If you were competent at running businesses why would you be an associate at McKinsey when you could be a COO or VP or something?
That's the difference, that's why there is so much competition to get into top three business schools. If one want to be a top level exec, go to a top three b-school, then jump laterally to companies.
This is laughably inaccurate. Or maybe the big three have done such a great job at marketing that people on HN think this. To bring things back to reality, your typical MBA associate joining a top 3 consulting firm is going to be at roughly the same level as an equivalent MS grad and/or someone with a few of years of tech experience joining FAANG. i.e., Someone in the L4-L5 territory based on profile variations. Nobody is jumping from associate to VP.
Awkward imbalance of levels aside, I enjoy the consulting lifestyle personally. It’s interesting to work with many different clients and have enough political clout to get things done on a fast timeline.