How competitive is MBB, with regards to applicants per vacancy? Is a similar level of competition seen in the 2nd and 3rd tiers? Im primarily interested in figures for internship, but graduate numbers would be equally appreciated.

Yes, very similar. The ratios, of qualified candidate to position, are 10-15:1 in all the MBB, similar strategy firms and consulting boutiques. The ratios of applications to positions are higher, but that is entirely because of non-qualified candidates who are more likely to throw out their CVs to MBB, along with every other graduate employer in the Times directory.

the ratio is probably higher now that in the past due to the current market conditions (more graduates looking for jobs and applying for internships and less positions offered)

In my limited experience, the ratio is much higher than 10 or 15 to 1 even if you take into account TTGE's point about unqualified candidates. From the business school which I attended, we had a success rate of about 1 in 30 at consulting firms in the top two tiers.EC

Must be a pretty crap b-school then!Cass, by any chance?

Imagine an episode of 'The Apprentice'. Now quadruple the intensity and multiply the annoyingness of the candidates by 10. That's approximately what you can expect during the interviews. The phoney 'teamwork' exercises are a riot.And for your info, the ratio is more like 3,000:1. Out of the 3,000, 2,750re total no-hopers, but that's the ratio nonetheless.

Ummm, no BZ.This kind of ratio holds true for even the very good schools simply because as you make the process more discriminating, the "false negative" rate gets kicked up as well.Of course, it's a very great deal higher for lower-ranked schools.EC