BCG Office Locations (NYC vs NJ vs CHI vs SF)

Question

I am applying to BCG's summer internship but am conflicted about how to rank office locations. I am currently in a Chicago target school and would prefer to be in New York. I have networked well with the New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and New Jersey offices, so I feel good about securing the first round but it comes down to the second round. But I understand New York is very competitive (as well as Chicago but I have the alumni edge). Given economy is bad right now, should I focus on optimizing my chances and apply to the Chicago office?

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

Typically I'd say go for the office where you'd be happiest long term (which sounds like New York!) becuase transferring offices can take a long time and means you have to start from scratch with relationships.

That being said, because this is a summer internship and given the market conditions and your alumni connection to Chicago, I'd say go for Chicago for the summer and then try to transfer your full time offer. I've seen that work well for many people.

I wouldn't worry too much though. I think the competion will be very marginally different. If you can, communicate to the recruiting team that you're interested in both and flexible and you never know.

Best of luck!

Martha

Answer 2

Hi there,

Ultimately you need to decide for yourself. A few personal thoughts to guide you a bit:

I would always recommend to shoot for the location you would enjoy living in the most (personal preference)
The alumni edge would only be relevant during screening, if at all
What if everyone thinks the same way and applies to "less competitive" offices, which generally do hire less because they are smaller? Then it might actually be riskier to follow that path
Once in a firm, it's not too difficult to move offices, especially within the same country
The actual client projects might anyway be somewhere completely different and you have to travel Monday-Thursday to be off-site

Cheers,

Florian