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Question about educational leave at BCG

BCG BCG Bain McKinsey education
New answer on Apr 14, 2021
7 Answers
4.4 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Apr 11, 2021

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!

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Clara
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Content Creator
replied on Apr 12, 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

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

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Florian
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replied on Apr 12, 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

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

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Florian
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replied on Apr 11, 2021
Ex-McKinsey | 5+ years consulting experience | Active interviewer & coach | Healthcare industry | Inhouse Consulting

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

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Francesco
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replied on Apr 12, 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

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

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Udayan
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replied on Apr 11, 2021
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /12 years recruiting experience

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

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Ian
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replied on Apr 12, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Congratulations and well done!

I'd recommend the following:

  1. Consider delaying the offer 1 year to pursue the degree (this is not uncommon)
  2. Ask HR now if that is something that may be supported in the future
  3. 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!)
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Antonello
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replied on Apr 14, 2021
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

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

Best,
Antonello

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Clara gave the best answer

Clara

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McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut
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