Where to start with case prep as a complete beginner?

Start with the basics. Don't jump into cases yet. The most common mistake beginners make is rushing into practice cases before they understand what a case interview actually is and how it is evaluated. My view on how you can structure your study - 

- Weeks 1/2: Foundations to understand what you're being tested on

Read Case in Point cover to cover. It is the right starting point because it gives you the vocabulary, the typical case types (profitability, market entry, M&A, market sizing, etc.), and a basic mental model of how cases flow. Do not memorize the frameworks

In parallel, watch a few real case interview videos on YouTube (published by most consulting firms). Watch how strong candidates structure, ask clarifying questions, communicate hypotheses, and handle data. 

- Weeks 3/4: Build core skills using some of the tools below on the platform or other resources 1) Structuring drills - Take a prompt, give yourself 60–90 seconds, write out a MECE structure tailored to that specific question. The goal is to stop reaching for memorized frameworks and start thinking from first principles 2) Mental math - Daily 10–15 minute drills on percentages, growth rates, weighted averages, and back-of-envelope calculations. Use Rocketblocks or any math drill site 

- Weeks 5/6: Start with self-led cases from casebooks (Wharton, Kellogg, INSEAD, LBS - freely available online) so you can pause, reflect, and learn without the pressure of a partner. Once you have done 8/10 self-led cases, move to PrepLounge for live partner cases. You can also combine it with peer-led prep through your school's consulting club at Bocconi. 

Followed by this once you feel comfortable, take the advise of the coach to polish and refine your skills as you prep for actual interviews

Hey,

Congrats on the admission! My advice for the first month is the following:

• Week1 - Intro
  Read a few MBA casebooks, watch a few videos of solved cases from real consultants (there's a good example from Bain on Youtube), try to familiarize with the main sections of the case (i.e., clarifying questions, structure, exhibits, market/opportunity sizing, qualitative questions, recommendation), and understand what is highly valued in these interviews (e.g., exhaustiveness, realistic quantification, tight logic)
• Week2 - Just try
  Just try! Do 3-5 cases on PrepLounge with other folks. It will be hard, but you'll gain a ton of context and awareness. Now, you can read Case in Point (which might be a bit dated, and often more complex than what's really needed)
• Week3 - Section by Section (Content, or Hard Skills)
  Try to improve on one section a day through drills and do more cases. E.g., structure: read 5-10 cases from casebooks, and try to structure them on your own, recording yourself with a phone. When you are done, go back and try to be positively critical about your performance: what worked, what didn't work, what biases I have, what could have been better in terms of comms, what content pieces I missed the most. Try to do at least 3-4 cases with peers, try to be a good observer of their own performance
• Week4 - Leading a full case (Comms and Process, or Soft Skills)
  Try to do one a case a day. Your focus: you should already have some understanding of how to handle each section, now you should try to put it all together -- try to lead the case, try to connect the dots between different sections, try to mix convergence and divergence. This is where you should transition from "the interviewer has to interrupt me a lot" to "I am starting to have a good conversation with my interviewer"

At the end of Week4, my suggestion is to do a casing session with a current or former MBB consultant (a friend, a coach, an Alum of your university) to get an expert perspective on what's working and what not in your casing. 

This person can then tell you how to go from the 5-6/10 you reached (hopefully!) to an 8-9/10 -- at that point, it's fairly personal and context-dependent, I wouldn't feel confident giving you recommendations for Week5 onwards today :)

Best,

Tom

PS: Feel free to DM me for a free intro call (no obligation), happy to help someone who will attend the university where I did my undergrad!
 

Hi Giulio, 

the others covered the preparation process already quite well. Personally I would say don't overthink it and get into doing it. 

When it comes to resources you have already mentioned the typical ones like PrepLounge, CaseCoach or Case in Point. Others to consider would be for example roadtooffer.com for some solid drills or national career coaching forums to meet other students who are currently preparing. I only know the German ones but a quick google should get you the Italian ones. Besides these, don't forget to check in with your university's career center and consulting club cause they will both have very valuable resources (e.g., free access to any of the above mentioned) and insights. Lastly, the websites of the consulting companies you target (e.g., MBB) offer some very good practice cases and the most up to date info on the process. 

That should be enough to keep you busy for some time 😉

Hi Giulio,

If I were starting again from zero, I wouldn’t overcomplicate it. The biggest mistake beginners make is either reading too much or jumping into cases with no idea what’s going on. You want a bit of both, in the right order.

In the first few days, just get familiar with what a case interview even is. One resource is enough (Case in Point is fine). Don’t try to “master” it — just understand the flow, the common types of cases, and basic concepts like revenue, cost, etc.

But do not stay in theory for long. After a few days, start doing cases — even if they go badly. That’s normal. The goal at that stage is just to get used to the format and speaking out loud.

In weeks 2–3, focus on doing a few live cases per week (PrepLounge is fine). You’ll probably feel a bit lost — that’s part of the process. What matters is getting comfortable with the structure of a case and how conversations flow.

After that, start being a bit more deliberate. Instead of just “doing cases,” isolate a couple of core skills — usually structuring, communication, and basic math — and work on them separately. For example, taking 5 minutes to just build a structure for a prompt, without solving the whole case.

By weeks 4–6, things usually start to click a bit more. That’s when you focus on being more structured in my answers, less generic in frameworks, and clearer in recommendations. Still doing full cases, but also fixing specific weaknesses.

A few things I’d keep in mind:

• don’t over-read — one resource is enough
• don’t avoid live practice — that’s where most learning happens
• don’t try to fix everything at once — pick 1–2 things and improve them

If I had to put it simply: start quickly, accept that it’ll be messy at the beginning, and improve step by step.

