Consulting titles are difficult to compare across firms, so I would be careful about treating Manager to Associate as a literal demotion. The more useful comparison is scope, compensation, learning curve, promotion timing, and what the role positions you to do next.

An MBA can absolutely create a cleaner recruiting entry point for this kind of pivot. Campus MBA recruiting is designed to bring in candidates from many different pre-MBA backgrounds, so you would not be expected to have spent the previous several years doing strategy consulting.

Yes, direct experienced-hire moves from Big 4 to MBB happen. The MBA is one route, but it is not a universal requirement. Whether the direct path is realistic depends heavily on your current role, the strength of your project experience, and whether the target office is actively hiring experienced candidates.

I would not choose between Deloitte and EY primarily based on which logo you think MBB will prefer later. The difference in brand value between the two is usually much smaller than the difference between a strong role and a weak role inside either firm.

That assumption is correct. Networking can help create visibility and context, but it rarely compensates for a profile that is not competitive or an interview performance that is not strong enough.

You can apply, but with only one year of experience you are in an awkward recruiting window: you are no longer a campus candidate, while your professional track record may still be too short to create a strong experienced-hire case.

Think about building evidence in three areas: impact, ownership, and client exposure. MBB recruiters will care less about how many projects you touched and more about what you actually did on them and whether your role became progressively more demanding.