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McKinsey - Solve Game

I have mixed feelings with regards to my Solve performance and my chances of getting invited the to the first-round interview. How would you see my performance?

- Ecosystem: Food chain survived (used an Excel solver and doublechecked my food chain by using pen and paper)

- Red Rock Study: got approx. 85% correct --> made a mistake in the analysis phase and, as a consequence, added the incorrect result into the report

- Sea Wolf Game: always reached the max. possible score: 80%, 80, and 100%, respectively.(used an Excel solver)

 

If it's relevant: 

I also have a referral from an Associate/Senior Consultant at McKinsey. I applied for the DACH offices.
 

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Top answer
Hagen
Coach
on Jun 01, 2025
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 9+ years consulting, interviewing and coaching experience

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with McKinsey thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your situation:

  • First of all, unfortunately, no one but the recruiter knows for certain how you performed, and they will tell you in due time. I would advise you to just wait and see what happens.
  • Moreover, generally speaking, though, your performance in the Redrock Study and the Ocean Treatment game indeed doesn't seem that good. If there was only one calculation mistake in the Redrock Study, the other mistakes may be counted as subsequent errors. However, based on my coachees' experience, I'm not sure if 80% was the best possible solution for the Ocean Treatment game, as it's often times possible to reach 100% across all three iterations.
  • Lastly, the referral will probably not help you much if you performed poorly on the McKinsey Solve pre-interview assessment.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming McKinsey interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Deleted user
on May 30, 2025

Hi,

 

It is normal to feel how you are feeling, but my opinion is that this is outside of your control and should not focus on it because there is nothing that you can change. Now you need to focus on what you can control which is the fit interview and case study prep because if you do get invited to an interview it will be Go, Go, Go ! So use this time to your advantage

 

Several of the people that I coach, were not sure about their performance in the assessment and in the end all of them moved forward, so do not waste this time.

 

Should you need any help preparing further please let me know

S.

17
Alessa
Coach
on May 30, 2025
xMcKinsey & Company | xBCG | xRB | >400 coachings | feel free to schedule an intro call for free

Hey there :)

Thanks for sharing your performance. Overall, your Solve results look solid, especially with consistently high scores in the Sea Wolf Game and a passed Ecosystem. The mistake in the Red Rock Study is unfortunate, but 85% is still decent, and McKinsey usually looks at overall patterns rather than one-off slips. Having a referral for DACH is definitely a plus and can help push your application forward. So, while nothing is guaranteed, your chances of getting an interview invite are definitely intact.

Feel free to reach out if you'd like help prepping for the next steps!

best,
Alessa :)

Mihir
Coach
on May 30, 2025
McKinsey Associate Partner and interviewer | Bulletproof MBB prep

Hi there,

It sounds like it went well, but it’s hard to be certain.

Under the assumption that you do get an interview, the focus should now be on case and PEI prep.

Let me know if you want some McK specific help.

Best,

Mihir

on Jun 10, 2025
#1 Rated McKinsey Coach | Top MBB Coach | Verifiable success rates

Hi there,

Great that you have a referral. 

As for the scores, they seem good, but there's no public cutoff point, and it rather varies from recruitment cycle to recruitment cycle. 

In order to assess whether they take your application to the interview stages, they will always take the score into account, but also judge the CV, CL and referral.

Fingers crossed!
Best,
Cristian

on Jun 02, 2025
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success: ➡ interviewoffers.com | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

Q: How would you see my performance?

Overall, it seems a good performance. The only possible weak area might be Redrock, however if you did get 85% correct answers, this should still be a good score.

Good luck!

Francesco

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