That approach works much better than waiting until you feel “ready.”

Best,

Soheil

Hi Giulio — congrats on Bocconi IM, great choice (and as a fellow Bocconi alum, I have a soft spot for this question).

I’d approach it a bit differently than many people suggest: don’t think of prep as “study first, practice later.” Start building the muscles from day one.

If I were starting from zero, I’d do this:

Phase 1 — Learn what good looks like (first 7–10 days)
Before doing many cases, spend some time understanding what a good case interview actually sounds like.

I’d focus on:

• watching a few strong live case examples
• understanding what interviewers look for (structure, hypothesis-driven thinking, communication)
• learning the basic building blocks of a case, without trying to memorize frameworks

The goal here is not “learning cases,” but building intuition.

Phase 2 — Train the components separately (next 2 weeks)
Before jumping into many full cases, isolate the skills.

I’d practice separately:

• structuring random business prompts in 2 minutes
• mental math / market sizing
• interpreting exhibits
• giving 1-minute recommendations

This speeds up learning a lot.

Phase 3 — Start full cases early, but with purpose
Then move into live cases (PrepLounge is good for this).

But don’t do cases just to “do cases.”
Go into each one with one focus:

• today I work on structure
• today I focus on communication
• today I focus on driving the case

That makes practice much more effective.

One thing I’d do from the start: keep an error log.
After each case, write down:

• one thing to keep doing
• one thing to fix
• one thing to test next time

That alone improves prep a lot.

If I had to summarize my advice:

1. Understand what good looks like
2. Train components separately
3. Do live cases early
4. Improve deliberately, not by volume

And one very honest point: at some stage, getting feedback from someone experienced helps enormously. A small amount of high-quality feedback can save months of trial and error.

Since we’re both from Bocconi, feel free to reach out — happy to do a quick intro call and help you think through how to get started.

Good profile and good timing. Bocconi IM is a strong target for MBB Italy and across Europe.

Reading first is right, but only for 5 to 7 days. Read the basics, then start cases fast.

First 4 to 6 weeks:

Week 1. Read Case in Point intro chapters, watch free MBB videos, read 5 to 6 example cases on PrepLounge to see the structure. Do not try to solve them yet.

Weeks 2 to 3. Structuring drills. 5 to 10 a day, 90 seconds each. Most important muscle.

Weeks 3 to 4. Case math drills. Mental math without a calculator, 30 minutes a day.

Weeks 4 to 6. Start full cases with a peer partner, 2 to 3 a week. Quality over volume. Write down what went wrong after each.

Tips: Find a peer partner you click with, Bocconi has a strong consulting community. Read FT, Economist, or Bloomberg 15 minutes a day. Do not hire a coach yet, save that for the final 4 to 6 weeks before interviews.

Italian MBB hires heavily from Bocconi. Your school handles access. Your job is to show up ready.

Good luck.

Hi Giulio,

Great that you’re starting early — that gives you a big advantage.

If I were starting from zero today, I wouldn’t overcomplicate it. The biggest mistake beginners make is spending too much time reading and not enough time practicing.

For your first 4–6 weeks, I’d structure it like this:

Week 1–2 (foundations)

• Learn the basics of how cases work (use something like Case in Point, but don’t go too deep)
• Focus on core concepts: profitability, market entry, simple math
• Do ~4–6 live cases (even if you feel unprepared) just to get exposure

Week 3–4 (building structure)

• Increase to ~3 cases per week
• Focus on structuring and communication, not getting the “right answer”
• Start doing simple drills: mental math, building frameworks from random prompts

Week 5–6 (refinement)

• 3–4 cases per week
• Focus more on synthesis (clear recommendations)
• Get targeted feedback and start fixing recurring mistakes

PrepLounge is great for live practice — you don’t need many additional resources beyond that and a basic case book.

One thing I’d strongly recommend is working with a coach early on, even for a couple of sessions. It helps you get the fundamentals right from the start and avoid building bad habits that are harder to fix later. Happy to help you with that if useful.

The key principle is simple: start practicing early, reflect after each case, and keep things focused.

Best
Evelina

Best? Hire a case coach. Feel free to reach out if you want a crash course to get case ready.

Genuinely. If you want to ramp up quickly, that's what you need.

Case coach is an intro course... it will get you past beginner, but not further.

Case in point is a….book…you're not going to get case ready by reading a book.

Another point: Change "regular case practice with someone else" to multiple people! You need a wide range of casing peers.

Here's some reading to help you with case prep: Common Pitfalls in Case Interview Preparation

And a quick learning article (with videos in the linked cases): Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect

hey Guilio! 

If you’re starting from zero, the best thing you can do is set up the right foundation early, because fixing bad habits later is much harder. That’s why I always recommend doing at least one or two sessions with a coach at the very beginning. Not for ongoing prep, but to make sure you’re learning the basics correctly, structuring, communication, and how to actually approach a case.

For the first 4–6 weeks, a simple plan works well: Week 1–2: learn the fundamentals (structure, math, reading exhibits) and do a few guided cases Week 3–4: start practicing full cases with partners Week 5–6: refine weak spots and build consistency

PrepLounge is great for finding partners, but combining it with a coach early on helps you avoid months of trial‑and‑error. Once your foundation is solid, you can practice mostly on your own.

You’re starting early and that’s already a huge advantage.

Alessa

Giulio, 

I'd do two things if I were to start. 

1 Look at same case video simulations - you can find examples of Youtube

2 Practice a few cases from the PL library

Then, try 1-2 sessions with peers. 

And then do a session with a coach. You'll get an assessment of your intrinsics and how to tailor the rest of the prep journey so you make sure you're moving in the right direction. 

Best,
Cristian