MBA vs Non-MBA Masters?

Question

currently an associate consultant at a major firm in Canada and would like to join the MBB’s in the distant future.

My options are whether to do an MBA at a top Canadian business school or an NON MBA such as a masters in business analytics at an Ivey league in the united states.

I would like to join as an associate or a Junior associate- which postgraduate path seems more impressive.

Answer 1

If your goal is consulting/MBB, you should do an MBA. If you have other goals, then maybe not.

Think about where you want to be in the future and decide accordingly.

Answer 2

Hi there,

Q: My options are whether to do an MBA at a top Canadian business school or an NON MBA such as a master in business analytics at an Ivey league in the United States.

I would recommend the MBA if you see a good track record of people moving to consulting from there, as it should allow you to join at a higher position.

You can check it as follows:

Go to LinkedIn
Add the university as "School"
Filter by each MBB/target company as “Current company” for your target geography

If you find a good number of alumni for a school working there with a background similar to yours, it means it could be a good option.

If you are not sure what a good number of people could be, you can use a school you are sure is a target as a benchmark.

You can find below an example for Harvard and McKinsey:

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 3

Hi,

A similar question was asked on this recently.

MBA is by far still the biggest / most common recruiting path in terms of graduate degrees.

If you get into a top MBA there will be OCR.

Alternatively - you could always lateral directly without an MBA, which is something I did. This is a path that is definitely getting more popular.

Answer 4

Hi there!

An MBA brings you straight to Associate. An MSc doesn't even if it's from a great brand uni.

Then in terms of how to pick the MBA program, make sure that you go for one that has a proven track record of placing graduates in MBBs and which has a strong careers service. You can find out these things by also networking beforehand with some of the current students. If you don't have contacts already in these universities, you can use the strategy in the guide below to do it:

Free Guide: How To Get Referrals Via LinkedIn?

Best,
Cristian

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Answer 5

If you look at hiring data, it is still very highly skewed towards MBAs from target schools. If you do a non MBA masters your chances of getting in reduce significantly in comparison.

Answer 6

Make sure to look at the recruiting data from those MBAs. I would say that they should be target schools for the consulting firms, but be sure to check first. If they are placing a lot of consultants in MBB, then it's the safest choice.

Answer 7

Hi there,

agree with some of the other opinions here - in general, both paths can get you into MBB eventually. Suggest you do some research and look at the school alumni presence in the firms and offices that you target.

Feel free to share your CV via DM, then can give some more specific advice.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Answer 8

Hello,

I agree with other coaches here that MBA is the more established track, but I recommend you do some research on LinkedIn to see where alumni of the programs you are considering have ended up in recent years too.

Answer 9

Each consultancy has people specialise at its own level and within a company some offices are different and individua... (read entire answer)

Each consultancy has people specialise at its own level and within a company some offices are different and individuals are different. Generally though for MBB you're looking at... (read entire answer)

Answer 10

Hi there, thanks for the appreciation. So one example of a firm that really knows their stuff in a particular fie... (read entire answer)

Hi there, thanks for the appreciation. So one example of a firm that really knows their stuff in a particular field is Horváth & Partners. I used to work for them and still... (read entire answer)

Answer 11

Hi there! It’s in fact hard to tell. Depends on the reputation of your university and the aggregate grade point ave... (read entire answer)

Hi there! It’s in fact hard to tell. Depends on the reputation of your university and the aggregate grade point average of your fellow students. Basically, you should try to g... (read entire answer)