| Topic Name: |
How does classroom diversity affect your chances? |
| Message Name: |
My advice... |
| Date Posted: |
01/05/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
I have a slew of questions.
I transferred to a liberal arts college last year to study economics, and have become bitten by the consulting bug. Before I attended an Arts Academy for high school and a music conservatory. I was very succesful on natinal levels, but really just became burnt out.
Luckily, I realized early enough what I wanted to do, and, consequently, changed my career focus. The music gave me a scholarship for school, and my early training allowed me to drop the music class at the university and focus on academics.
I have stressed quantitative skills, and really want to begin taking a few computer programming classes for the consulting field. Because my degree is in music, I thought that I should pursue another degree, and have been working on an Economics degree. Is this necessary? I have been told, lately, that the music degree will differentiate me from my classmates in the job/grad school process. I have become consumed to do what it takes. I have good grades, spend time in extra-curriculars, and have a job. I did think that investment banking would be the right field, but after interning at MSDW, I am not so sure.
Please provide any and all ifo and advice that you can. I appreciate it. |
| Message: |
...is that it seems that your background is fine for consulting. I assume you attend Vanderbilt University and will attempt a full-time job through the campus career center.
In this case, the firms you will probably target are the Big 5 consultants + Andersen Consulting (like all college seniors). I'm pretty sure the pure Strategy firms such as McKinsey and Bain will not recruit at the undergraduate level on-campus at Vanderbilt so I would leave these firms alone.
In terms of the Big 5 or any other consulting firm, it really depends on how well you gear your CV and application towards the target firm. Taking Computer Science and econ classes will help with all firms, so I would definitely emphasize this in your CV, especially if the CS class relates to anything Internet (TCP/IP, Java, etc.)
But there is alot that goes into campus screening. For example, Andersen puts a lot of weight into school activities i.e. sports, clubs, community service. You can have a pretty poor GPA (around 3.0) and still get an interview if you are a Varsity Lacrosse player and deliver food to the elderly. So when you submit your Andersen application on-campus, you are going to want to fill that Data Sheet section on Activities to the maximum. PwC, I believe is the same way.
EY and DC place more emphasis on grades and coursework I think, then on activities. Don't know anything about KPMG or AA. The common theme with pretty much all firms is work experience, through internships, summer jobs, campus jobs, what you learned from this experience in terms of teamwork and leadership. This will be important during your interviews.
But off the bat you seem like a solid campus candidate. Your success with the consulting recruiting process depends on how well you package yourself to nail down the key points recruiters are looking for. The most important thing for you to do now is to figure out what they want and give it to them. For example, music degree or no music degree, if you do not put any activities down for your AC application, you will not get an interview regardless of SATs, GPA, and major.
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