UK Business Schools for consulting

Which are the top 10 UK business schools for a master's program to get into management consulting in mergers and acquisitions at Big 4 firms?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

IBDMaster

Original post by Omkark75

Which are the top 10 UK business schools for a master's program to get into management consulting in mergers and acquisitions at Big 4 firms?

I assume you mean "pre-experience masters" targeting those that have less than 12/24 months work experience.
General rule of thumb is to try and get onto the top 5 on this list. Leverage any internship experience, GMAT scores, excellent references and really think about what you want to do with the masters. In addition, attend any webinar or event to try and understand what admissions are looking for. Generally, a GMAT of 700 would be a great target to try and get into the top 5 although it isn't the only factor.

A London based business masters is makes it easier to attend networking events with the Big4 (with LBS having the most employer exclusive events).Competition is fierce for Management Consulting and you have to ask why you weren't offered able to proceed in the first place. Is it prior academic attainment (A-Levels, GCSE, undergraduate score), is it work experience, is it lack of name brand university or is it failing psychometric test or interview. You need to decide whether it's work to take a masters course for no guarantee of a job, especially in these tough times. Look outside the big4 to other firms and boutique consulting firms and also master the case interview technique.

Anyway, top masters to target:

1. London Business School (No question, they have links with PwC, this is the premier pre and post experience masters for banking and consultancy in the UK) (MiM, MFA)

2. London School of Economics and Political Science (GMiM, MiM. MFin (and other variants), and all other LSE MSc's, particulary interesting environmental/sustainability masters)

3. Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (particularly MFE but all other masters courses)

4. Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge (all MPhil Management, Finance etc)

5. Imperial College Business School

6. ESCP Business School (London MiM)

7. Warwick Business School

8. City, University of London: Cass

9. Durham University Business School

10. University of Bath School of Management

Reply 2

LoydIrving

Hello! I completely agree with the previous post, a master's degree from a top university will open the doors for you but you would have to do the job from there. My top would be the following (I won't put Oxford Said in there because they don't have pre-experience master's programs, I believe)

Tier 1:
1. LBS
2. Imperial
3. Cambridge Judge
4. LSE

Tier2:
5. UCL
6. Warwick
7. Cass/King's

Tier 3:
8. Bath
9. Durham
10. St Andrews

Cheers!

Reply 3

Username357357

Original post by Archeklain

Would second that ranking. You have to keep in mind that even if you come from a Tier 1, competition for management consulting and M&A is really tough, your work experience, languages spoken, test scores and personality/interview performance are very important.

Reply 4

Omkark75

Original post by Archeklain

I have got an offer for Cass MSc Management and didn't get jnto Warwick, Imperial this year.
Should I accept the offer? (I am targeting big 4 firms only for consulting)
Or should I write GMAT and apply to Imperial LSE Warwick again next year?
What's your suggestion?

Reply 5

LoydIrving

Original post by Omkark75

Well I would not use a year only to prep for GMAT, you would have to get some RELEVANT work experience at the same time or volunteering. Also, GMAT can be really tough and there is no success guarantee, standardized tests are not an easy fit for everybody.
If I were you I would take the offer from Cass as you have it, and look the double degrees they offer (I believe they have some solid ones with MSc Management but I would be wrong). If you feel that you cold do better next year, then you could reapply to LSE/Imperial but it's at your own risk :smile:

Reply 6

Applicant9

Original post by LoydIrving

Hi there! I can see Exeter isn’t on your list. I was wondering your impressions of them?

Exeter ranks similarly for salary on the FTs Masters rankings for Management as Bath / Durham from what I understand.

Also, what are your opinions of doing Finance / Financial Technology at either Exeter / ICMA Centre (Henley) as a route into consulting?

Reply 7

LoydIrving

Original post by Applicant9

Hi there! I can see Exeter isn’t on your list. I was wondering your impressions of them?
Exeter ranks similarly for salary on the FTs Masters rankings for Management as Bath / Durham fro.

Also, what are your opinions of doing Finance / Financial Technology at either Exeter / ICMA Centre (Henley) as a route into consulting?

Hello and thank you for your question!

Exeter is surely a great university but I always saw it as a good undergrad institution more than an established graduate school of business, this is why it is not on the list. But if I had to put it., it would be somewhere about Bath/Durham, and I would choose it over Henley. However it also depends if you want to end up in finance or consulting.

Best,

Reply 8

Jasmeetvig

What about Bristol : Notts?