How to Prepare for Case Interviews Without a Coach or Partner

Hi there, 

If coaching isn’t an option right now, you still have plenty of effective ways to prepare.

PrepLounge actually has a large active community, and even with the free basic membership you get 10 peer mock interviews included. That means you can already practice live with real partners without spending anything. (check out the meeting board for open invites)

If you want more flexibility or more sessions, you can also look into the Premium membership or Premium + Coaching, but the free version is a good place to start.

In terms of self-preparation, PrepLounge also offers mental math tools, stress question drills, and a big library of blog articles and resources that help you improve structuring, communication, and chart interpretation.

Happy practicing and good luck with your prep!

Charlotte

Hi there,

Below are some tactics I used during my own preparation, structured along the three areas you mentioned:

1) Build MECE structures fast

• Develop a framework obsession by actively structuring random situations in daily life (e.g., sizing the top line of a doctor’s practice while waiting, or thinking through key levers to monetize a piece of land you pass by)
• Become operational with frameworks by drafting 1 framework per day on paper across common problem types (profitability, market entry, operations, growth), using sample cases from business school casebooks
• Learn from best-in-class consultants by listening to dedicated podcasts (Case Interview Prep & Management Consulting or similar) during commutes or low-cognitive activities (e.g., cardio)

2) Communicate like a consultant

• Simulate real interviews out loud using case books or YouTube interviews – focus on synthesizing top-down and delivering recommendations under time pressure
• Build mental models for common interview moments, such as clarification questions (e.g., the BGOT framework from Chicago Booth: business model, geography, objective, timeframe)
• Develop a strong consulting “lingua” across industries and problem types – Fluency often comes less from talent and more from having ready-to-use terms and phrasing that make communication sound crisp and confident

3) Become a mental math champion

• Use mental math apps (e.g., Mental Math Cards Game) for 5-10 minutes daily to build speed and accuracy –ideally by swapping passive habits (e.g., social media doom scroll) for a quick drill
• Practice situational math in everyday life instead of using a calculator (e.g., calculating change at checkout, quick percentages, back-of-the-envelope estimates)
• Regularly interpret charts, graphs, and tables from case books or reports (e.g., Bain’s Global Private Equity Report) and summarize the key insight in 2-3 bullets

Across all three areas, connecting with like-minded candidates in the PrepLounge community (or similar communities) is one of the most effective levers. Ideally, find 2-3 strong partners and case regularly to grow together.

Starting case prep solo is incredibly challenging, and your struggle to find partners after graduation is a common hurdle. You absolutely can make significant progress without paying for coaching, but you have to be highly structured and disciplined to compensate for the missing feedback loop.

Here is the reality of solo prep: The core value of a human partner isn't just solving the case; it's forcing real-time verbal discipline and synthesis. Your goal must be to design mechanisms that force you to communicate clearly under pressure and catch your own sloppy habits before they solidify.

To improve your three specific areas, divide your preparation into distinct, focused tasks:

1. Structuring Ability (MECE Frameworks): Do not spend your early hours running full, long cases. Instead, focus on timed, high-volume written drills. Take a list of 50 different case prompts ("Client A wants to enter Market X," "Client B is losing profitability," etc.) and force yourself to write out a full, unique, MECE framework structure for each in under five minutes. This builds the muscle memory needed to generate logic under immediate pressure without stumbling.

2. Communication & Synthesis (Top-Down): This is where you need to rely heavily on self-assessment. Run through cases (using YouTube videos that provide the interviewer script) and record yourself answering every single prompt, from clarifying questions to final synthesis. Reviewing the tape is your substitute for partner feedback. Are you stating the conclusion first? Are you using filler words? Are your transitions clunky? Brutal self-critique of the video footage is the most effective way to eliminate the performance flaws a partner would immediately flag.

3. Quantitative Side: Separate this entirely from casing initially. Quantitative casing failure is usually due to weak, slow calculation ability, not interpretation. Use dedicated mental math apps or spreadsheets to drill percentages, growth rates, and large number multiplication until the computation is almost automatic. Only then should you integrate graph and chart interpretation into your recorded case practice.

