Beacon Fellowship Review: How A Beacon Fellowship Summer Experience Is Helping An Undergrad Grow in His Field

Beacon Fellowship is a summer consulting experience abroad that helps prepare college students and recent grads for top consulting jobs. More than just a summer abroad program, Beacon utilizes an elite-tier consultant as the primary instructor, and learning takes place in a several-week, intense, on-premise consulting project for a top organization.

A Beacon Fellowship alumni, Griffin Weil, who is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania, provides a first-hand account and review of his Beacon consulting experience and how it has influenced him.

Participant Background

Beacon Fellowship Program

Madrid, Spain with Airbus in June 2023

Currently...

Currently a Junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Cognitive Neuroscience who has been hired to intern at Lumanity in Boston, Massachusetts, during summer 2024. Lumanity (former Clarion Healthcare) is a life-sciences focused consulting firm.

University and Graduation Date

University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2025

 

 

Beacon Fellowship Experience

Why did you choose Beacon Fellowship?

I chose Beacon because they offered me an opportunity to get my foot in the door of the consulting industry. Consulting is highly competitive, with top companies constantly looking to hire top talent from the nation’s most prestigious universities. Moreover, once a member of the firm, you need to continue to excel, demonstrate impact, and network to maintain your status as an employee. As someone with limited prior consulting experience beyond independent research, the opportunity with Beacon enabled me to put meaningful, impactful experience on my resume that not only strengthened my candidacy on paper, but also enabled me to be more well versed in my consulting interviews. Beacon specifically was a terrific option for me because, as someone with a passion for traveling and exploration, I was granted an opportunity to explore a new part of the world while progressing my professional career.

What was your favorite experience as a Beacon Fellowship participant?

My favorite experience as a Beacon participant was the opportunity to immerse myself in a whole new city. The employees of Airbus would constantly recommend places to explore the city and there were even opportunities to travel the city together with them! Madrid will forever hold a special place in my heart and I am already planning my return visit.

What was the most meaningful/impactful aspect of your time abroad?

During my final presentation, we had the opportunity to present to c-suite executives at Airbus. In this moment, it was immediately apparent to me the importance and foreseeable impact of my hard work. This was an incredibly rewarding experience and a moment of reassurance that consulting was a terrific field for me to enter.

 

What was your day-to-day like while on your Beacon Fellowship program?

From Monday to Thursday, we were working in the office 9am - 5pm with some variability in that schedule. Afterwards, we would either have the chance to explore with our fellow interns, or there would be scheduled meals/events through the program. On the weekends, I did a lot of immersion, such as attending museums. I would also spend time with other participants practicing our casing and interviewing skills for interviews that would come shortly after the trip.

How has Beacon Fellowship helped you prepare for the future?

Beacon helped me prepare for the future in three significant ways. First, it provided me with a set of foundational consulting skills. I am able to better interact with clients, problem-solve within a team, and create slide decks, among other things. Second, traveling off the beaten path and exploring Europe was invaluable. As a Penn student, there is a pressure to go to New York City or another major metropolitan city in the U.S. The opportunity to take a step away from that has provided me with a great appreciation that I carry in my everyday life. Lastly, I have obtained a lifelong network of friends and colleagues alike. I am still close with the participants that I worked with and will continue to be for the rest of my life.

Have you used your Beacon Fellowship experience in interviews or applied it to your education/career?

I just participated in the Beacon program last summer, so I have not yet had the chance to apply this experience in a professional setting. However, during interviews and networking calls, I sound more credible and well versed when it comes to talking about consulting related topics. The consulting experience and skills that I used on my Beacon program are transferable for the strategy and consulting jobs that I was looking for. Ultimately, I was able to leverage this to obtain interviews at firms like BCG and Bain, as well as final round interviews at firms such as McKinsey, PwC, Deloitte, and EY-Parthenon.

Who is Beacon Fellowship for/not for?

If you are looking to land a consulting job (or any business related job) and explore the world in the process, strongly consider Beacon. If you are looking to build a network of friends with similar professional goals, strongly consider Beacon. If you are looking to recruit in the latter portion of the summer and want an internship to occupy your time in the first half, strongly consider Beacon. I would dissuade you from participating in Beacon if you are looking to stay close to home (assuming the opportunity is not close to home), or if you are not interested in the field of consulting.

Any advice to students considering Beacon Fellowship?

I would strongly recommend that you apply for the Beacon program. It is a terrific consulting experience, a fun program, and an opportunity to explore the world. It will also open doors for you in the future if you are searching for consulting opportunities, or other opportunities in business more broadly.

If you’re interested in learning more about Beacon and how you can gain consulting experience that elite firms want to see on your resume, check it out.

Conclusion

If you can't afford the fees for an on-site Beacon Fellowship program, consider Strategy Sprint - a 1-week, virtual consulting project run by Management Consulted that gives you the same resume-worthy experience. Regardless of which path you choose, adding relevant consulting experience to your resume should be a priority!