Advice required for future consulting

Question

Hi everyone,

I have finished my International Business Administration (Bachelor) with dinstinction, and I am currently applying for two universities in Amsterdam - UVA and VU.

Now I need to make the following choice: UVA is slightly more international accreditable compared to the VU university, but on national level it is not significant. This is due to the fact that the UVA university has its own "business school", and therefore selective.

On the other hand, the VU university has a Master in Business Adminstration, offering a special track in management consulting. They really focus on this branch only and work more together with firms as the university is positioned in the heart of the business park. Besides that, it will be easier for me to get good grades.

The master that I want to do at the UVA university is called Strategy, which is to be known as a tough study among local students (meaning 8's and 9's are rather 6's and 7's). Overall this university and master are highly reputable.

Now I know that for consulting firms grades are of utmost importance. What would be the best choice for me to make as a independent observer of this story? Taking into consideration that at the UVA university with the strategy master I will have a better study, but more chance of getting regular grades.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

My gut feeling based on your description says go with UVA, but you should validate this. Really, it depends on a number of criteria.

Firstly, I would also challenge that "grades are of the utmost importance" for consulting - at least in the UK, unless you do exceptionally well (e.g. top of your class) or very poorly, the grades don't matter that much. Or let me rephrase - while having an excellent GPA certainly won't hurt your chances, it also definitely won't be a "make it or break it" criteria. So don't choose a place based on fact you think you can get better grades

If you want to work internationally - then go with the one with the better international rep. - the more likely it is that the office you are applying to at least knows ofthe uni., the better.

What matters much more than grades is the quality of the uni and the work experience & extra-curricular activities you have. Do you know if one of the two unis has more opportunities for getting involved in societies, consulting clubs, etc., or provide opportunities to do full-time internships or part-time work? This would be a potential deciding factor in choosing between the two.

Finally, have you looked into alumni from these two unis, and where they tend to place? Are there an equal number of people at McKinsey/Bain/BCG from both, or is there drastically more from one vs the other? This could be an insightful lens, as you should probably validate your assumption that "they are roughly on equal standing locally".