All knowing,I'm six months from graduating from a small private (middle of the road) school with an MBA in general business. I have six years of industry experience in the pharmaceutical world but through this MBA process, I have realized i desperately need a career change. Based off my leadership skills, drive, and eagerness to bring change and value to my work, I have become passionate about the idea of becoming a management consultant.I have also realized that based of my resume, tier one firms are probably not in the cards. Can somebody please tell me if I have a chance of getting a shot with a second or third tier firm? Do they accept middle tier degrees? And what would you suggest I do to get the ball rolling?

Since Im not hearing from anyone here let me throw in another question. Is it worth getting a Phd along with my MBA? And would that severely increase my chances of getting interviews?

Depending on what the Phd was in, it could help get into more of the Economic Advisory/Quants type roles (albeit entry-level).

In short, slim chance.Why would they want to look at lower tier schools when they can get ppl from the top schools?Your best bet would be to show subject matter expertise in pharma or life sciences, showing how you can be useful to both the firm you are applying to as well as their customers.

Didnt really think it through did you? Frankly if even you are calling your BS 'mediocre' frankly I question your judgement as to why you went there in the first place, why you have a well thought out plan in which the MBA would be an integral part, and why you would choose to denigrate the very BS you are at. Best bet would be to target your CV to specialist life sciences/pharma practices and then look for opportunities to expand into other areas if that is what you are looking for. How feasible that will be is going to be entirely dependent on what you have been doing in pharma to date.

Breaking in is not impossible from a "mediocre" school - but you definitely need some guidance on marketing yourself.Figure out why you want to be a consulting, what type of consulting you are interested in, and exactly what you can contribute. Write that down into a short "elevator speech", then start networking. See the thread Cold Emailing to get non-paid work experience for some advice on networkinghttp://forum.top-consultant.com/UK/80872/3/Cold-Emailing-Good-Way-Get-Non-Paid-Work-Experience/