Foster Freshman Consulting: Bascomb Real Estate

Over the fall quarter of 2020, I was a Freshman Consultant in the Business Impact Group UW. This experience was an excellent opportunity for me to gain practical experience while contributing to the local economy. I came into Foster, knowing I was interested in business strategy and working on challenging problems. Consulting seemed like the perfect fit for my ambitions, and I decided to further explore this career path through the Foster Consulting Program.

Everything about this program felt professional, from the case interview and formal training sessions to communicating with the client and collaborating with my team. This helped me accelerate my professional development while building transferable skills through my role on the project. At first, I expected to be treated differently, being the only Freshman on the team, but I was given the same respect and responsibilities as everyone else. Knowing that my teammates valued my voice gave me confidence and motivated me to spend extra time preparing for each client meeting. Additionally, our professional advisors shared key insights with us in every step of the process and could draw from their years of experience in the workforce.

A key factor that attracted me to the program was the opportunity to impact the success of a small business. Our client was an amazing woman who was balancing a full-time job, running a real estate brokerage, and raising a family. Knowing that the effort my team and I put in would help her succeed made the program that much more rewarding.

With the entire program being online this quarter due to COVID-19, we had to overcome the challenges this presented. But while the project did have its highs and lows, I genuinely enjoyed the process behind it, which reaffirmed my interest in pursuing a career in management consulting. I would recommend this program to anyone interested in accelerating their learning and having a meaningful impact along the way. Specifically for freshmen, I believe this is a great way to gain valuable experience early on and jumpstart your college career!

– Yash Salva, ’24