Hi
I see that a lot of consultants at strategy& beirut and dubai are AUB engineering or finance alumni, and they get in straight after graduation. Do these firms exclusively hire from this target school or do they accept non target schools from outside the region as well?
Be careful not to infer a hiring rule from the people you happen to see on LinkedIn. AUB can look dominant because you may be sampling one office, one seniority level, or analysts hired through campus recruiting.
First identify the route you are actually competing in:
A useful directional check is to sample 20–30 recent joiners in the specific office and code their entry route, prior employer, degree, and joining level. LinkedIn is incomplete and selection-biased, so treat the pattern as a hypothesis to validate with recruiting—not proof of the actual hiring funnel.
Then confirm with recruiting which route and timing apply to you. If you are not competitive for the current campus channel, the better strategy may be to build relevant experience and apply later as an experienced hire rather than fight the wrong funnel. The school question only becomes useful once you know which funnel you are actually in.
No, they definitely do not hire exclusively from American University of Beirut.
That said, AUB is one of the strongest feeder schools for Strategy& in the Middle East, particularly for the Beirut office, so what you're observing is real.
The reason is a combination of:
However, Middle East offices also hire plenty of people from:
I've worked in the GCC and can tell you that teams are generally quite international.
What matters more than whether your university is "target" or "non-target" is:
If you're coming from a non-target school outside the region, it may be slightly harder to get noticed initially, but it is absolutely not a deal breaker.
In fact, many Middle East offices are accustomed to hiring people with diverse educational backgrounds, especially if they bring strong international exposure or relevant industry experience.
So I wouldn't focus too much on competing with AUB graduates. I'd focus on making sure your profile clearly answers:
"Why consulting?" and "Why the Middle East?" because those tend to matter a lot in the recruiting process.
AUB is genuinely a top feeder for Strategy& Middle East, especially Beirut and Dubai, but it's not the only path in.
The reason AUB dominates. Strategy& runs proper campus recruiting there. The engineering and finance programs are strong, and there's a long alumni pipeline that refers good candidates. Same goes for LAU, KFUPM, AUC, and AUS.
If you're a non-target candidate from outside the region. Still possible, just harder. You need stronger signals like top GPA, known internships, leadership, plus a real regional connection or Arabic. Direct outreach to consultants for referrals matters a lot.
Things that help. Engineering or finance background fits their profile. Genuine commitment to the region. Energy or financial services experience is a bonus.
Apply directly, hit up non-AUB consultants on LinkedIn who got in, and apply to MBB, OW, Kearney, Roland Berger in parallel.
Good luck.
Hi there,
Being from a target school increases your chances of passing screening, but doesn't guarantee them. If you don't come from a target school, then your application needs to 'do more work' in that sense, making it clear that you're a very strong profile. So I would put extra care in how the CV is defined and also in getting referrals.
Sharing here some information on the latter:
• • Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals
Best,
Cristian
