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<p>This is certainly true, but is true regardless of what you majored in. Lots of engineering students want to get IB and MC offers, but, frankly, so do a lot of humanities stdents. </p>
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<p>Ivy or Ivy-ish schools. Lots of grads (engineers or not) from Stanford and MIT go to banking and consulting, yet these schools are not members of the Ivy League. </p>
<p>I think it should also be important to distinguish what is meant by a ‘top student’, for the purposes of consulting and banking. A ‘top student’ does not always have to mean top grades. For example, one of the most common sources of hiring for consulting and banking firms are former athletes at these schools. For example, if you want to find one single undergrad organiation at Harvard that churns out one of the highest percentage of future consultants and bankers, it’s hard to beat the Harvard football team. As a Harvard football player, you have access to all other former Harvard football players, many of whom are now in consulting and banking and can therefore provide you with a strong inside track to getting hired. Clifton Dawson, Harvard’s record-breaking running back, has said that if he doesn’t make it to the NFL, he will probably go into banking. He already completed an investment banking summer internship obtained (unsurprisingly) through his football contacts. </p>
<p>The same could be said not just about football, but also about any of the varsity sports at these schools. Banks and consulting firms seem to like successful athletes because of their initiative and goal-oriented nature. </p>
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<p>I wouldn’t go so far as to say that you ‘need’ a good undergraduate GPA. I know people who got into elite MBA programs with, frankly, rather middling GPA’s. The key is that they had excellent work experience. </p>
<p>For example, I know one guy who was terrible in college, so terrible that he was basically forced out. So he drifted around for awhile, eventually joined the military where he found his groove, eventually qualifying for selection to the Special Forces, and completed numerous dangerous missions, including in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also was able to complete his college degree, but his overall GPA is still pretty bad, chiefly because of the terrible grades he had before. Yet he got into Harvard Business School, because of the strength of his military experience. When it comes to leadership, crisis effectiveness, and the ability to get things done under pressure, I think we can all agree that he’s a top-notch guy. I think he’ll do rather well in an aggressive, goal-oriented environment such as banking. </p>
<p>The point of all this is that we have to be careful about what we mean by ‘top’ guys. MBA programs, and frankly, consulting and banking firms, are looking for far more than just academics. You can have quite mediocre grades and yet still be an excellent consultant or banker, due to the strength of your personal characteristics.</p>