Yay

McKinsey and Bain won't give you a sniff if you're not coming from a Big 20 Business School.

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But for real, if you are considering work/life balance when thinking about what you want to do, you can probably cross investment banking off your list. There is no balance the first few years.

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Ditto for mgmt consulting. Both areas require prestige degrees and way above average abilities.

I would think that you're probably going to have to get an MBA for either of those fields, but I could be wrong.

I don't have experience in either of those fields, just friends who work in them. They all have MBAs or JDs.

I work in corporate development at a large tech consulting firm in the tier below MBB. Echoing above, you'll need to be at a top 25 undergrad and in the top of your class to be even considered for IB or the top tier strategy consulting firms. Being some of the most high profile gigs available out of undergrad, the work/life balance scale tips heavily towards work, especially in the first few years. From what I've seen from my colleagues and friends, the hours in consulting are marginally lighter than IB (60-80 hours/week rather than 80-100). With consulting, you'll be predominantly on the road, which could be a positive or negative depending on the person. Also, consulting is largely project-dependent that can last an extended period of time, so if you get stuck on a terrible project you'll have a much different experience than someone in your starting class who got put on a good client. Both paths offer some of the best exit opportunities in the biz, whether that be in another industry or MBA. My advice would be to start kicking arse yesterday- both in class and extracurriculars. Network and gather as much intel as possible from recent grads to get their experience and see how it aligns with your goals/interests

Do the Internal Audit concentration at LSU. You can get on with a big 4 advisory practice. That will likely be your best path for an undergrad.

It’s still very, very tough to make it into competitive strategy consulting after B4 advisory positions that the LSU IA curriculum generally opens up.

I worked as a management consultant right out of undergrad at one of the big firms. I currently work with colleagues from many of the other big consulting firms including MBB. I came from a non-target school in undergrad and had to work my arse off to get interviews. I recently finished my MBA and had a number of classmates go the consulting route...this is honestly the easiest route.

I’m happy to jump on a call with you if you want to discuss in more detail. I also considered IB and had opportunities in undergrad that I passed on for consulting.

Upvote for solid advice.

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the hours in consulting are marginally lighter than IB (60-80 hours/week rather than 80-100).

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The hours in consulting are WAY lighter than IB. 95%+ of consultants aren't logging north of 60 hours on a regular basis.

The best part of consulting vs. IB hours wise, is that even if you are putting in serious time. You can work from home most friday-sunday. Expect to be in the office saturdays and some sundays in IB as an analyst.


The two careers are VERY different. IB will exit primarily to corporate development and PE jobs. The PE jobs are very competitive, not only to get, but also to move up.

Consulting depends on what you go into. I'll argue that you will learn more about actual business and will come in handy if you ever want to start your own or work in ops.

Regardless what you want to do 2-4 years of IB or management consulting will propel your career far further than any of your peers that go into industry.

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Just curious, what do you define as an investment and because people have very different definitions.

i see an investment banker as a M&A/corporate restructuring/ bond issuance.

Others see investment banking much more broadly including sales/trading units which i don't think should. E included as investment bankers and sales/trading are supposed to be segregated.

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Wut