Question about educational leave at BCG

Question

I just graduated and received an offer to join BCG as an associate. However, I still want to do an additional 1-year master program at a foreign university in the future. Do you think I will be able to get an educational leave after let's say one year at BCG? And can everybody get such a leave?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello!

Congrats! :)

This was the case of two colleages of mine when we finished out intership and McKinsey and we were extended an offer to come back.

They both came back to McK one year later to do their masters (this was the Madrid office) without issues. Talk about this with your mentor/DGL, this wouldbe the best person to guide you about how to navigate this inside BCG.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 2

Hey there,

As far as I know, the educational leave at BCG is a bit more restrictive than at McKinsey and it's handled differently by every office. It is best to check with HR before you start to avoid any trouble in advance.

However, in general, I am 100% certain that going on leave after 1 year is too early, no matter the office or firm. Usually, you would need to work 2 years full-time to get this chance at any consulting firm.

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 3

Policies on the educational leave differ from office to office. However, my personal feeling is that it would be rather difficult to to the educational leave after only one year. Did you discuss this with HR? If you have received the offer already, you can definitely openly discuss this question

Answer 4

Hi there,

This is office-dependent, so I would check with the local HR.

Having said that, career-wise it would make more sense to do an MBA 2-3 years after working as an Associate. This is definitely possible (you can also get a sponsorship if you have a top performance) and you may do a 1-year program such as the one at INSEAD.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 5

Typically this is not possible but if you are a good performer and they want to keep you they will always support something like this after 3-4 years of working

Udayan

Answer 6

Hi there,

Congratulations and well done!

I'd recommend the following:

Consider delaying the offer 1 year to pursue the degree (this is not uncommon)
Ask HR now if that is something that may be supported in the future
Make sure to perform well during your first few years - if you're an outstanding employee, you'll have a lot more leverage/capital to use in persuading them to let you go for a year (or even pay for it!)

Answer 7

Hi, I confirm the educational leave is usually allowed with 1+ years of seniority

Best,
Antonello