What electives should I choose? [Consulting]

Note: "In the last couple days I get this question a lot. I can only comment on courses that I already took and only for consulting. If you aiming toward a different industry you might get some insights here but you should consult another student from your industry."

Basically there are couple courses that can help, but it is up to you. It is truly depend on what previous knowledge you already have.

Since I am an international student with only engineering background (No Finance classes in my bachelor degree at all) I decided at the first two semesters (Fall A and Fall B) to take the core classes only. When working for Booz & Company this summer I discovered that I might not crack balance sheets all the time, or calculate the market clearing price day in and day out, but the basic terminology from those classes kept coming up. So I do recommend to invest a significant effort in those classes.

Furthermore, in Fall B when you will need to practice 30-40 cases for the interviews and go to all the consulting companies' recruiting events, office hours, mock interviews..... I don't think that there is much more free time to take electives. But then again I am was never known for being the greatest student on earth :-).

When January came I realized I need to do several elective classes during recruiting to enrich my knowledge. Therefore, during Winter A on top of the two core classes and interviewing I took world economy over the weekends (3 Saturdays each 9-5 and that’s it).

World Economy is another great class that discuss world economy issues on a high level, again great to nail down basic terminology and maybe even some in depth knowledge about the interrelation between stuff like Inflation, Interest Rates, Foreign reserve, etc.... (this is by the way a mandatory class that you have to take at some point of the degree, so again if you have no prior knowledge in this field take this course in the first year).

In addition, I figured I should polish my excel skills before going into consulting, and even though I was an advanced level excel user I took the BIT512 (Excel class). Along with interviewing during January, taking a class that was easier for me due to prior knowledge helped me not only gain elective credit points (which is important toward finishing your degree in winter A of your second year ***different issue***), but also refine some skills and practice some more of PivotTables, Charts, etc.....you have no idea how many times I used those skills throughout the summer. I actually took the advanced excel class, during MAP but can't say it contributed much to my summer experience. [Some people with high discipline study BIT512 on their own with the book, if you can do it on your own that's a great option as well]

MAP is also a great opportunity to practice some real consulting work.

In conclusion, I think that second year electives will contribute more in depth relevant knowledge.

There are other great courses as valuation, that it is hard for me to recommend because I am taking them right now. So please feel free to reach out to me during the semester and ask about this course.