How should I structure my case prep when math is my biggest weakness? (Interviews in Oct–Dec)

Hi,

Since you still have a fairly long runway before interviews, I would actually recommend spending 1–2 weeks focusing heavily on math before ramping up live casing again. If math is currently your biggest bottleneck, it makes sense to address that gap early rather than reinforcing weak habits through repeated live cases.

That said, be careful not to think of “case math” as only calculation speed. In consulting interviews, there are really two separate skills:

• Pure calculation ability (mental math, percentages, fractions, estimations, etc.)
• Math structuring and communication, which is often even more important

The second part is what many candidates underestimate. Strong candidates are not just fast calculators; they are able to:

• structure the problem clearly;
• explain their approach before calculating;
• identify the right formula/drivers quickly;
• communicate assumptions confidently and cleanly.

So while drilling arithmetic is useful, make sure you are also practicing setting up equations, breaking calculations into manageable steps and verbalizing your logic while solving.

Once you feel more comfortable mathematically, I would definitely resume live cases consistently; ideally 1–2 live cases per week minimum at your stage.

You are also already focusing on the right core areas overall (math, structuring, communication, synthesis/recommendations). The only thing I would add is business judgment / intuition and eventually fit/PEI preparation

One final point: candidates are often not the best judges of their own weaknesses. Sometimes what feels like a “math issue” is actually:

• weak structuring;
• panic under pressure;
• poor communication;
• or lack of prioritization.

If budget allows, I do think that a session with an experienced coach can accelerate progress quite a bit, both by improving your approach and by identifying blind spots that are difficult to spot yourself.

In any case, you still have plenty of time, which is a very good position to be in. Good luck with your prep, and feel free to DM me if I can help.

Best,
Franco

Hey! 

Maths is quite a common issues for candidates, so you are surely not on your own! 

I would spend one week for a dedicated Maths deep dive: 

- review all teh concepts in detail

- generate summaries and practice questions with Gemini/chatGPT to get proper training

- start adding prompts with tables and walk the interviewer through plus perform the maths in context of the prompt

After one week of intense math training start the live cases again. A huge challenge of consulting interviews is the ad-hoc ability to solve maths & cases given stress, time pressure, etc. 

Given your timeline I am confident you will get there in the next 3-4 months. 

Good luck! Vincent

hey! 

Don’t pause all live cases. Do both in parallel. Spend most of your weekly time on targeted math drills, but still do one live case per week so you keep building structure, communication, and flow. Pure math‑only weeks usually backfire because you lose casing rhythm, and math in cases feels different from isolated drills anyway. Your runway is long, so think of it as steady layering: daily short math drills, one live case weekly, plus light work on structure and synthesis. The only areas you’re missing are chart interpretation and staying calm under pressure, which you can build through timed drills.

Alessa

Hi,

With 5–6 months before interviews, you’re actually in a very good position. One weak live case at the beginning is completely normal.

I wouldn’t spend 2 weeks doing only math and avoiding cases. In my experience, that usually slows people down because casing is not just math, it’s structuring, communication, business judgment, and staying calm under pressure.

What tends to work better is doing both in parallel.

If math is clearly your weakest area, I’d probably structure prep something like this:

• short daily math practice (20–30 mins consistently is much better than random long sessions)
• 1–2 live cases per week at the beginning
• separate structuring drills outside full cases

The important thing is consistency. Mental math improves a lot through repetition.

Also, don’t try to “master all case math” at once. Most consulting math falls into a few recurring categories:

• percentages / growth rates
• breakeven logic
• market sizing
• interpreting exhibits quickly
• basic business equations (revenue, profit, margin, utilization, etc.)

Once you’ve seen these enough times, they stop feeling random.

One thing I’d add: don’t underestimate chart interpretation. A lot of candidates focus only on calculations, but many interview mistakes actually come from missing the key insight in a graph or table.

And honestly, live cases early on are useful because they expose weaknesses. That’s not reinforcing bad habits, that’s helping you diagnose what to work on.

If I were you, I’d avoid perfectionism at this stage. You don’t need “perfect math” before doing cases. You just need steady progress week after week.

Best,

Soheil

Hi there,

It's amazing that you have this runway ahead of you. These are perfect conditions for you to work in a determined manner on these areas. 

However, I'm not sure that your self-diagnostic is accurate and would not assume at this point that this is indeed the problem you're struggling with.

One thing I'd recommend is that you try running a baselining / diagnostic case with a coach. I typically do this as my first session with candidates. 

As part of that, we try to identify both the most important 2-3 areas they struggle with (and then how to close that gap), but also the 2-3 things they're great at (and how to turn those into spikes). 

If you need help with this, reach out.

Best,
Cristian