Structured Problem Solving Like Consultants: Primer and Introduction

In this session, graduate alum Jim Scully will provide clarity on the field of management consulting and what consultants do in practice. Further, we will introduce the capstone projects which will provide participants the opportunity to apply the frameworks learned to real life problems.

Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides - exposure to the field of management consulting, problem-solving skills and frameworks for consulting, and experiential learning through a capstone project led by graduate students. This learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners, and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

Join a Zoom panel with graduate alums currently working as consultants.

Panelists include: Lena Barrett *22 CBE (McKinsey), Delanyo Kpo *21 POL (Bain), Ian Miller *22 EEB (BCG) , Maria Muniz *23 CBE (McKinsey)

Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

Join us for a session on mastering behavioral interviews for consulting roles, led by Pam Cohen from the Center for Career Development. Develop strategies to confidently navigate behavioral interviews, all while enjoying dinner.

Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

In this session we will walk through a case over dinner followed by an open session to work on the capstone project.

Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

In this session Prof. Boler will start with a lesson on communicating like a consultant. After lunch, we will build on apply previously discussed core concepts by walking through two cases.


This session will start with a lesson on communicating like a consultant using a technique known as the Pyramid Principle. We will also build on some of the core concepts discussed during the previous session by walking through another case. We will link some of the core concepts from the pyramid principle to case method and demonstrate the importance of designing MECE (Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive) structures.


Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming.

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.

Join us for dinner as UVA Professor and former consultant Brendan Boler introduces case interview best practices and structured problem-solving using analytical frameworks.


Case method #1: This session will introduce structured problem-solving through consulting case discussion using the FOCUS1 analytical problem-solving framework leveraging interactive videos to model case interviewing best practices: 

 Framing the Problem

Organizing an Analysis

Collecting Data

Understanding the Data
​​​​​​​Synthesizing a Recommendation


Series Overview: Building on the pilot series from 2023, GradFUTURES is pleased to launch Structured Problem Solving like Consultants interdisciplinary learning cohort. This learning cohort provides- exposure to the field of management consulting, skills and frameworks of problem-solving for consulting and experiential learning through capstone project Led by graduate students, this learning cohort brings together graduate alums, campus partners and external speakers through partnerships with the Graduate Consulting Club, Center of Career Development and University of Virginia. The mentored capstone projects are developed in partnership with our campus partners. More details forthcoming. 

Sessions will be hosted in-person and include food.