Regarding interest in Strategic Consulting

[RMana]

I am interested in strategy consulting and want to know what resources are available at Yale that are not available at another business school which would help me get my foot in the door at management consulting firms?

[soarer]

Hi RMana,

Its impossible to say that School A offers 1, 2, and 3 and compare it with School B and say that it offers 2, 3 and 4 for people who want to get into strategy consulting without studying in both the schools!

However what I can tell you is what Yale SOM does to help people wanting to get into strategy consulting. You can ask students at other schools and compare the schools based on the data you get from students.

What will you get at Yale SOM
1) New curriculum - It seems as if the new curriculum will help students who want to excel in strategy consulting the most. The reason being the addition of new courses like "Individual Problem Framing" and teaching in an integrated manner. Solving cases require a high skill in Problem Framing. Also, a integrated approach to solving the case results in a great solution.

2) Consulting club - It is one of the most active clubs out here. Although I am not a member of the club (as I am looking to get into IB) I know that the guys at the club meet every Thursday evenings to practice cracking various cases. The club recently organized a day long workshop with David Ohrvall (Author of Crack the case).

3) Recruiting - All the top consulting firms (McK, BCG, Booz etc) recruit at Yale SOM. When you look at the number of people who got into Consulting from Yale SOM and compare that with other schools keep in mind Yale's small class size and that not many people here want to get into Consulting (which is kind of obvious when you look at the placement figures to find more than 40% people in Finance).

General notes on getting into Strategy Consulting from b-schools
Recruiting process at top strategy consulting firms (McK, BCG etc) is similar irrespective of which school you go to. Firms first shortlist students based on the resume and your GMAT score (the school cant contribute much here). Once you are selected for the interview and you are smart enough to crack the case you get the job. The only place where the school can help you to get the job in Consulting is by providing you with a diverse set of students (with whom you can practice cracking the case) and a great faculty to teach you the management functions, and Yale SOM does both these extremely well.

If you need more info, let me know.

[djz]

Hi soarer,

Could you brief me on how do those who study at the SOM but have lower GMAT's and lower GPA's like mine (640 and approx 3.0) get a chance with consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc?

Could you list some of the professors at Yale who are outstanding and really helping students get into corporate strategy/strategy consulting? Are there any workshops that could help one get into consulting?

[soarer]

Hi djz,

Let me put it this way - there are firms in industries which ask for the test scores and there are firms in industries which do not. And strategy consulting firms (like McK and BCG) ask for the scores (sometimes even the SAT scores). They do this at all schools, this is not something which is done only at Yale SOM.

Coming to your questions. 640 is not the end of the world if you want a job in McK or BCG. It makes things difficult, but not impossible. Given your case you might want to spend a lot of time on networking and making connections inside the firm, study hard while at SOM and get distinctions in the relevant subjects (in the process also make good impression on professors). Somtimes firms do ask for opinion about a particular student to the professors, and if they are asking about you, and the prof likes you, good for you!

There are so many great professors out here, and it would not be just on my part to name a few in this forum. You should find the list of profs here:
http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/

You can then figure out the area of expertise that you are looking to build and make sure that you take their classes while in school.

Coming to the last part of your question - Yes there are numerous workshops that are held on campus by different firms and people. The consulting club is a great resource. The second years also help us in getting a job in consulting by sharing their experience of the job hunt.

There are a ton of other things which will happen once you come to Yale SOM. So dont worry too much about getting the job. Once you are in SOM, you can pretty much get any job that any student at SOM gets (because we have all cleared the same common filter), the difficult part probably is to get into SOM?

[djz]

Dear soarer,

Thanks for the clarification and information.

Regards,
djz

[aramana]

Hi

Could someone throw some more light on the requirements of the consulting companies like Mckinsey, BCG etc on GMAT scores, GPA etc? What is the range?

Also, I have heard that these companies prefer people with prior consulting experience. So how does a person from non-consulting background transition into these companies? And how easy/difficult is the switch?

Would appreciate a response.

Thanks
aramana

[soarer]

Hey Aramana,

I donot think there is a range as far as GMAT/GPA scores are concerned. Since these companies ask for the scores, it helps if you have a good score.

Regarding your query on career-switchers. One of the popular reasons for taking an MBA is to make a switch. So you will not be the only one in the boat :)

Career-switching is done all the time in all the schools. Sure you need to put more effort compared to someone who has the relevant experience. But you will get the job you want, as long as you are willing to put in the effort required.

[aramana]

Thanks a lot Soarer!!

Happy holidays:)

Cheers
aramana