List of target school (MBA)

target school
New answer on May 19, 2020
6 Answers
2.3 k Views
Anonymous A asked on May 18, 2020

I am currently applying for experienced hire at consulting firms, with 2 years of job experience after graduating from MBA.

I'm wondering which MBA programs are viewed as target schools for consulting. Except M7 for US, and LBS and INSEAD for EU, are there others? Is IESE and HEC viewed as target schools?

Another question to discuss is, coming out of a semi target school like NYU or Cornell, how would this impact the chance of being invited for an interview?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Vlad
Expert
replied on May 19, 2020
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

Actually it doesn't matter in your case, since you have 2 years of work experience post-MBA.

Target school concept means dedicated on-campus recruiters, which makes it easier to apply and a higher acceptance rate. Nothing in common with your situation

Best

Was this answer helpful?
Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 19, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

You can open the box of thunder when trying to see which MBAs are better than others, hehe.

For this, I would honestly trust the official rankings:

  • Financial Times
  • Poets and Quants

Other idea that can be done easily would be:

  1. Identify stakeholders (from associate on, so tenured) in your target office
  2. Research them on LinkedIn to see which BS they attended to

This can give you a better idea on an specific location.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Was this answer helpful?
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 18, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi,

It's pretty safe to just go down the rankings here. Not sure what more you want to hear from us?

There's a direct correlation between prestige of school and your odds of being invited for an interview. The further you go down the list, the lower your odds. Of course, there's probably a steep drop-off at around rank #20.

Cornell and NYU are both excellent schools (P.S. I received my MBA at Stern NYU, and received an offer at BCG...as did 10 of my classmates)

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous replied on May 19, 2020

Hi there,

All the B-schools you mentioned are good enough for consulting. To stand out, it depends on your resume and your interview performance.

Plus, given you already graduated for 2 years, what you have achieved in these 2 years would be critical, more important than the small difference between target or semi target...

Best,
Emily

Was this answer helpful?
3
Anonymous replied on May 19, 2020

Dear A,


In addition to US Ivy League Business School, as well as LBS and INSEAD, ASE, I would also mention IE in Spain and Bocconi in Italy as target schools in Europe.

Regarding your second question, if you are coming from he semi-target school, but if you are able to show great achievements and grades, you still will be very attractive for HR. However, of course, keep in mind, that your chances might be a little lower than the top candidate coming from the target schools.

Nevertheless, given the current COVID situation, I would recommend you to apply only through referrals and not through the website or LinkedIn.

If you need any help to secure your interviews ad transfer them into offers, drop me a line.


Good luck,

André

Was this answer helpful?
2
Francesco
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 19, 2020
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

in terms of Europe, besides the schools you mentioned, I helped a good number of candidates from IE to land into MBB.

The best way to compare the different MBAs would be to look at the number of alumni on LinkedIn and resize for the class dimension of the MBA.

You can still get into MBB even if you are not coming from a target school, however you will need a referral to do so, you can find more on that at the link below:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Best,

Francesco

Was this answer helpful?
Vlad gave the best answer

Vlad

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School
429
Meetings
12,186
Q&A Upvotes
127
Awards
4.9
186 Reviews
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely