Has anyone heard of people who are or have been at the above mentioned firms who have NOT come from Oxbridge, but other UK unis and which ones. It strikes me that in UK at least they only look at these two unis, but in US they tend to scour far more unis other than the Ivy league.Any thoughts

Don't be so paranoid. i work for one of them and come from a comprehensive background and went to Southampton

Many options:- Oxbridge- Being good- Via headhunter- Direct applicationGood luck.

Since these guys are no longer paying at the top of the market, they're being forced to look further afield for candidates.I give it, like, six months before McK becomes the next ACN.

MBBB will of course look at Oxbridge first - wouldn't you? But given that MBBB is no longer the holy grail for top grads they - like the bulge bracket IBs - have been looking more widely. Harsh truth is that if they can meet their quotas purely from Oxbridge they will, but if there is a shortfall they will look at others.

Five months, then.

Mars a Day I completely disagree with the statement that MBBB will look at only Oxbridge first and then trya dn fill their quota with those from other unis. Though grad recruitment at least is still heavily Oxbridge dominated there are still plenty of Oxbridge students rejected in favour of those from redbrick and london unis. Oxbridge counts for a lot in securing an interview, but once in the hotseat judgements passed owe much more to interview performance than where you got your degree.I'm afraid to say I also disagree with the idea that the top grads are deserting MBBB in favour of bulge bracket Investment Banks. I would say that while consulting's comparably low salary rises when compared with IB in recent years have turned a number of grads away from the less prostigious players MBB(B) has however received far more applications in recent years than before.

Diz you really should read posts properly before firing back.What I said in my post was that BOTH MBB AND IB have lost their immediate appeal as being the be all and end all for Oxbridge grads, and frankly it is a FACT that Oxbridge grads will be looked at first for recruitment to either; I did not say that simply having an Oxb degree would guarantee a job or even a more positive interview, only that Oxb grads would have an advantage in getting an interview. Hiring managers in MBB and BB IB have confirmed this quietly, althouh would not like to publicise it too widely.

Have to say I'm with Mars on this one. MBBB - and other top strategy firms - concentrate almost all their on-campus recruitment efforts at Cambridge & Oxford universities. When reviewing Milkround applications, they will also consider the very best students from other top institutions like LSE, Durham, Bristol - but I would be amazed if 80% of Milkround interview slots are not still awarded to Oxbridge students.It's absolutely true to say that once you're at interview, how you perform in that environment and how well you tackle the case study interviews will be as big a determinent as your university when it comes to getting an offer. But without question the odds are stacked against you if you don't have Oxbridge on your CV.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Excellent point Tony. I certainly agree with you on the milkround front.But what about after 4/5 years of experience. Let me give you a scenario: You are strong candidate from a top 10 uni, decided to go inot industry and join a big firm like GSK, BP, Shell, etc. Then you decide to apply to the healthcare, oil, utility arm of that MBBB practice. Would the fact that you did not go to oxbridge still hold you back? I haven't tested the waters, but I suspect it does not. ZB

ZB the problem you would have is that at this point many of your peers, or would be peers, will be MBA educated at 4 - 5 years, so you are at an immediate disadvantage anyway. Your sector expertise would balance this out to some extent. But you are comparing 2 different entry points into MBB - oranges and lemons.

I come from a state school and did an undergraduate mbb internship. The combination summa cum laude + starting small for-profit 'companies' + not wanting the job too badly when interviewing got me the job. Also, I did not pretend to be god. Actually, I told them I would not hire myself and recommended a couple of other guys I know (some of which got an offer too).I am puzzled by how everybody, here as well as at my university, is blaming the system when they are facing a recruiting wall 4 months before their graduation.. The reality is that mbb is great at recruiting, and the best guys and girls sign their offers after their intership - that is, 12 months prior to starting.Anyway, good luck, but don't blaim your university reputation.

PS To further strengthen my argument, my firm is McKinsey btw, which is perceived as the most prestigious (=> conservative in hiring?) firm of them all. That said, Mck=BCG=Bain in general IMHO, with some subtle differences of course (different for every country). Even if you do not agree, I think we can agree they all meet the treshold of a 'good enough' company to start working.

Why do people ('average' and 'come on') often imply state schools and oxbridge are mutually exclusive? i went to a pretty rough comp which kept failing OFSTED and then to oxbridge, also lots of my uni mates also went to comps. just a reminder.

yeah, the mbbb's of the world strongly prefer the oxbridges and the like. Candidates from lesser ranked schools will certainly have to do more just to score an interview. If they do get aqn interview, the playing field is evened and they pretty much fall in the same boat as all other candidates. The tough part is getting an interview...

Public school to Oxbridge - answer is that you have more chance of getting in if you are at a state school providing you can hit the same standards as your peers from public school. Problem is that due to the public school (by which I mean top public school) links, relationships and, most importantly, ability and willingness to invest time in preparing students for Oxbridge exams/interviews, those from top public schools have a massive advantage when it comes to getting ready for the selection process. candidates come better prepared.The same is doubtless true when it comes to applying to MBBB. Once at the interview, I am sure it is a level playing field. Interviewers may even take the view that someone who performs well without the advantages offered by an Oxbridge education may be the better bet in the long term. Simple fact is, however, that much as public schools market themselves on the number of people they get into Oxbridge, Oxbridge Unis will market themselves on what happens to their graduates. They will therefore do what they can to ensure the top firms come to meet their final year students.I am sure that the MBBB are happy to look outside of Oxbridge but recruiting is a time consuming and therefore expensive process. Their odds of finding the right people are higher at the Oxbridge Universities where the entry criteria is more aggressive in the first place. What would you do? You can drop into Oxford and pick up 15 new joiners or go to Sunderland where you might get 1.Ultimately though, individual candidates should not make excuses. During a recent interview, Tim Henman was asked about how the UK can cupport aspiring tennis players. He sais that, while he thought there was a lot that can be done, individuals have to take ownership. There is always a route to the top if you look hard enough. You may be at a disadvantage to start with but you cannot go through life telling everyone that you "would have gone to Oxford if you had gone to Eton or that you would have got into McKinsey if you had gone to Oxford". In other words, he was a bit sick of being told that he only made it because of all the help he had. He was not the most talented guy in his peer group. He lost a lot of games to people who came nowhere near to making it when he was in his mid teens but he was determined to make it.No-one cares about the excuses of the disgruntled candidate. You will not change the system, you have to work with it. McKinsey is not going to go out of business because it fails to recognise the potential of a graduate from Cardiff. If you are at Cardiff and want to go into consulting, only you can make it happen.

The difference between Public School/state school, and also between Oxbridge/rest - and this is the point which makes the real difference.At public school or Oxbridge you are indoctrinated that you are destined for greatness, in fact are already a success simply for being there and being a future alumni, so you should expect success and to achieve. Now go and work hard to justify to the world what has been gifted to you.At state/other University, you are told if you work hard, you will be successful. Now go and work hard to take from the world what it withholds from you.If you doubt you are good enough for MBB you aren't good enough. If you think you are potentially too good for them, then you probably are exactly the right material.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about the entry standards for these firms in Australia as regards university, academic record, degree etc

In reply to Aussies question: The MBBB recruit almost exclusively from only 2 schools in Australia:1. Univ of Melbourne ( Melbourne Business School)2. Aust Grad Sch of Mgt (AGSM) part of UNSW.