Recruiting selectivity is not a single ladder where every boutique is automatically easier than every MBB office. Smaller firms may hire very few people and can be much more specific about industry, geography, or prior experience.

First, separate the parts of the funnel. If you are not getting interviews, the immediate problem is application strength and access. If you are getting interviews but not progressing, the problem is more likely interview performance.

You are facing a harder path, but neither a non-target school nor a 1370 SAT makes the outcome predetermined. The bigger issue is that you may have fewer built-in recruiting opportunities, so you need stronger evidence elsewhere and a more proactive way to get noticed.

Once you have two strong offers, the decision should become more personal and less prestige-driven. The difference between the logos is usually smaller than the difference in office, people, staffing model, and the work you are likely to do.

It is less common than moving from industry or another consulting tier, but it is not inherently strange. The key question is why the move makes sense beyond changing logos.

Yes, humanities students can be competitive. MBB firms hire across disciplines because the job requires problem solving, communication, judgment, and learning quickly rather than one specific major.

Needing sponsorship can reduce the set of opportunities available to you, but it does not make U.S. MBB recruiting pointless. The answer depends heavily on the firm's current sponsorship policy, the specific office and role, and your work-authorization timeline.

Start each bullet with the outcome or ownership, not the task. The recruiter should quickly see what changed because of your work.

There is still a realistic chance. Interview performance is not graded by counting every visible mistake; interviewers care about the quality of the overall problem-solving process and how you respond when something goes wrong.

Treat it as a professional conversation even if it is described as a coffee chat. Recruiting may be checking interest, fit, timing, location, or simply building the candidate relationship.

Choose the window based primarily on readiness and any real deadline you are managing. There is little value in taking an earlier interview if the extra time would materially improve your case and personal-experience performance.

You can ask. Firms know candidates may be managing overlapping processes, although they are not obligated to extend the deadline.

A synthesis is not a recap of everything you did. It should state the answer so far, the evidence that matters, and what that implies for the next step.

Apply to the office that genuinely fits you. A referral should support the candidate, not force you into the referrer's location.

Do not add a second major purely as a consulting signal. Firms are much more interested in strong overall academic performance and what you accomplished outside the classroom.

Start by lowering the immediate objective. Your first goal is not 'get a referral'; it is to have a useful conversation with someone who has enough context to eventually assess you.

Interviewer-led does not mean passive. You still need to show structured thinking, initiative, and judgment within the question you are given.

In most cases, a referral does not let you skip McKinsey Solve. Solve is usually a standard part of the process, and referrals are far more likely to influence application visibility than to remove required assessment steps.

Yes, as long as you still make a decision-oriented recommendation. Consulting often involves incomplete information.

Do not assume changing countries resets the prior application. Firms can have shared recruiting records, and reapplication rules may apply across offices.