Consulting · figures from each school’s own report
MBB: McKinsey, BCG and Bain, side by side
MBB is shorthand for McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Bain, the three strategy firms that hire the most MBA graduates; all three appear in the employer lists of 24 schools on this site.
Best fit for job: consulting or strategy, on your salary
UVA Darden
39.4% of the class (about 142 graduates) · $190,000 · payback 3.5 years
Fit score: share of the class (40%), salary (30%) and ten-year NPV for you (30%), each as a percentile among the schools shown. Schools under 5% of the class are not ranked. Method.
| # | School | Share | About | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UVA DardenCharlottesville · 21 months | 39.4% | 142 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $365,502 | 85 |
| 2 | Yale SOMNew Haven · 21 months | 48.6% | 178 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $342,309 | 82 |
| 3 | Dartmouth TuckHanover · 21 months | 42% | 128 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $343,094 | 82 |
| 4 | MIT SloanCambridge · 21 months | 38.9% | 168 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $353,870 | 82 |
| 5 | Michigan RossAnn Arbor · 21 months | 36.9% | 140 | $190,000 | 3.4 years | $380,749 | 82 |
| 6 | Chicago BoothChicago · 21 months | 37.7% | 239 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $368,625 | 81 |
| 7 | KelloggEvanston · 21 months | 38.2% | 204 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $349,220 | 80 |
| 8 | Duke FuquaDurham · 21 months | 35.9% | 129 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $375,543 | 79 |
| 9 | Texas McCombsAustin · 21 months | 30% | 71 | $189,000 | 3.0 years | $421,234 | 70 |
| 10 | Emory GoizuetaAtlanta · 21 months | 52.6% | 67 | $175,000 | 3.9 years | $282,532 | 67 |
| 11 | Berkeley HaasBerkeley · 21 months | 27.5% | 75 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $360,456 | 66 |
| 12 | WhartonPhiladelphia · 21 months | 25.5% | 226 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $348,278 | 62 |
| 13 | ColumbiaNew York · 20 months | 40.1% | 394 | $175,000* | 4.5 years | $223,915 | 59 |
| 14 | NYU SternNew York · 21 months | 39.4% | 132 | $175,000 | 4.7 years | $194,432 | 55 |
| 15 | HarvardBoston · 21 months | 21% | 198 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $336,138 | 52 |
Share: % of the graduating class (or of those who accepted a job) the school reports for this goal. About: that share applied to the class size. * no salary published for this goal: school-wide figure. Salaries in US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update; “average” marks a mean where the school publishes no median.
Placing graduates here but not ranked: Alliance MBS 17% (no salary published) · CEIBS 9.9% (no living budget published) · EDHEC 21% (no salary published) · Fudan 9.1% (no salary published) · HKU 7% (no salary published) · IE 17.96% (no salary published) · IESE 48% (no salary published) · IIM Ahmedabad PGPX 32.8% (no living budget published) · IIM Lucknow IPMX 24% (no living budget published) · Rice Jones 26.4% (no living budget published) · SMU 18% (no salary published) · WashU Olin 15.4% (no living budget published).
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
MBB stands for McKinsey, BCG and Bain, the three largest strategy consulting firms and the three that recruit most at business schools. On this site's data they are close but not equal. McKinsey is named by the most schools, 38 of the 56 that publish an employer list; BCG by 37; Bain by 27. At the 7 schools that count hires by firm, BCG leads with 195, McKinsey follows with 144 and Bain with 98. The MBB salary is not published by any of them, but the American schools where they hire report a consulting median of $190,000, the best public proxy for their base offer. The share of a class taking consulting jobs is the other figure that matters: 14 of the 46 schools that report job functions put 35% or more of the class in consulting roles, and UVA Darden comes first in our ranking on that goal with 39.4%.
