Our Mission: To help Foster MBA students learn about, prepare for, and secure high quality career opportunities in consulting
Our Vision: To establish the Foster MBA program as a premier source of consulting talent on the West Coast
Club Overview:
The Foster Consulting Society (FCS) is a student organization for Foster MBA students and, with close to 100 active members, is the largest MBA club on campus. The FCS provides student members with invaluable professional and personal development for careers in consulting and other industries such as tech and beyond. FCS has also provided employers with an engaged and talented group of students from which to recruit and hire.
The FCS offers its student members 3 distinct value propositions:
1) Education: We strive to help our members learn what consulting is, the differences between various national and local consulting organizations, and what working in consulting is like.
2) Preparation: One of our club’s most valuable resources is providing members the opportunity to prepare and practice for case interviews. Almost all consulting firms and many other organizations use case interviews as an evaluative measure of how well applicants can think about business problems. We also provide members with training in how to be a successful consultant after they land an internship or full-time job.
3) Networking: We offer events throughout the year in partnership with consulting firms giving members the chance to network with current consultants and Foster alumni. Events range from formal information sessions to informal coffee chats and cocktail hours.
Club Leadership
HANNAH EWING-KALLY
Co-President
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to Foster, Hannah served as the Assistant Director of the Office of School Health and Wellness for Detroit Public School Community District where she lead the District’s COVID-19 Strategy. She is a Registered Nurse with hospital-based, community health, and non-profit experience spanning from rural Montana to the heart of New York City. Post MBA, Hannah hopes to apply her skillset in a career in consulting in healthcare and the public sector. Hannah also serves as VP of Wellness.
Former Role: Assistant Director Office of School Health and Wellness, Detroit Public Schools
MBA Internship: Implementation Associate at McKinsey and Company
AASHISH BHANDARI
Co-President
Full-time Class of 2024
For the last 6+ years, Aashish worked as a business development manager at Sartorius, a global supplier for the biopharmaceutical industry, supporting clients across North America, Europe, and Asia. His areas of focus included new facility design, scalability consulting, and process modernization initiatives to deliver client value and recurring revenue. Prior to Sartorius, he worked in a variety of drug development research and manufacturing roles in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Former Role: Integrated Solutions Sales Manager at Sartorius
MBA Internship: Summer Consultant at Boston Consulting Group
MRIDULA JONNALAGADDA
VP, Alumni Affairs
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to Foster, Mridula worked in operations and logistics for Amazon where she managed warehouse operations and led ergonomic design improvement projects for several Amazon facilities. Mridula is looking forward to working in a more client-facing role and improving her strategic problem-solving skills. In her spare time, Mridula enjoys baking, playing tennis and binge-watching reality dating shows on Netflix.
Former Role: Operations Manager at Amazon
MBA Internship: Performance Improvement Intern at AlixPartners
Alex Bye
VP, Professional Development
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to Foster, Alex worked as a consultant in Liberty Mutual’s product group, where he managed cross-functional research workstreams, led product strategy initiatives, and developed product recommendations for senior leaders. His passion for strategic problem-solving led him to pursue consulting, and he looks forward to helping clients navigate a wide variety of challenges after receiving his MBA.
Former Role: Product Research Consultant, Liberty Mutual
MBA Internship: Summer Associate at Deloitte
Brenden Johnson
VP, Coach Community Engagement
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to pursuing his MBA, Brenden worked as a business development associate for Interactive Brokers in Switzerland, where he coordinated product optimization for institutional partners, led the development of investment solution initiatives, and conducted competitive intelligence for company leadership. He looks forward to gaining exposure to a variety of clients, as well as the intellectual challenges the projects will offer.
Former Role: Business Development Associate, Interactive Brokers
MBA Internship: Summer Associate at Bain & Company
Madison Roodman
VP, Corporate Relations
Full-time Class of 2024
For the last three years, Madison worked in healthcare marketing at UCLA Health. Before pivoting to healthcare, Madison previously worked in a B2B sales managerial position in the CPG space at PepsiCo in Seattle upon graduation from the University of Washington. She is eager to build meaningful relationships with clients, develop effective strategies, and apply problem-solving skills to help businesses thrive. In her spare time, she enjoys trying different exercise classes, spending time with friends, and watching Husky football.
Vatsal Patni
VP, Operations
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to his MBA, Vatsal worked as a Data and Cloud Consultant with clients in APAC and the Middle East. He has helped organizations in the Finance and Telecom industries with their digital transformation journeys, enabling them to leverage their data assets to create business value and design robust, large-scale enterprise data management solutions. His passion for problem-solving, people, and enabling others has encouraged Vatsal to continue his career in consulting and he is eager to be exposed to more industries and complex business problems.
Former Role: Consultant at Servian
MBA Internship: Business Technology Consultant – Intern at ZS Associates.
