The Student Room Group

What are the 'Target' Universities for Consultancy firms?

Question above^

Other than the obvious Oxbridge, what other universities do consultancy firms (e.g. MBB) mainly recruit from? Is it similar to IB?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by CompSci16
Question above^

Other than the obvious Oxbridge, what other universities do consultancy firms (e.g. MBB) mainly recruit from? Is it similar to IB?


MBB firms do campus recruiting at the following UK universities:

McKinsey
- Bristol
- Cambridge
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Imperial
- LSE
- Oxford
- St Andrews
- UCL
- Warwick

Bain
- McKinsey's 10 universities plus...
- Bath
- Nottingham
- KCL
- QMUL
- York

BCG
- Bain's 15 universities plus...
- Birmingham
- Exeter
- Glasgow
- Lancaster
- Leicester
- Loughborough
- Manchester
- QUB
- Sheffield
- Southampton
Original post by CompSci16
Question above^

Other than the obvious Oxbridge, what other universities do consultancy firms (e.g. MBB) mainly recruit from? Is it similar to IB?


This is what I've gathered for RECRUITMENT purposes, not necessarily how they target universities (I'll outline those later):

- Oxbridge are given a pretty substantial leg up in the recruitment process (MBB classes are usually 60-70% Oxbridge).

- LSE/Imperial are given a smidgen more weighting

- then you have everything else

Now that's just in terms of how university is weighted in the recruitment process. Consulting firms do, in fact, actively target and visit a larger set of universities than this (info can be easily found by searching up the university's name on their campus recruiting site, if there's a full blown page - logo, events listed - dedicated to the uni it'll be targeted):

McKinsey:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL (visits for postgraduate events only)
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
St Andrews
Edinburgh


Bain:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Edinburgh
Bristol
Bath

(On the website but no formal page with logo etc - not targeted)
Nottingham
QMUL

BCG:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Bristol
Edinburgh

(Website hides program information - less targeted)
St Andrews
Bath
Nottingham
Manchester
Lancaster
Birmingham
Exeter
Glasgow
Leicester
Loughborough
QUB
Sheffield
Southampton


Oliver Wyman:
(Website doesn't hide anything - target)
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
Imperial

(Hides insight program but visits campus - less targeted but still a target)
Warwick

(Website hides information about insight program, not as targeted; semi-target)
Durham
Edinburgh
Bath
Bristol






Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Princepieman
This is what I've gathered for RECRUITMENT purposes, not necessarily how they target universities (I'll outline those later):

- Oxbridge are given a pretty substantial leg up in the recruitment process (MBB classes are usually 60-70% Oxbridge).

- LSE/Imperial are given a smidgen more weighting

- then you have everything else

Now that's just in terms of how university is weighted in the recruitment process. Consulting firms do, in fact, actively target and visit a larger set of universities than this (info can be easily found by searching up the university's name on their campus recruiting site, if there's a full blown page - logo, events listed - dedicated to the uni it'll be targeted):

McKinsey:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL (visits for postgraduate events only)
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
St Andrews
Edinburgh


Bain:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Edinburgh
Bristol
Bath

(On the website but no formal page with logo etc - not targeted)
Nottingham

BCG:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Bristol
Edinburgh

(Website hides program information - less targeted)
St Andrews
Bath
Nottingham

Oliver Wyman:
(Website doesn't hide anything - target)
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
Imperial

(Hides insight program but visits campus - less targeted but still a target)
Warwick

(Website hides information about insight program, not as targeted; semi-target)
Durham
Edinburgh
Bath
Bristol

Posted from TSR Mobile


Your list isn't comprehensive.

You've missed out on A LOT of universities, especially for BCG.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 4


Do you know if it's common for people to apply to Investment Banking AND Consultancy internships?
Original post by C_Richards99
Your list isn't comprehensive.

You've missed out on A LOT of universities, especially for BCG.


Instead of slating my list, you could suggest the universities I've missed. That would be more productive. :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by h3110
Do you know if it's common for people to apply to Investment Banking AND Consultancy internships?


Very common. However, people focus more on IB as there are way more firms to apply to in general.

I've seen a trend of previous FO summer analysts applying for grad positions in their final year at consulting firms. Meaning, they reject the return offers they get from their banks to switch over into consulting.



Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Princepieman
Instead of slating my list, you could suggest the universities I've missed. That would be more productive. :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile


Or you could scroll up to the post above you and see the more comprehensive list I provided :smile:
Original post by C_Richards99
Or you could scroll up to the post above you and see the more comprehensive list I provided :smile:


Fair game, didn't notice it! I'll update mine and tier off the universities based on the information (or lack thereof) provided for each.