Three firms, one acronym
MBB is the name students give to the three strategy firms that dominate MBA recruiting: McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company. None of them uses the term. It groups them because they compete for the same graduates, run the same kind of project for the same kind of client, and make similar offers. The firms below them in size, from Kearney and Oliver Wyman to the strategy arms of the audit networks, are covered on Big 4 consulting and consulting firms that hire MBAs.
What the schools show is that the three are close but not interchangeable. The table counts, for each firm, the schools on this site that name it in their employer list, and the hires reported by the schools that publish a count by firm.
| Firm | Schools naming it | Hires at counting schools |
|---|---|---|
| McKinsey & Company | 38 of 56 | 144 |
| Boston Consulting Group | 37 of 56 | 195 |
| Bain & Company | 27 of 56 | 98 |
How they differ on the record
McKinsey is the widest. It is named by 38 schools, more than any other consulting firm, in Europe, India and China as well as the United States. Its own site did not answer our requests when we wrote, so we give no figure about its offices; see the McKinsey salary page for what the schools show.
BCG is the largest recruiter where hires are counted. At the schools that publish numbers, it leads with 195 hires. Its site gives offices in more than 100 cities in over 50 countries and 33,500 employees; the BCG salary page works through the counts school by school.
Bain is the smallest of the three in reach. Its site says it has worked with clients since 1973, across 67 cities in 40 countries, and it appears in fewer employer lists and with fewer counted hires than its two peers. The Bain salary page looks at what the schools that name it report outside the United States.
Differences of culture, training or project style are real but they are not in any document we can check, so they are not on this page. Ask current consultants at each firm, which is what the recruiting season is for.
The MBB salary, and why it is one number
The three firms publish no pay grids, and the government files that sometimes show a firm's declared wages could not be downloaded when we wrote. The best public evidence is the consulting median at the schools where they recruit: $190,000 at the top American schools, repeated to the dollar from school to school. That repetition is the signature of a common base offer. The national median for all management analysts, $101,860 in May 2025 according to the BLS, shows how far above the profession that offer sits; the consultant salary page gives the full comparison.
UVA Darden: where the class went
Share of the class
37.3%
| Salary reported | $190,000 |
| Graduates, about | 135 |
| Payback with that salary | 3.5 years |
Reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA.
Share of each class in consulting jobs
For an applicant aiming at MBB, the share of a class that takes consulting jobs is a better guide than any list of names. It is reported by function, the job the graduate does, rather than by industry. 14 of the 46 schools that report functions put 35% or more of the class in consulting roles. Our ranking on that goal, which also weighs the salary and the ten-year value for a person earning $90,000, puts UVA Darden first and Yale SOM second.
| # | School | Share of class | Graduates, about | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Fit score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UVA Darden | 39.4% | 142 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $365,502 | 85 |
| 2 | Yale SOM | 48.6% | 178 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $342,309 | 82 |
| 3 | Dartmouth Tuck | 42% | 128 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $343,094 | 82 |
| 4 | MIT Sloan | 38.9% | 168 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $353,870 | 82 |
| 5 | Michigan Ross | 36.9% | 140 | $190,000 | 3.4 years | $380,749 | 82 |
| 6 | Chicago Booth | 37.7% | 239 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $368,625 | 81 |
| 7 | Kellogg | 38.2% | 204 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $349,220 | 80 |
| 8 | Duke Fuqua | 35.9% | 129 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $375,543 | 79 |
| 9 | Texas McCombs | 30% | 71 | $189,000 | 3.0 years | $421,234 | 70 |
| 10 | Emory Goizueta | 52.6% | 67 | $175,000 | 3.9 years | $282,532 | 67 |
Read the function share with one caution: some schools fold internal consulting and corporate strategy into their consulting line. Yale SOM, for example, reports 36.9% of its class in external consulting and a larger total once internal strategy roles are added. The industry share, used by the consulting ranking, counts graduates who joined consulting firms, which is closer to MBB recruiting. The finder at the top of this page ranks schools on the job function; switch it to the industry to compare.