I am a current Owen first year and was scouring the forums last year to make the right decision. Owen really lives their personal scale and competitive but not cutthroat taglines. The professors are great and very accessible. Coming from the Northeast, Nashville is a great place to spend two years. Most importantly, the Owen culture attracts smart and driven students who are always willing to help each other with recruiting, classes, etc. When I was struggling in class, I met with the professor on Zoom 0every week to make sure I could perform well in the class. I don't think you will get that at other programs!
I heard from friends at other programs that the career centers were not very helpful and challenging to get facetime with. That has definitely not been my experience. The CMC is accessible with lots of great resources, events, and more. Vanderbilt acknowledges that compared to larger programs in major metro areas, they do not have as many on-campus or core school opportunities, but I have felt there are plenty of opportunities. Most importantly, while the alumni network is smaller my response rate from cold networking emails and LinkedIn messages has been great. Alumni are willing to connect and help in meaningful ways. The CMC and professional clubs do a great job assisting students with off-campus recruiting and networking. Owen alumni are at leading companies in most industries and regions. Between virtual career fairs, alumni coffee chats, information sessions, and formal campus recruiting, I have connected with most of my target companies. Like anything, students have to do the work.
To answer specific consulting questions, I have been very impressed with the consulting club even though I am not recruiting for consulting. Vanderbilt has alumni at all the major firms and a large percentage of students are targeting consulting. Owen has a strong relationship with Deloitte, coordinates panels, networking sessions, and other events with firms like Bain, EY, BCG, and many boutique firms. The consulting club does a great job helping students with recruiting and case prep.
I had the same gut feeling that Vanderbilt was the right fit for me, and 100% made the right decision. The pros far outweigh the cons!
goooner11
Hi all, would love to start a discussions about current state of recruiting at Owen. In particular, I am interested in consulting. There were some active Owen students in previous thread but things have been fairly quiet this round. The more I look into Vandy and Nashville, the more I can see myself going there. Seems like a great place to spend 2 years. I have interviewed at 3 other T15 schools but really can’t shake the feeling that Vandy could be a better fit. I want a well balanced and fun experience while cementing a loyal network.
What I would love to know more about is the pipeline to top consulting firms (MBB, Deloitte SO, Strat&, EYP, LEK, Booz etc). I completely understand that MBB is tough and I am not MBB or bust. But I think it’s a good measure of how a school is trending to see whether these firms are approaching it and entertaining applicants. Would love to know what makes an Owen student successful at landing these top offers. Do they already know people at these firms? Do they network early and heavy? Or are just great at case interviews etc?
Any current Owen students/alumni here who could chime in?
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