High School Student: Any College Advice?

In My Humble Opinion
41

Economics is a fine major but I would suggest that you pair it with a double major or pursue it on a graduate level. Of course there are econ single majors with concentrations in finance that go on to find work in the business world just fine, it’s just not the most general path. Either way, if you pursue Econ, be sure you have the math skills to back it up if you want it to be competitive with someone with a tier 1 business degree. Not all econ majors are created equal. You’ll probably have to seek out classes like game theory, econometrics, theory of financial markets, behavioral finance, international trade, international finance, and/or other math-intensive classes under your belt if you are to apply to business/consulting jobs.

Econ and politics paired up, or econ and foreign affairs allows you to apply to policy grad schools, a job in DC, nonprofits, think tanks, etc.

Econ and a science major also opens up consulting jobs. I’ve also known strictly science majors being hired by wall street and consulting firms if they have an econ minor because the math skills and a cursory knowledge of finance is all you really need to get started.

The history majors I know can find work well enough but it’s not in the sector you’re interested in. They’ve gone on to work as curators, graduate school (law, history, architectural preservation, etc.) work with Universities (admissions, student life, etc), sales, or governmental clerkship type jobs. Not exactly the consulting, business career you’re anticipating.

Basically I’m saying learn your math if you want to do business/consulting. The consulting firms are leaning towards systems engineers, information scientists, etc. I could be biased. Maybe someone else with experience in consulting can speak more to that. I’m only relaying what I know from my own experiences in testing the job market and what my friends have experienced.

42

Electrician, plumber, and other skilled construction jobs also pay well. I know a lot of my friends from HS who didn’t get into great colleges and resorted to diploma mills, community college, and the military went to trade schools instead.

43

Come on folks- a college degree is still the number one way to improve learning potential, and college grads have significantly higher employment rates and salaries. Advising bright kids to skip college is profoundly bad advice. I know it’s a trendy line argument right now, but the statistics don’t back it up and spreading that advice is irresponsible.

Not to mention that we are talking about a bright kid with great grades and high ambition. There is more to life than a paycheck, and I seriously doubt a nice job running a bulldozer is going to be particularly intellectually or emotionally fulfilling for this poster.

Have you? A smart economist with an advanced degree and a good grasp of econometrics will have an enormous amount of opportunity in DC.

44

Someone with a Bachelors degree in economics won’t.

45

There is no way I would skip college. A paycheck is not my number one priority. That is completely out of the question.

46

Do you or your friends have any knowledge of an International Business degree? I’d really like to capitalize on my German. But is this even a strong degree?

47

For 99% of the jobs that you might get, a degree from the University of Florida will be *exactly *as good as a degree from Harvard. It will also be *exactly *as good as a degree from Podunk U.

Spend as little as possible to get an undergraduate degree from a ‘decent’ university (a category which I’m pretty sure University of Florida falls into). You’ll have plenty of opportunities later to spend enormous gobs of money on Grad School, if that’s what you decide you want to do.

48

It’s standard to apply to multiple Ivies. No, the admissions staff don’t share much info anymore - they got in big trouble for that a while back.

If you’re worried you should at least apply to one or two of Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and two of the lessers.

49

This this this. I don’t know why everyone is talking about MBAs and how that is all that matters. The good management consulting firms do recruit out of some schools–the tier I schools, obviously,and other select schools. Often, as I said above, the honors programs at good state schools.

If you have a vague idea that you want to work in “business” but you don’t know much past that, this is a very good path for you. Get a solid undergraduate degree and go work for Accenture or Deloit or BCG or whomever. The pay is about as good as anyone is making straight out of undergrad–$60k-ish. You’ll travel all the fucking time. Pay off any debt you have aggressively, and save, save, save. Then, after 2-5 years of living out of a suitcase you will have a much better idea of who you are, what your options are, and what you want to do. At that point, you can find an MBA (or other) program that actually fits you, or not go to grad school at all. You’ll be making an informed choice.

So yeah, it’s all about recruiting. Find a program where you will meet recruiters, and where you can be successful enough that recruiters will want to meet you.

50

AND make sure that you apply to safety schools as well. Those schools can pick and choose from the best and the brightest world wide. There is no guarantee that even with great test scores and graduating at the top of your class, you will be accepted.

51

Accenture and Deliotte recruit out of my alma mater - Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities, which is $6k a year in state tuition and on no one’s list of top schools - if what you want is to work for Deliotte or Accenture, you sure as hell don’t need to go to Harvard or Columbia.

52

I went to a private school (not a top ten) undergrad and Columbia for my masters. I loved both because I love school! I want to get my PhD. More school! School is great! I work in education with high school students who are in the process of applying for college.

Some things to consider:

-Where do you want to live? Big city? Small town? It is four years of your life and where you are matters.

-What is the student life like? Are you interested in Greek life? What types of activities would you like to do? Are students at each school you’re considering generally happy? This information is easy to find online.

-What level of rigor is best for you? Some students don’t want to take classes that are too difficult and want to have lots of time to be social, while others will get bored and frustrated if they aren’t challenged.

-Don’t think about money yet. Apply to some safe schools, some likely bets, and some reaches. You may get no financial aid at a “cheap” school but get a full ride at a reach school.

-Going to a “name” school can certainly help you in many area of life. It’s in and of itself a type of currency, even if you don’t get a great job. Most people assume that someone who graduated with honors from a top school with a “name” is intelligent. This doesn’t mean that people who go to these schools are smarter, or that you should go to an Ivy (or other “name”). It does mean that it could help you in the future both financially and socially (even if that’s silly). Also, these schools often have excellent resources and many companies absolutely recruit from them.

