Bio Major working as a consultant?

[gogoplata]

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Hello everyone. I was just wondering about the prospects of getting a consulting job at a company like Bain with a bio degree? Is it likely? And would I mostly be consulting in health care areas?

 

[gogoplata]

Anyone?

 

[michaelrack]

Anyone?

Do you have a Phd or just a B.S.??

 

[gogoplata]

I would just a B.A. in Molecular Biology from Princeton.

 

[michaelrack]

I'm not an expert in the area, but I don't think your chances are very good.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Do you have a Phd or just a B.S.??

Say he did have a Phd, what would the answer be then? Just curious.

 

[mysterious.mr.x]

Doable, but in this economy you really got to prove yourself to get one of those jobs at a top firm. They generally wont hold your major against you if you got the GPA and can rock the case interviews. Other than that I'd recommend doing things to show (and confirm) your interest in business. This can range from taking finance and accounting classes to joining clubs etc. Additionally position yourself in a way that highlights your biology skills, seek out positions that look for people with both a bio and a business background (they exist.) Keep in mind though you are in competition with all of the math, econ, finance, and marketing majors, in your interviews you will be expected to prove to these firms why they should choose you over them. This is not going to be easy, but it can be and has been done.

One last thing, don't expect that a stellar job is going to fall into your lap just because of your Ivy degree, many of my friends made this mistake and are unfortunately now getting burned. The ONLY ones that have jobs now were the people who worked hard, made the grades, and truly earned it.

Best of luck to you in your pursuits 🙂

 

[nfg05]

I'd say your chances are better at a bio/pharma strategy consulting specialist or one that at least does a good bit of that type of work (LEK Boston office comes to mind). At a top 3 (MBB) firm, you will NOT be working exclusively or even mainly on healthcare cases. Best you can do is go for a strong healthcare office (usually Boston) that does a good amount of pharma work and has maybe 20-30% tops of caseload in health care. So you'll get more than you would at another office, but everyone out of undergrad is hired as a generalist at the top 3 strat firms.

Caveat: You do get to specify your preferences and efforts will be made to accomodate them, but staffing is mainly a function of who's available firm-wide when a project is starting rather than managed within an individual industry practice. This is all at the most junior level (coming out of ugrad), higher ups definitely get more specialized and work in a specific industry but the firm needs a general pool of people that can be thrown at any case.

 

[nfg05]

Say he did have a Phd, what would the answer be then? Just curious.

If he did have a PhD his chances would be better at BCG or McK than Bain. Can't speak outside those 3 really w/ regards to PhD but my perspective is that it's actually easier to get in as an undergrad simply because there's more spots available and people are rotating out every two years. A good number of low-level generalists need to be brought in to replace those who are departing.

I know from my top 10 undergrad campus an MBB full-time recruiting session is ~300 apps, 50 1st round interview, 20 2nd round interview, 10-12 offer. Those vary by school and by firm (i.e. BCG gives lots of 1st round, McK gives few) but can provide a general idea of your ugrad chances. No idea on what these numbers would be like for PhD.