important.
And when you get there, the easiest way to stand out is by having skills in data analysis that go beyond (but still include) building robust Excel spreadsheets. For example we were always short of people who could do Visual Basic programming, or use data analysis software (stats packages or GIS). And now thereâs even more big data around to analyze.
Iâve loved a career in strategy consulting. The amount of travel can vary quite significantly - some big firms staff more locally than others and some more specialist firms donât just work on the clientâs site. Thatâs particularly the case in fields like economic consulting or industry specific consulting. I had a few years when I flew to another continent 20 times a year, now itâs more like 5-6 times.
The key attraction is the level of responsibility thrown on you from early on, answering interesting questions from senior executives (more so than in IB I think and the grind isnât as bad as IB). That can lead on to more senior roles with a company or other fields later on. Tippy top MC firms are also a route into private equity. You could even run for president
So self-reliance/thinking on your feet is highly sought after in recruitment - for example it impressed people hugely during recruitment that Iâd traveled round the world on my own for a couple of months after finishing my PhD (in math).
^ Great Stuff! Re degrees - Oldest brother (early 80s) was a Chem Engineer / Econ double major, then top MBA and Middle brother was a psych / zoology double major then PHD in neuro Psych. Today, some business majors are more heavily quant based than others. If you go the business route, I would strive for a heavy quant focus in a finance related or blend of math and business. Several schools have analytics courses and some even have majors that include a lot of that. I imagine that would be better than a general management degree. Although at Sâ school, alot of the general management majors land consulting jobs (not MBB but major firms).
Would be worth your time to look at the actual curriculum at schools of interest if business degree is on the table. That means different things at different places.
@StarlightSami One piece of advice. You say finances arenât a big deal. But what does that really mean? Will you need huge loans? The odds of landing an internship or full time position at MBB from even the Ivies is terrible, much lower than getting admission to those schools. Itâs not a good financial bet if you have to take out huge loans. You can get into consulting without incurring huge debt, though maybe not MBB.
Hereâs one thing to consider. Management consulting is one occupation out of literally thousands you could do with a business degree. Plus the average college student changes their major about three times. I started college wanting to be a doctor. I got out as a computer programmer. You have nothing to lose by applying. Keep in mind, even if you get lucky and get admitted, affordability varies widely from school to school.
No, itâs NOT worth accumulating $150k in student loans. Iâve seen students do this, go into consulting, and find out they hate it. That much debt severely limits your options for further education.
This is not repeated enough, and not only for business, and not only for the junior year. The absolutely best way to get a job, and quickly, after graduation is to do internships. A very large number do lead to jobs at the company at which the students did the internship. Two internships are better than one, and three are better than two.
Not only do internships provide demonstrable experience, LoRs from industry people, and networking, they also allow the student to explore their own interests, skills, and talents, and to figure out what they need to do to increase their chances of success in their chosen career.
