How to improve quantitative application skills for McKinsey interviews?

Question

Hi all,

I have been preparing for an upcoming McKinsey interview as BA. I read up on the theory books as well as all of PrepLounge's BootCamp articles and have already done 25 case practices with a partner. As my qualitative part and structure improve, I noticed that one struggle I never seem to overcome is the quantitative part. I have no problem with the calculation itself but I struggle to find the most efficient way to the solution when presented with a problem and therefore take up more time to solve a case because of quant. This is despite the fact that I have already reviewed all the quant concepts from PrepLounge and other sources. How can I improve this besides just doing more and more cases?

Additionally, what is the expected level of quant skills for McKinsey interviews? The sample cases on their website seem quite doable but in some case books I've encountered, the "McKinsey" cases had really elaborate calculations, so I'm not sure which one is closer to reality.

Answer 1

Hello!

I would strongly recomment you practice it with the Integrated Reasoning part of the GMAT exam.

There are free exams in the internet that you can use for practice (the one of LBS MBA page, Verits prep, as well as some free trials for courses such as the one of The Economist (https://gmat.economist.com/)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 2

Best Rote Practice

Rocket Blocks: https://www.rocketblocks.me/

Best Practice Strategy

1) Read the Economist (especially the daily graph and Financial Time frequently

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/05/29/america-first

2) Ask case partners to focus particularly on your chart-reading skills (i.e. by providing you with cases with many charts) - Bain and Deloitte cases tend to be chart heavy

Graph Interpretation Tips

1) Read the title - and understand it

2) Read the legends - and understand them

3) Remind yourself of the objective / hypothesis in the case, to see where this might fit

4) Find the differences - where does the line graph plummet or spike? Which column is a lot smaller or bigger than the others? Where does change occur? The differences are what matter

5) Talk outloud while interpreting - first, it helps you think and process your thoughts, second, it lets the interviewer provide guidance and course correct if needed.

Answer 3

Hi,

In interviews the aspect which causes more errors is pressure: start to solve calculations with strict time constraint. For longer formulas always share the calculation structure with interviewer before starting to write down the numbers: this helps to take time, to reduce the pressure and gives you the opportunity to receive a first feedback by the interviewer avoiding wrong calculations.

I recommend practicing with:

Preplounge math tool: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mental-math.php
Youtube channels with math tricks: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjbxBzUM6SLlx_x8UABAdAB7Rbg9feqYa

Best,
Antonello

Answer 4

Dear A!

To practice your quantitative skills I would recommend different math, logic, and verbal tests on https://trytalentq.com/how-to-prepare, Visit this website, and then select "Elements Practice Test".

You don´t need to learn them by heart, rather skip them through to get a first impression and a better understanding.

Good luck with your preparation!

Best,

André