Becoming a Management Consultant: Best MBA programs to get into McKinsey, Bain and BCG (MBB)
Updated: Jan 31
Why Consulting?
The consulting industry pulls in the lion’s share of business school graduates. Despite experiencing a global hiring slowdown in 2023, the MBA continues to be the most in-demand degree for consulting. In fact, consulting makes up 31.3% of total MBA hires - the largest share of all industries - in Bloomberg’s 2023 ranking.
A major appeal is that consulting work requires a more generalist skill set, exposing new recruits to a broad spectrum of industries, functions, and business challenges. A lot of the skills you’ll use as a consultant - like data-driven decision making, dealing with complex information, and effective communication - are precisely what you’ll learn in your MBA program.
As an entry level career, consulting allows recruits to apply these skills without forcing them to specialize immediately. In terms of professional development, consultants have a steep learning curve that exposes them to C-suite executives and high-impact business challenges early on. Then there’s the powerful network you’ll build, opening up doors in high places.
Make no mistake - this is a dynamic, challenging job that may require you to put in long hours, frequently travel, and adapt your skills to each new project and manager you’ll work with. But consultants tend to get well paid for their hard work; consulting is one of the most highly compensated post-MBA industries.
MBA Salaries for Consulting
Even after factoring in inflation, employers project higher MBA salaries in the US in 2023 as compared to last year.
Here are the top 10 business schools whose graduates netted the highest consulting salaries:
Business School | Percentage of Consulting Hires | Median Salary (in US$) |
Stanford | 15.1% | $190,000 |
Chicago Booth | 35.5% | $175,000 |
Columbia | 26.9% | $175,000 |
Cornell Johnson | 30.6% | $175,000 |
Dartmouth Tuck | 46.7% | $175,000 |
Duke Fuqua | 35.8% | $175,000 |
Florida Warrington | 11.1% | $175,000 |
Harvard | 26.4% | $175,000 |
MIT Sloan | 31.1% | $175,000 |
Michigan Ross | 42.2% | $175,000 |
MBB Consulting Firms
Of the consulting firms recruiting at b-schools, the MBB firms (McKinsey, Bain & Co., and Boston Consulting Group) are widely regarded as being at the top of the pecking order. Many MBA graduates say that a stint at one of the MBB firms is like earning another business degree.
A report by Management Consulted shows that the MBB firms - known as the 'Big Three' - also increased their total compensation packages by $17,000 - $39,000 in 2023. Base pay starts at $192,000 at McKinsey and Bain, while BCG offers $190,000. Additionally, these firms offer joining bonuses of approximately $30,000.
In addition to their financial benefits, the MBB firms offer exposure to an unparalleled roster of clients and practice areas, network, and career growth opportunities.
Top Feeder Schools for MBB
Unsurprisingly, the MBB firms look to hire the crème de la crème of business school graduates, where they are also the top recruiters. McKinsey is the single largest recruiter of MBA graduates globally.
The business school to MBB pipeline is heavily skewed towards several ‘feeder’ schools. These schools have an established history of supplying the MBBs with a steady stream of consulting grads. The MBB firms also target these schools for summer internships, which are often converted to full-time roles depending on the recruit’s performance.
So if you’re a consulting applicant looking to get into an MBB firm, it’s wise to choose schools that have a record of having relationships with the MBB.
This is not to say that these are the only business schools that MBB firms recruit from. As they want to hire a diverse, highly competitive pool of consultants, a significant number of non-feeder schools also see graduates recruited into the MBB firms. For example, Bain hired from 40 different schools in 2022, many of them outside the US.
While the data on the MBB firms’ target schools is not publicly available (they don’t want to deter graduates from non-feeder schools from applying!) they reveal their hand through tailored programs designed for incoming MBA students at certain target schools. This includes McKinsey’s exclusive Early Access program, BCG’s Unlock summer program, and Bain’s ExperienceBain summer learning program.
These programs offer pre-MBA students the opportunity to explore a career in consulting, with behind-the-scenes insights and interactions with consultants and leaders. It’s a great way to build your consulting network early and get your foot in the door when it comes to landing a summer internship.
Poets&Quants published a list of the schools that MBB firms target for their pre-MBA learning experience. In addition to the M7 schools, some of the top feeder schools for MBBs are UCLA Anderson, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Duke Fuqua, UC Berkeley Haas, Yale, and NYU Stern.
