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Big 10 - yes
At Stanford, a lot of my peers were "MBB-or-bust," meaning that if they struck out of MBB, they wouldn't even bother applying to T2s (much less B4) and would instead try to do something completely different, e.g. a startup, bizops, etc.
Pro
Who cares?
@Bain, prestige is closely correlated with exit opportunities. Certain jobs are prestigious because they have good exit ops, and they have good exit ops because they are prestigious. Hard to distinguish between the two.
Nope only MBB (went to Stanford)
A1 - You are projecting.
Honestly, in undergrad I didn’t think about consulting at all. All I knew was that working at McKinsey wasn’t ethical, BCG was fine, and Bain was the better firm for Black woman, that’s all. I was on the JD/PhD path track so didn’t actually care since all these companies are basically the same. The only prestige I sought, and to this day would care about, is academic. Company prestige is silly if they are paying pretty much the same. So I sent my standards and MBB did not meet those standards.
Like I said before, it just comes down to the individual and what their values are. You value what others think about you even if you’re/they’re suffering, I don’t. I’m not saying change the way you think but you should understand that some of us actually like ourselves and want be happy.
Chief
No, UPenn here. Perception was MBB or BB/EB IB or you were a failure
This isn’t how it should be, but how it is
Agree with this (Stanford perspective)
Chief
Went to a non target state school so it was considered a great outcome if you could land a job in the big4. Most people at my school were just focused on getting a job and being able to paying their bills, prestige was the last thing on most peoples mind.
Rising Star
SAE or Delta Chi were more prestigious.
I hadn’t even heard of the B4 (or consulting) until I went to grad school.
Nope only MBB (Penn)
Chief
I agree with Bain. Also I went to a state school in Oklahoma, my friend enterprise rent a car was prestigious.
Went to Stanford. Any finance/consulting was looked down on by average student body (tech and medicine dominate the social scene somewhat). MS&E is the main feeder major for consulting and finance and is somewhat seen as a snake/red flag major.
Within those familiar with finance and consulting, MBB and BB/EB banking were considered solid outcomes, but lots of students went directly in PE/VC/HF (including at MF PE firms), and those were the only outcomes to really garner any attention. Changes your idea of “good” when your housemate is turning down a >400k quant offer a few days after you accept a ~90k entry level role.
Definitely creates a bit of an inferiority complex as someone that didn’t end up in a MBB/IB out of college and is only now starting at a “prestigious” firm by stanford standards 2.5 years later.
To more directly answer the question. Average student that is familiar with consulting will see B4 as being a solid outcome (excl KPMG), but Deloitte had the best rep. But there is definitely a portion of students that look down on it as being not elite enough. Arguably prestige/excitement/“coolness” was more important to students than pay
Some people were lucky to even have an offer after graduating. Count your blessings and who cares what is considered prestigious or not
At penn state it was considered the top option
Yeah but barely anyone gets banking
Chief
Went to an ivy so I’d say not prestigious but still solid
Chief
It was considered a pretty average outcome
Chief
Lmao most intern comment ever
Yeah they were I guess, B10 school.
I went to a state school where the local CPA firm was considered prestigious lol
My state school wasn’t even a target for consulting, only audit and tax. Consulting couldn’t be prestigious because we didn’t know it existed
Yea and I was heartbroken when I didn’t get into any B4 outta college 😭
Chief
Nope. I went to a non-target state school and I think BAH was the only consulting firm that did any sort of recruiting there. I think there were accounting firms that recruited there for audit/tax, but no consulting that I'm aware of.
B8/B5/B4 weren't known for their consulting chops on campus at the time. Heck, I can count on one hand the number of alumni I know or heard of who went into consulting at a brand name at all in the years surrounding my time there
Chief
Prestige is ephemeral