Ultimately, you want to find the right school for YOU.

I will also say that it’s possible that your goals could change. They may not, but many students switch majors and many adults switch careers. Most schools have a core curriculum that all school have to complete. Take a look at what you’ll be dealing with academically your first year at each school you’re interested in and hopefully something will stand out to you.

Because you mentioned Columbia in your OP, I will briefly mention that I LOVE IT THERE! So much. I love New York, I love Morningside Heights and Harlem, I love the Butler Library. I was able to work with top professionals in my field and build incredible relationships. My friends from Columbia will be my friends for life. I definitely recommend visiting, even if you don’t apply, because of the rich history. That’s what did it for me, ultimately. I’m in the arts and humanities, and what drew me to Columbia was the literary history and history of African American writers and thinkers at the school.

Good luck, and no matter where you go I think you’ll do well.

53

A career in management consulting is not one of them.

The downside is that you have to work for Accenture or Deloitte.:wink:

I’ve worked in consulting for most of my career, so I can probably answer some of that for you.

If you want to get into a top-tier strategy consulting firm (typically considered to be McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group), you pretty much need top grades at one of the colleges they actively recruit at.

As Dangerosa pointed out, if you expand your search to firms like Accenture, or IBM or advisory or consulting practices in the Big-4 (Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, E&Y) or smaller boutique or niche firms like Navigant, AlixPartners or Huron, you only have to be reasonably smart and talented. Vault.com can give you a list of top firms.
As a manager/director, I’ve done a lot of interviewing of candidates. The vast majority of candidates either come through a) campus interviewing or b) employee referrals (which usually mean former school mates, sports team mates, fraternity brothers, family of clients or partners, or former coworkers from other consulting firms). So bottom line, you want to go to a good school where top consulting firms actively recruit at.

While you’re there, you probably want to study something like accounting, finance, computers, economics, statistics, engineering of any kind. Pretty much anything business, technology or math related.

It doesn’t hurt to have some extracurricular activities like sports, clubs, anything demonstrating teamwork and leadership. Consulting’s all about teamwork and leadership.

Also have excellent communication skills and high enthusiasm.

Oh yeah, there’s also the case interview. These are like “how many golf balls fit into a 747” or “why are manhole covers round” questions. They sound stupid, but they are supposed to test how well you break down a complex problem into it’s components and account for assumptions. They aren’t looking for a factually correct number.
Also, be sure you will actually like it. Working for a Deloitte or Accenture type company can be really cool when you are right out of college in your 20s. You make good money. Work with bright, career minded young people who will probably want to get drunk after work. Lot of responsibility and interesting projects.

But it can also be extremely demanding. Long hours. Living out of a suitcase Mon-Thurs for weeks on end. Extremely competitive “up or out” cultures. Demanding assholeish partners. Not making as much as d-bag half-wit I-bankers.

Also, every consulting engagement isn’t 6 weeks in Amsterdam or San Francisco (although I’ve had those). A lot of them are months working at some Podunk office park, living in a Marriot Courtyard and eating wings at Hooters every night because that’s the only restaurant for 20 miles.

54

Google was famous for using brainteasers like that in the interview process. But last month, they announced that the brainteasers were ineffective and that it was switching to structured behavioral interviews. (E.g.: “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client.”)

55

Two degrees - econ and psychology. She went to grad school in econ, decided she didn’t like it, and is just about to get a joint PhD in psychology and marketing. She got interested in behavioral economics there.

Chicago is a weird place, but perfect for her. Look up the scavenger hunt. And when she went elsewhere people were in awe of her. And it isn’t as hard as may top schools to get into, because it attracts a special type of person. Their admission essays are famous - look them up also. Well worth the money I paid.

56

What type of person?

57

You might be surprised. I’m firmly middle class and I got out of a $40,000-a-year private school with no debt, paying $1800 a semester for the last year. Don’t neglect private schools; sometimes their financial aid packages will surprise you. Do consider applying somewhere that you’ll be unusual, even if it’s just being an East Coaster out West. That alone can make you stand out. I don’t know your ethnicity, but lots of Pacific Northwest and Midwest schools are excited to get good non-white candidates because the locale they’re drawing from is so heavily white.

That could be a huge benefit to a company that does lots of business in Germany, or a German company with a US division. BMW, for instance. If you’re really serious about maximizing that, make sure you try to study abroad in Germany.

58

I would suggest that you attend a university where you’re no longer under your mother’s skirt. That means being well outside travel distance.

Secondly, you mention that you’re near-fluent in German: so how about applying to German or Austrian universities? Or look into a Rhodes Scholarship to Britain - it worked for Bill Clinton.

59

This website (www.mergersandinquisitions.com) is extremely informative with regards to investment banking and consulting (use the search function plus archives). It interviews consultants, talks about how to get into banking/consulting, describes days in the live of, describes the benefit of top universities, MBA’s. Generally all the information you’re looking for.

It answered a lot of my questions.

Also I wanted to point out that msmith537 has a really good post.

And if you really want to get into consulting it is easier when you have a undergrad degree in physics, maths, etc. If you are interested in those. Just do some additional business courses.

Finally, move out of your parents house. The added benefits of that are too many to mention.

60

Lots of great advice in this thread.

I got hung up on ‘consulting’ plus ‘no grad degree’. What are people going to consult you about?
Even with an MBA, a young person with no experience has relatively little to offer.

So I’d say this- go ahead and start local and cheap, like people said.
Once you figure out what area you’d like to consult in, give that some extra attention.
Computers and tech? An engineering degree + MBA puts you in an advantageous position.
Or perhaps it’s languages. Degree in Spanish + MBA = massive market potential.