See the full list of top business schools that are on the official 'target list' of the recruiters at MBB firms:
Anderson School of Management, University of California-Los Angeles
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
Columbia Business School, Columbia University
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley
Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Stern School of Business, New York University
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Yale School of Management, Yale University
Anderson School of Management, University of California-Los Angeles
Goizueta Business School, Emory University
Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
SDA Bocconi School of Management, Bocconi University
Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
Saïd Business School, Oxford University
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology
Columbia Business School, Columbia University
HEC Paris, École des hautes études commerciales de Paris
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
IE Business School, IE University
London Business School
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
IESE Business School, University of Navarra
Marriott School of Business, Brigham Young University
Stern School of Business, New York University
ESADE Business School, Ramon Llull University
INSEAD, Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires
McCombs School of Business, University of Texas-Austin
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
ESCP Business School
Jindal School of Management, University of Texas-Dallas
McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Foster School of Business, University of Washington
Johnson School of Management, Cornell University
Olin Business School, Washington University
Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University
Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
Yale School of Management, Yale University
Anderson School of Management, University of California-Los Angeles
Johnson School of Management, Cornell University
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University
Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Columbia Business School, Columbia University
Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Stern School of Business, New York University
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
Foster School of Business, University of Washington
McCombs School of Business, University of Texas-Austin
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Goizueta Business School, Emory University
Olin Business School, Washington University
Yale School of Management, Yale University
Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley
Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Which School Should You Choose
It’s a good idea to pick schools that are established MBB feeders. But you should also do your research into the schools and consider MBA programs with a consulting-friendly curriculum consulting clubs that will actively help with your case preparation.
For example, some schools offer specific consulting tracks or specializations, like the Oxford Consulting Development Programme or HEC Paris’s MBA specialization in Strategy. Some schools like HBS, IESE and Darden use the “case method” in their classes, which is particularly well suited to consultants. Other schools even offer consulting career treks for students to build their network.
MBB interviews are mostly case-based. Before entering these, it’s crucial for you to do mock case interviews. It’s typical for applicants to do 30-40 practice cases before entering their real case interviews. Many MBA programs have consulting clubs that offer mock case interviews. But you should do your research here, because not all schools offer case preparation in the same way. We’ve heard stories of second years charging a fee to first years for case interviews. On the other hand, we’ve heard from client reports that schools including Kellogg and UNC-KF offer this case preparation for free.
Besides the MBB consultancies, many popular consulting firms like PwC, Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Kearney offer lucrative packages and career development opportunities. Other smaller firms may be more localized and tend to work within specialized fields like finance, tech, energy, healthcare, etc. If your goal is to enter one of these fields, consider schools that offer specialized electives. For example, Yale SOM has a strong social impact consulting focus, while UNC Kenan-Flagler offers a healthcare consulting MBA concentration.
To learn more about top schools for consulting graduates, check out our Post-MBA Goals: Consulting article.
Undergrad feeder schools for MBB
According to this 2022 Wall Street Oasis report that surveyed 1,577 consulting respondents from 57 consulting firms, MBB recruits came from the following schools.
While this data includes undergraduate programs, it still gives you a good idea of where firms come to recruit and where they have relationships. Note that this list is based on WSO user data and is in no way exhaustive.
McKinsey
School | Percentage of respondents |
UToronto Rotman | 4.2% |
Michigan Ross | 3% |
Northwestern Kellogg | 3% |
Harvard | 3% |
Dartmouth Tuck | 3% |
Georgia Tech | 3% |
UPenn Wharton | 2.4% |
Duke Fuqua | 2.4% |
BYU Marriott | 2.4% |
Rice Jones | 2.4% |
Bain
School | Percentage of respondents |
UT Austin McCombs | 5.5% |
UVA Darden | 4.8% |
Harvard | 4.1% |
Michigan Ross | 3.4% |
Duke Fuqua | 3.4% |
Vanderbilt Owen | 3.4% |
Dartmouth Tuck | 2.8% |
Brown University | 2.8% |
UWO Ivey | 2.8% |
Columbia | 2.1% |
BCG
School | Percentage of respondents |
UPenn Wharton | 10% |
Yale SOM | 5% |
MIT Sloan | 4.2% |
London School of Economics | 4.2% |
SMU Cox | 3.3% |
UT Austin McCombs | 2.5% |
UVA Darden | 2.5% |
Harvard | 2.5% |
Columbia | 2.5% |
Northwestern Kellogg | 2.5% |
Need help choosing the right program for a consulting career? Book a free 20 min chat with expert consultants from our team.
_JPG.jpg)
.png)
