yea, like ^^ said, the decision is entirely upto you. But if you look at the good and bad sides of it, in the end, I would definitely recommend going the consultancy route, as long as you get into a good consultancy. A lot of factors come into play as to how long you will survive in the job such as your luck, co-workers, expectations from you, your work load, your work environment, your communication skills and your ability to learn new things. So depending on all of these factors, your fate might not be the same as your unlucky friends.

Good Luck!