Troll.

Not really true for entry level.... Are MBB your best bet? Of course, as are GS/MS/JPM for IB. But OW/Booz/Monitor/etc offer many of the same exit opportunities as do MBB -- just as DB/BOA/Citi all offer the similar exit opps as GS/MS/JPM. Sure, the exit ops won't be as easy to attain, but they are still possible -- i.e. if MBB have a 50-60% acceptance rate at H/W/S; OW/Booz/Monitor etc acceptance rate will be lower like 30%.

The firms outside of MBB all recruit from the same schools as MBB, and in my experience don't really have lower requirements, so the caliber of the people is pretty much the same. The truth is MBB aren't only competing among themselves for work -- OW/Booz/Monitor/Deloitte S&O/Parthenon all compete for a lot of the same high-level work.

Now, if you're in it for the long-run, MBB is of course your best bet from a financial perspective. But at the "experienced level" lot of people at OW/Booz/Monitor/etc have worked at MBB and vice versa. So in the real world there really aren't two seprate worlds -- MBB and everyone else -- like there are in this forum full of college hopefuls :)

i think firms like Booz, Deloitte, ATK and Accenture in their Management/Strategy consulting practices are still quite respectable for B-school and exiting into industry.

i'm in F500 finance and i like it, but i completely agree with the above statements that puts these "2nd tier" consulting firms above generic FA roles. i would leave my job for Deloitte Strategy and Operations in a heartbeat (note, this only applies to Management Consulting, not Tech/IT practices at these aforementioned firms).

one thing none of you morons understands is that your boss and your team is much more important than your firm for your experience and what you will get out of your job.

I don't doubt that, but don't we live in world where what you got out of your job is far less relevant to your exit ops than the prestige of the firm?

This is complete bullshit. Working for Deloitte S&O isn't 'worth it' because its not MBB? Mindblowingly ridiculous.

I think it really depends on why you're doing consulting and what you want to get out of your (on average) 2-3 years in the business.

If you're looking to beef up your resume with the goal of exiting into PE or really desirable corporate strategy roles (e.g., google biz ops), I think the MBB name / prestige will be a point of differentiation vs a Deloitte. Now, before someone freaks out, I'm not saying that you CAN'T get these roles from a non-MBB firm - just that it's less likely. I don't meet a lot of non-MBB consultants at the Bain Cap / Carlyle / KKR recruiting events.

However, if your goal is to experience a variety of industries / functions and add some things to your toolbox (e.g., analytics), then I think you can get that outside of MBB.

Also, as some people have mentioned, I wouldn't limit the firms considered "MBB-caliber" solely to McKinsey / Bain / BCG. OW, LEK, Parthenon also have great reputations and (I believe) the same level of talent.

@kwaconline, that's what I did, but not because I didn't get MBB in junior year. I just became interested in consulting starting senior year, after taking a semester off to do a F500 internship. I think for your case, HR might raise a flag if they have you on file (which they probably do). If I was in your shoes, I would confirm whether this is recommended first.