Aarati Raghuvanshi
Evening Representative
Evening Class of 2025
As she is pursuing her MBA, Aarati works as a Research Associate at the Institute for Child Success, supporting early childhood organizations with research and evaluation consulting projects. Aarati received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Boston College and since has experience working directly with national, state-wide, and community-based organizations focused on early childhood education programs and maternal and pediatric healthcare systems. She is looking forward to learning more about different organizational initiatives in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
Divya Gambhir
VP, Events
Full-time Class of 2024
Prior to her MBA, Divya worked as a Research & Insights Analyst at McKinsey & Company, collaborating with clients across North America, Asia, and Europe. During her tenure with the firm, she advised organizations in various industries on topics including digital transformation, IT cost optimization, scaling new business ventures and CRM. She is eager to continue working with a diverse range of clients after completing her MBA and is passionate about tackling their most pressing challenges.
Former Role: Research & Insights Analyst, McKinsey & Company
MBA Internship: Marketing Summer Associate at Morgan Stanley
List of MBA Conferences
Class of 2022/Incoming Class 2023
National Association of Women MBAs
Conference Dates TBD
Conference Dates: Sept 14 - 18, 2021
Location: Chicago, IL
Prospanica: National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA)
Conference Dates: Sept 22 - Oct 1, 2021
Location: Orlando, FL (also virtual)
Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference (ROMBA)
Conference Dates: Oct 7-9, 2021
Location: Austin, TX
Conference Dates: Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2021
Location: Dallas, TX
Details TBD
National Association of Asian American Professionals
Details TBD
Details TBD
Incoming Class of 2023
Forte MBA Women’s Leadership Conference
Must apply prior to starting at Foster
Conference Dates: June 18 -19 2021
Location: Virtual
MLT MBA Professional Development Program
Must apply prior to starting at Foster
Must apply prior to starting at Foster
Minority focused
Must apply prior to starting at Foster
Various Deadlines
Must apply prior to starting at Foster
Conference Dates: June 13-16, 2021
Location: Virtual
Summits
ExperienceBain Global Summit
Application Deadline: May 9th 2021
BCG Unlock
Application Deadline: May 7th 2021 11:59pm est
Deloitte Consulting Immersion Program
LEK Pre- MBA Diversity Program
Application Deadline: April 26th 2021
MBA JumpStart (Financial Services & Consulting)
McKinsey Emerging Scholar Program
Note - Some firms have restrictions on eligible MBA programs. Foster may not be eligible for all listed programs, so please check accordingly.
Education
1) Consulting 101: These informative sessions help students understand what consulting is, the landscape of consulting, the different types of firms, and some recruiting tips.
2) 2nd-Year Panels: These panels offer students the opportunity to hear about the recruiting process and internship experiences of 2nd-year students who interned at a consulting firm over the previous summer.
3) Speakers: We bring in speakers who are either currently in senior roles at consulting firms or worked in consulting and left for other opportunities. These speakers give students the opportunity to hear about the experiences of someone who made consulting a career or used consulting to advance their careers in other industries.
4) Alumni Panels: Alumni are invited to come discuss what their everyday lives are like as consultants and what the interview process was like for them. These panels offer students the chance to have more intimate discussions with alumni in a less formal setting.
Preparation
1) Group Case Interview Prep Sessions: In these sessions, students learn how to master the case interview. Members will learn various frameworks and how to apply them to cases, how to approach market sizing problems, tips and tricks to nail case math, and how to present recommendations.
2) Small-Group Case Interview Prep Sessions: In these sessions, students are offered the opportunity to practice real case interviews in small groups with a 2nd-year who is experienced in case interviews.
3) 1-on-1 Practice Interviews: Students have the chance to participate in mock case and behavioral interviews with an experienced 2nd-year coach who offers direct and objective feedback to the interviewee.
4) Case Book: As members, students are given a case book which contains consulting firm overviews, industry overviews, a review of frameworks, and numerous practice cases with suggested solutions.
5) Other preparation opportunities: We hope to offer students chances to do mock case interviews with alumni that work at Seattle consulting firms. This will give students an invaluable experience of practicing with someone who knows what their firms expect from interviewees and can give great feedback.
6) RocketBlocks interview prep
Networking
1) Spring Social: This is Foster Consulting Society’s penultimate event of the year. Typically, this event is held at the prime location of the Columbia Tower Club in Downtown Seattle. Representatives, many of which are Foster alumni, from Seattle’s consulting firms are invited to interact with students over drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
2) Alumni Networking Event: This event offers students the chance to network with Foster alumni in consulting and gives first years a great chance to meet and network with firms, especially as recruiting for internships gets into full swing.
3) Consulting Walks: These events allow students to visit consulting firms to understand “a day in the life.” The students get a chance to see the firms’ offices and meet several current consultants along with learning more about the type of work performed by and the culture of each firm. Firms visited on past Consulting Walks include Accenture, ACME Business Consulting, Alvarez & Marsal, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, ECG Management Consultants, Hitachi, PwC, Slalom, and West Monroe Partners.
4) Net Impact’s Service Corps: The Foster Consulting Society develops and maintains relationships with external consultants who mentor consulting teams working with social impact companies as a part of Net Impact’s Service Corps.