Thanks dude :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by C_Richards99
Or you could scroll up to the post above you and see the more comprehensive list I provided :smile:


Btw, I think York University on Bain's site is the Canadian one.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 10
Original post by Princepieman
Very common. However, people focus more on IB as there are way more firms to apply to in general.

I've seen a trend of previous FO summer analysts applying for grad positions in their final year at consulting firms. Meaning, they reject the return offers they get from their banks to switch over into consulting.



Posted from TSR Mobile


Thanks
Original post by Princepieman
Fair game, didn't notice it! I'll update mine and tier off the universities based on the information (or lack thereof) provided for each.

Thanks dude :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile


Original post by Princepieman
Btw, I think York University on Bain's site is the Canadian one.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Happy that this was resolved :tongue: Your list does have more analysis in it.

I thought this was a possibility as well, but thought to include it in case I was wrong. I'm not sure if the Canadian one's reputation is stronger than the British one's.
Reply 12


Thanks!! What are the targets and semi-targets for McKinsey? Seems unlikely that all 10 of them are targets.
Original post by Princepieman
This is what I've gathered for RECRUITMENT purposes, not necessarily how they target universities (I'll outline those later):

- Oxbridge are given a pretty substantial leg up in the recruitment process (MBB classes are usually 60-70% Oxbridge).

- LSE/Imperial are given a smidgen more weighting

- then you have everything else

Now that's just in terms of how university is weighted in the recruitment process. Consulting firms do, in fact, actively target and visit a larger set of universities than this (info can be easily found by searching up the university's name on their campus recruiting site, if there's a full blown page - logo, events listed - dedicated to the uni it'll be targeted):

McKinsey:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL (visits for postgraduate events only)
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
St Andrews
Edinburgh


Bain:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Edinburgh
Bristol
Bath

(On the website but no formal page with logo etc - not targeted)
Nottingham
QMUL

BCG:
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
KCL
Warwick
Imperial
Durham
Bristol
Edinburgh

(Website hides program information - less targeted)
St Andrews
Bath
Nottingham
Manchester
Lancaster
Birmingham
Exeter
Glasgow
Leicester
Loughborough
QUB
Sheffield
Southampton


Oliver Wyman:
(Website doesn't hide anything - target)
Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
UCL
Imperial

(Hides insight program but visits campus - less targeted but still a target)
Warwick

(Website hides information about insight program, not as targeted; semi-target)
Durham
Edinburgh
Bath
Bristol






Posted from TSR Mobile


Hey. What about University of Leeds? How's it for a career in consulting?
Original post by Omkark75
Hey. What about University of Leeds? How's it for a career in consulting?

For MBB/tier 2? non-target - doable if you're at the very top tier of your uni profile wise and/or have a networking in. For regular management consulting or tech consulting? more than fine.
Reply 15
What are the chances for an international student pursuing postgraduate in Statistical Data Science at University of Kent to get into McKinsey/Bain?
Hello,
I currently have offers from Kings to do BSc Accounting and Finance and also an offer from CASS to do Investment and Financial Risk Management. I am looking to get into FO/MO IB. Just wondering which one you guys recommend will be better. Also i would like to do a quantitive based MSc. Is that possible with an accounting and finance degree at a top university.
Most of the "target universities" but after that its pretty much level.

Nearly everyone answers the same to the same questions.

"Think of a time when you overcame something difficult blah blah blah"

Group activity: You are on a desert island and you have some wood some nails and a hammer, (Try and get a word in over the others)

If you give a decent performance you are in with the same chance as everybody else.
Reply 18
Original post by InternConsumer
MBB is Oxbridge or bust. Bain has a a-level requirement of A*A*A to apply there. Possible to break in from lse/ucl/imperial, but significantly harder. However firms are very receptive to very high level athletes from worse unis i.e Ex-olympians/Professional Rugby players. Equally they are especially open to Medical students willing to make the switch into consultancy in the medical sectors. The strategy arms of the big 4 i.e Parthenon, Strategy&, Deloitte monitor are all very hard to break into, but don't care too much about your university brand name. They, alongside OW,RB and other tier2/3 consultancy firms, are your best bet from University of leeds.

Hi noob question here but what is IBB ?

Would these firms be receptive to mature student applicants so late 30s doing engineering at one of the big london unis such as Imperial, UCL etc for management consultancy ?
Hi, my advice is: just apply, no harm trying.They see a lot more than just which uni you're from. However, you'll need to prove yourself by doing more impressive things like: excel in sports/charitable work/starting a business etc.Feel free to ask me anything, I'm a consultant at McK now, and have worked in Big4 consulting before that. Got offers for most of my applications without being an Oxon/Cantab.
(edited 3 years ago)

Quick Reply