Hope this helps you structure your attack plan. All the best!

Hi there,

1. Solo casing with ChatGPT
Use this more as a drill tool rather than a full case.

2. YouTube cases + pause method
Great for building muscle memory. Pause before every answer and force yourself to verbalize your structure or math out loud. It builds clarity fast.

3. Crafting Cases / Victor Cheng
Worth it if you want structured frameworks. The Crafting Cases structuring course is solid for MECE thinking in particular.

4. Math drills
Do 10–15 minutes a day of quick mental math (Market Sizing, profitability equations, % changes). It compounds really quickly.

5. Reading charts on autopilot
Grab reports from McKinsey/Bain/BCG/Statista and practice summarizing each chart in one sentence: trend + implication. That helps the synthesis part a lot.

6. Connecting with peers online

No matter how much practice you do, if you don't do live cases then your progress would be exponentially slower. I suggest you try and connect with other peers online who are also preparing for cases.

You can get strong on your own - but only if you train deliberately. Break prep into focused drills instead of running endless full cases.

1. Structuring (MECE, speed, clarity)

Best solo drill:

• Grab 30–50 prompts
• Build a structure in ≤5 minutes
• Speak it out loud, record it, and check: Is it MECE? Prioritised? Aligned to the objective?

This builds the fast, clean thinking that interviewers expect.

2. Communication & Synthesis (top-down)

Your phone camera becomes your coach.
Daily 10–15 minutes:

• Clarifying questions
• Explaining your structure
• 30–45 sec synthesis

Record → Watch → Fix.
Most candidates skip this, which is why their communication plateaus.

3. Quantitative Skills (math, charts, accuracy)

Simple, consistent drills:

• 10 minutes of mental math
• Summarise 5–10 charts using a one-sentence “trend + implication”
• Do 3–5 timed case calculations

This builds speed so math doesn’t drain your mental bandwidth during cases.

4. Weekly routine (high-impact, no partner needed)

• 3 days: structure + math + chart drills
• 2 days: recorded mini-cases
• 1 day: full mock (YouTube pause method or AI)
• 1 day: review your own recordings

This replicates >70% of the benefit of partner practice.

But here’s the truth:

A good coach collapses your prep time by 50% and can increase your success rate dramatically because they give:

• personalised, targeted feedback
• correction of blind spots you cannot see in self-review
• interviewer-level pressure
• benchmarking vs. real candidates

Going solo works - but coaching accelerates everything.

If you can’t afford recurring coaching, even 1-2 focused sessions can shift your trajectory.

AI Case Coach Option

If you want something between “solo practice” and “live coaching,” you can use an AI-based case interviewer that gives structure, math, and synthesis feedback:

Bottom line

If you’re preparing without partners:
High-volume structuring + speaking on camera + consistent math + AI mock interviews is the fastest, most effective path.
Add a coach when possible to eliminate blind spots and shortcut months of trial-and-error.

hey there :)

You’re on the right track with ChatGPT and case videos—both can simulate a real interview environment effectively. For structuring, practice breaking problems into MECE frameworks out loud and time yourself to build speed. For communication, narrate your thinking clearly and summarize top-down, even if just to yourself, and record yourself to spot gaps. For the quantitative side, use practice cases with charts and tables (many free case books provide these), and time your calculations while doing them on paper or Excel to build speed and accuracy. Doing consistent, timed drills with a mix of real cases, videos, and AI simulations can (PARTLY) replace a coach if you’re disciplined.

best,
Alessa :)

If you don't use a coach, then you can still use a case partner. That will already help. 

You can find case partners for free, either here on PrepLounge or on other platforms. There are plenty of people who want to practice cases. 

You can also see if you know anybody in a consulting firm and ask them politely to give you a case. That will already give you access to more reliable, professional feedback. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

I would at least try and find some reliable peers on the platform to practice with. Casing with a partner is significantly different than trying to practice by yourself. 

You can also check out my tips for using AI for Case Preparation:

Using AI for Case Preparation