Hello,

I can share my experience based also on not being part of my university's consulting club and not having access to a lot of the preparation resources (which were typically focused on Business faculty students). If your goal is to find reliable and quality practice partners, there are of course other ways: 

1. Online case preparation platforms
   • There are plenty of good platforms with tons of candidates who want to practice as well, and many of these are also free
   • Plenty of candidates around the world, some are less reliable but some platforms have rating mechanisms so you could find reliable partners 
2. Attend networking / recruitment events to find like minded candidates
   • If you hang around some of these events and speak to fellow candidates, you might find someone who is as motivated and determined as you and on the same page
   • I would say moderate to relatively high chance of finding someone, as long as you are willing to approach people
3. Network and find potential practice partners - either from your school or sports club or any other community
   • Reach out through whatever avenues you can to find people who can help you practice
   • Ideally good if they are ex consultants, but others who are in difficult to get in jobs can help as well (IB, management programs)
   • Relatively low chance and more difficult as they have no obligation to help you and even if they are well meaning may be too busy to be a consistent reliable partner
4. Hire a coach
   • Whether from here or another platform, plenty of coaches in the world
   • Of course this is the most expensive option, but also because you are paying for it this is arguably the highest quality and most reliable

If you are truly set on entering consulting, don't let anything stand in your way. Start thinking like a consultant and find alternatives and solutions.

All the best!

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you did not manage to get into the consulting clubs. In terms of your question:

Q: Was really hoping to get into one of them in order to have a reliable source of practice partners since I'll be applying in the fall. What do you think is the best option at this point? 

In terms of practice with peers: you can use a p2p platform (PrepLounge is one of them) and select peers according to your needs.

In terms of experience to strengthen your CV: anything that would show the following skills would work well:

• Leadership experience (eg founding a club /organization)
• Entrepreneurial activities (eg starting a small business)
• Individual/team achievements showing commitment and high performance (eg sports achievements)
• Stakeholder management (eg class representative)

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Time to think outside of the box.

It'll be important as you mature and go through your career that when you get hit with setbacks you don't flinch an inch.

Preplounge has literally all the case partners you need!

Re-recruit for the club next year! (And figure out why you didn't get in this year)

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• Given that you asked this question on PrepLounge, the world's leading consulting preparation platform, I am not entirely sure if your question was asked in a serious manner. Nevertheless, you can use PrepLounge to find a plethora of great candidates from various countries and speaking different languages, to suit your needs.
• Moreover, if being a part of the university consulting club was something you desired, I would advise you to reapply next year.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

(editiert)