Pre-MBA internship

I'm interested in getting a pre-MBA consulting internship that starts roughly first week of May and ends roughly last week of July. Is that possible with McK/BCG/Bain?

I emailed a local wireless technology company about pre-MBA product management internships but was told that those are not offered and that I should apply for summer 2011. My local options are somewhat limited and I really don't feel like moving in April and then moving again in early August, but for McK/BCG/Bain I would certainly consider it.

I wasn't thinking about it before, but now I'm actually kinda toying with the idea. Trying to see if I can get an internship in marketing or business development at a tech or energy-related firm. Since I come from an engineering background with no significant business experience, I think it would make me much more marketable to recruiters at b-school. If I get an internship, I may have to revise the date for leaving my current company. I wonder how my boss would take that. Fun, fun, fun.

I would think that would be extremely difficult due to the structure of those firms. They are in the midst of hiring undergrads for analyst positions, mba's for internships/FT positions and don't really have a place for the experienced-but-not-yet-mba intern. Same goes for banks. Best shot is going to be boutiques (even then you might need an "in") or start-ups that need free labor.

How long do these internships usually run? Is it possible to get one for June, July, and part of August? Not sure if I can do May yet.

this. pretty much everywhere i applied to i faced the in-between-analyst-and-associate problem.

mind you, i've only applied to a few places. i've been very selective in whom i contact for the internship apps, and most of them have been through some sort of contacts - so i have a realistic chance of actually landing the job. so far it seems like i'm headed to china for the summer for an IB internship. this would pretty much require me to work 90 hr weeks...but it'll also help me really boost my profile for landing an associate position next yr. so i guess it's worth it.

my back up plan (in case this falls through last minute) is to just chill at home during the summer. i've invested in a real estate project that needs to be managed/worked on. i'm also a semi-pro poker player lol. so between these 2 things i'll be having some fun and keeping myself busy.

Would it be inappropriate to cold-call(email) alumni from the school I plan to matriculate asking them about any possible pre-MBA internships?

Hi All. Thank you for contributing to a great post.

Another pre-MBA career / internship resource you may want to consider is our professional group, USA Leadership Corps (www.usaLeadershipCorps.org).

USALC partners with pre-MBAs who are looking to enhance their leadership, consulting, entrepreneurship, and/or community-involvement backgrounds by leading volunteer nonprofit & small business strategy consulting projects.

Thank you & good luck,

Maxwell Roper
Outreach Director
USA Leadership Corps

I've been wondering about this too. I contacted an alum and asked about a specific intern position for which he was hiring. He did get back to me, but stressed that his first preference was MBA students who'd completed one year. He invited me to apply next summer.

While I'd like to leverage Booth's network, I don't want to go overboard either. Can any current students shed some light on staind's question? Thanks!
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Depends how badly you want to do a pre-MBA internship. I landed one through my personal network, which I think is the most likely way to do this. However, if you don't know people in your desired field, I don't think there's any harm in doing exactly what you did. Chances are you'll get a lot of responses similar to the one you got, but as with anything persistence is going to be key. By that i don't mean harassing the same guy to give you a job, but rather reaching out to lots if different people until you find the right one. Best case scenario, you land an internship that you love. Worst case scenario you make some contacts in the industry.

Hi spideyeclipse27,

I agree with nink. A pre-MBA internship is great for people looking to boost their leadership experience in advance of formal internship / full-time position recruiting. Consulting is a valuable skill worthy of a pre-MBA internship. Great experiences can be gained by consulting a struggling nonprofit or small business with its financial, operations, and marketing challenges.

Consider partnering with a volunteer organization such as SCORE, Net Impact, USALC, or Taproot. These orgs provide strategy consulting assistance to emerging organizations in need by structuring pre-MBA volunteer internships for professionals like yourself.

Thank you again & good luck,

Maxwell Roper
Outreach Director
USA Leadership Corps (USALC)
www usaLeadershipCorps org

I was wondering if anyone had some advice on obtaining a pre-MBA internship? Did you just contact a place and tell them you are accepted to XYZ school and would like to intern before going to school? What sort of companies are best to target? I was thinking startups would be most accepting of pre-MBA interns?

I guess it depends on why you want to do one and for how long you are available.

Here are a few posts to review:
the-myth-of-pre-mba-internship-107154.html
pre-mba-internship-74642.html
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DrSatisfaction, how did you manage to land an IB internship in China? Did you find it through personal connections/networking? Am I right to assume you are from Canada? Didn't you have visa issues? I am researching my summer plan pre CBS MBA.

Hi, any internationals who did pre-MBA internship in NY/US to ask a few questions on how you approached the VISA q... or to share which companies can be OK with smn doing a pre-MBA internship on a tourist visa Enrolled at CBS and typing out of Eastern Europe.

You cannot work on a tourist visa.

Hey guys,

Thought I'd bump this thread for those that are looking at or have already applied to some pre-MBA programs.

Perhaps a format could look like...

Programs Applied: Deloitte Consulting Immersion Program 2015 (DCIP), McKinsey Emerging Scholars 2015

Status: DCIP- Rejected Emerging Scholars- Waiting

Application Description: For both I had to enter in an online form which asked for some basic info, stats (GPA/GMAT/School), and for me to upload a resume. Deloitte also asked for a cover letter. I applied in late February for DCIP and late March for Emerging scholars. Didn't have any correspondence or recognition of application for Deloitte. I recently sent in an email questioning my status and then a few days later received a rejection letter . Oh well, I wonder if that triggered it or if I was already in a reject pile and they simply just gave me an accelerated status update. Anyways, gonna hopefully enjoy my pre-MBA days and hope for a better result when I start applying for internships!

If anyone else has applied to any pre-MBA programs feel free to add your results and experiences here! I think it'll be a great way for future prospectives to gauge which events they'd like to explore and what the best way to approach them are.
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I got accepted to the DCIP. Anybody else?

I have been accepted to DCIP as well.

Would you happen to know the size of the DCIP class? I haven't received anything formal from HR aside from a note telling me I'd be receiving an official letter later...