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I am thinking of doing an MBA next year so as to try and get into strategy consulting, specifically MBB. The worrying thing is that looking at the placement reports on the Oxford Said and Cambridge Judge schools, only 2 or 3 make it into MBB each year. Are these two schools thought so little of when compared to LBS and INSEAD? Insead manages to place about 15% or more (around 150) of their class into MBB..

Anyone have any more information on Said and Judge MBAs as regards strat opportunities?

It's essential that you get this right. I meet so many MBA students who've undertaken their MBA to get into strategy consulting and find themselves more or less out of contention come hiring time because of the school they've chosen. I'd suggest taking a look at the following article from the end of last year; the title says it all "Which MBA Will Open The Door to McKinsey, BCG and Bain?":

http://news.top-consultant.com/UK/news_story.aspx?ID=8295

Hope this helps and good luck with pursuing a successful route to MBB.

Tony Restell

Top-Consultant.com

thanks Tony, interesting article..

I went ahead and did a very simple and rough standardisation of the stats, due to very differing class sizes.. rankings based on no. of current employees in MBB as a % of annual intake per school

Rank. School - Standardised score : Employees in MBB-Annual Intake

1. HEC - 132% : 308 - 233

2. Harvard - 104% : 943 - 903

3. Wharton - 97% : 792 - 814

4. Kellogg - 95% : 617 - 647

5. Stanford - 88% : 343 - 389

6. INSEAD - 86% : 865 - 1008

7. LBS - 81% : 323 - 400

8. MIT - 81% : 323 - 401

9. Columbia - 56% : 415 - 739

10. Booth - 56% : 323 - 579

* ESADE - 54% : 97 - 180

* IESE - 38% : 108 - 286

* Oxford Said - 21% : 49 - 232

Bear in mind that any analysis you do should also account for students that are sponsored by their company to do the MBA and then return to them - this population will be a significant % of those that are 'accepted' from INSEAD.

For Oxford and Cambridge I would also look into this closely - of those that are accepted from these schools, how many are 'new' versus 'returning' employees.

In short, I think that the Oxbridge schools are up and coming, but INSEAD and LBS remain in a different league when it comes to top-tier recruiting.

Just my two cents of course - do your own research.

Am sure someone will be along in a while to say that the students at Oxbridge are just as good as those at LBS/INSEAD when it comes to experience/candidacy etc. I won't be around to reply to them, so will say now that they are probably correct in that, but missing the point when it comes to recruiting.

Having done my MBA in Cambridge and moved into MBB I can just encourage you to consider these programs if you like them.

The statistics are nice but only of limited use because they neither reflect the number of returners (as already discussed) nor do they consider students' interests.

In my year out of 150 students only 25 were interested in getting into strategy consulting. The rest was looking for jobs in the city, roles in industry or interested in starting their own business. With only 25 people applying at 3 firms that have offer rates < 5% you can do the math yourself why only 2 or 3 people each year make it.

I can just speak for myself and I had no problems getting interviews at MBBB, RB and ATK with my Judge MBA and ended up with 3 offers.

IMHO school names are heavily overrated.

To get interviews at six top-tier consulting firms is quite impressive, therefore your CV must be quite impressive.

In that situation I would agree that the name of the school, as long as acceptable, becomes less relevant.

For those candidates that are a bit more 'borderline', I would suggest that the name of the school carries more weight.

I know you probably have your heart set on these schools, but the reality is that there are a lot of people who apply every year and don't get in. I think it is really important that you apply to as many schools as possible to ensure that you get lots of acceptance letters and then choose the right school for you. The important thing is to find a place where you can get a good education and become a better leader in the business world. If you need some help finding more options, take a look at my website at http://mbaschoolrankings.net/. Good luck!