My short answers to your questions 

1. Anyone's odds of making it to MBB are low regardless of university. If however you're more open minded about your options and consider all reputable consulting firms you most definitely have good odds of making it 

2. I always recommend going through the university recruitment cycle as that's where the odds of success are highest and where you have the most support both from the university and from recruiters to help make it 

3. New York is the most competitive office for obvious reasons. If however this is important to you there's no harm in trying for it. In my experience, less exciting cities (Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago) have better odds of making it given the crazy competition in NYC. 

You can do it. That's the direct answer. 

Now, you might not be able to get into the absolute top firms. You might not be able to get directly a full-time position. You might have to do a lot more work for the prep than you imagine at this point. But it's doable. 

You have great experiences on your CV, including your volunteering experience, and they are assets, not liabilities. 

What you need, to begin with, is an application strategy. 

This involves clear targets (in terms of firms and roles), and a timeline. You can learn more about this here:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Then, you need to develop an absolutely awesome application package, meaning the CV and Cover Letter. I emphasize awesome because it's critical to have a well-written CV and Cover Letter especially if you don't have the traditional consulting background. 

Then, you need to network in order to get referrals. Referrals will be critical in increasing the probability of you passing screening. You can learn more about them and how to get them here:

• Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals
• Expert Guide: How To Get Referrals Via LinkedIn?

This is the starting point. Then, (or even in parallel) comes the preparation for the actual interviews.

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

Sharing some perspective on your questions:

Can extremely diligent preparation and networking make up for my weaker background?

• The first hurdle is actually to get an interview invite
• Networking can help, but typically only if the consultants believe you have what it takes
• My take on this is that yes it can help, but you would still need to find some way to convince people you talk to that you have the right abilities
  • If this is not on your CV, then there are 2 ways
  • 1) Qualitatively, during the engagements itself
  • 2) Objectively, by improving your CV points e.g. taking a standardized test and scoring very highly on it to prove you have the intellectual abilities

What recruiting cycle would I fall under?

• Based on my experience, you would not fall in under the OCR campaigns, but HR may tell you to apply during the same cycles
• Most likely you will be asked to apply off cycle

All the best!

Hi there,

Given what you have told us, you have a very interesting profile for MBB and tier 2.

Your main goal should be initially to pass the screening stage and for this, you would need to make sure that 

• you have a proper read on the market situation and different offices (apply where and when it makes sense)
• solid referrals for target offices (increases your chances)
• a polished resume, highlighting relevant skills and experiences for consulting

The first two can be tackled at the same time and asking about current hiring is a great discussion starter for networking via your own networking and cold-outreach via LinkedIn.

Once you have cleared that stage, it resets and your interview performance is all that counts.

Keep us posted!

All the best,

Florian

You actually have a good profile. Sure, it's not a “sure interview” but it's not a remote possibility.

You'll need to improve your resume as much as possible and have some indicators of excellence in there to maximize your changes. Combine that with networking, and trying to identify a less competitive office in the region - being open to other locations outside NY could help improve your chances.

Regarding recruiting cycle, you can use both, but I believe your chances will be optimized if you use the university recruiting cycle. Also probably easier to align the university recruiting cycle type of schedule (and starting date expectations) with your own 27 month program.