None, except OP seems keen on transferring but the colleges they listed aren’t transfer-friendly…
Transferring 'requires" only one valid reason; such a reason can and does vary by applicant.
Your list of target schools is odd and unrealistic. The schools that you ruled out are probably four of the best schools in the country for achieving your goal.
The internet is full of sources that claim to provide advice & methods for being hired by the Big 4. My advice is to earn high grades in a marketable major at a top notch university which might include Emory.
Were you admitted to the campus in Atlanta/Decatur or to Emory’s Oxford campus ?
Are you an international student ?
Do you want to work in the US or abroad ?
I agree…one valid reason is needed. But I don’t think “I want to go to a more prestigious college” is usually the one viewed well by the adcoms.
My understanding of OP’s reason is that OP wants a better chance of landing a position in Big 4 consulting and that this can be aided by attending a more prestigious university than Emory. OP is correct, but unrealistic and probably unnecessary.
P.S. OP: You are correct in that your goal would be more easily achieved if a student at Stanford, Harvard, Princeton,or Yale, but Emory is okay for your objective as Big 4 consulting is not as difficult to achieve as any of MBB.
It seems clear to me that you understand the Big 4 consulting industry judging by your intended double major. Big 4 consulting wants high grades from a top school in marketable majors; you seem to have all the right opportunities.
Nevertheless, if you are an international student seeking Big 4 placement abroad, then your concerns may be warranted.
P.P.S. Without going into too much detail, Emory is not really a target school for Big 4 consulting. I had to check as Emory does a good job with respect to the healthcare industry. Deloitte does hire Emory students even though not listed as a target school.
Earlier I wrote that your list of target schools is odd in light of your stated goal. You are aiming too high while neglecting the most favored schools such as Penn, Northwestern, Duke, Berkeley, Georgetown, Indiana, Michigan, U Texas at Austin and a few others of much lower prestige (BYU & Texas A&M, for example).
Big 4 consulting definitely has target schools and I am not seeing Emory on any of the lists, but maybe it should be.
The unrealistic part is what I’m talking about.
OP: Look at the employment outcomes of various universities to put together a more realistic list of transfer schools.
Emory’s list does not match your stated goal:
https://cpd.emory.edu/outcomes/
Northwestern has much more robust recruiting. Here is a sample list for MMSS undergrad students (must be strong in math):
Check out whether SMU & Boston College would be suitable for your goal.
Duke undergrad is great for Deloitte as is Duke MBA (but be cautious about Duke Fuqua’s other one year programs).
Northwestern University–especially the Kellogg related programs and the MBA–is among the very top few programs in the US for MC.
P.S. Also, University of Virginia should be given strong consideration in light of your goals (definitely superior to Emory based on your career objective).
There are zero colleges that the OP would consider which like to think of themselves as apprenticeships for the consulting industry. And some of the ones which essentially are finishing schools for the financial institution and consulting industries, STILL have a veneer of respectability to them- i.e. institutions of higher learning. Intellectual inquiry, not “we teach you what you need to know on your first day at EY”.
A strategy of “I want to go to your college because I want to get a job at X” is a losing strategy for a transfer, IMHO.
Thanks!
Thanks for the suggestions, the anxiety came from seeing my friends accepted to top universities, thinking I could make it there as well… I did some research on my own and realized that emory is indeed a great school for my field - should have done this earlier.
Enjoy!
In life, you’ll see some make more money or have more kids or a “nicer” car or whatever.
You cannot base all these thoughts on others.
Be the best with the decisions you make.
Best of luck - and yes, given your majors, you’re at a great great place.
Is this a joke? In what world is big 4 hard to get into from any top 50 school?
My nephew landed a job at PwC consulting and he attended Baylor. I think as long as you can grind/work hard/ network you will be fine. Emory is a phenomenal school.
Yes it absolutely is! It is freaking Emory! Enjoy the Emory journey! Work hard! Look for research opportunities with business professors. Join the business clubs, network like crazy. Seek out big 4 Emory alumni, talk to them, ask them for advice, develop mentor relationships. Pin down the internships. You will get the job!
Perhaps you would have been accepted to higher ranked unis, but you chose to apply to Emory ED (a top university by most any standard!) so you’ll never know.
I find it difficult to believe anyone would apply ED without researching the school.
If in fact this post is real, I sincerely hope the OP received the validation needed. Emory is a fantastic university and especially strong for the public health and business areas of interest. Embrace the opportunity and enjoy the rest of senior year! Great job!
Consulting is different than audit/assurance.
Yet, the data you posted doesn’t differentiate.
And some Big 4 consulting does not hire undergrads, although KPMG announced that starting in 2021 it would interview and hire undergrads for the first time for strategy and not just basic, very simple deal work (due diligence).
Emory non-MBA is a target school only for KPMG consulting starting in either 2021 or 2022.
There are entire websites devoted to this area. I have multiple lists from multiple sources (including the specific Big 4 recruiters) of target schools for each Big 4 consulting recruitment . Can you get there from Emory undergrad, maybe, but the key is getting an internship during one’s undergrad years and it is more difficult for those attending non-target schools.
Also, another aspect that may cause confusion is that some confuse specialty practice areas with “consulting” and some equate non-strategic consulting with strategy consulting.
OP’s chances for Big 4 consulting would be easier at schools much lower ranked than Emory–such as Ole Miss and even West Virginia University if interested in KPMG.
Even Emory University openly refers their students to private consultants if seeking Big 4 work in consulting.
OP may be very new to this area judging by a stated desire to attend Ivy league schools to increase chances for Big 4 consulting. Ivies focus on placement with more elite consulting firms, not Big 4 consulting.
Some schools have strong relationships with Big 4 consulting, but Emory is not among those schools.
Even for those who understand the differences, landing a Big 4 consulting position as an undergraduate is quite difficult. Most data shows well under 4% of all applicants are successful (and I suspect that for an undergraduate seeking a consulting position in a Big 4 firm it may be under 1% with most going to techies–but I am not certain of this).
(FWIW I do have a substantial amount of experience in this area. This post is just very basic information.)
OP: Double majoring in econ & public health is a solid plan for one interested in consulting work, but your target schools are way off the mark if seeking Big 4 consulting. (Why Big 4 consulting ? Are you an international student or interested in working abroad ?)
I may be repeating myself, but crossing off some of the very top schools for consulting placement–such as Northwestern, Chicago, & Berkeley–is unusual for one seeking a position in consulting. For the top consulting firms, Harvard, Penn, Northwestern, and Michigan are often regarded as the top 4. And Chicago’s history with McKinsey is well known.
And for Big 4 consulting, I would be reluctant to target Ivy League schools when much better options exist.
P.S. OP: If you tell me why you want Big 4 consulting, your dream career, and whether money motivated, and the type of consulting that you would like to do, I can give you a list of schools to consider. My impression, however, is that you are unfamiliar with the consulting industry–which is normal for one of your age–and in time your focus will sharpen. But, for one targeting Big 4 consulting who desires to attend an elite university, Duke would be a much better school than almost all Ivies.
And if interested in attending an M-7 MBA program, you may want to rethink targeting Big 4 consulting.
A question has been bugging me throughout this thread, and I thought I might ask it.
Why do you want to work in a “big 4 consultancy”? What do you expect that it will be like?
It is very difficult for a university graduate, and even more for most high school students, to fully understand what it will be like to work as a high end management consultant and I am wondering what experience you have in this area.
And I still think that you are headed to a great school in September, which will have great professors, demanding classes, and a lot of opportunities that you can take advantage of.