Where to start with case prep as a complete beginner?

Question

Hi everyone, I'm a 3rd-year Economics & Management student and I've been admitted to Bocconi's IM MSc. My goal is to break into strategic consulting, ideally a MBB firm, and I'd like to start preparing seriously for case interviews.

The problem is I genuinely don't know where to begin. I've heard of the classic resources (Case in Point, Case Interview Secrets), but I'm not sure how to structure my preparation: should I start by reading first, or jump straight into practice cases? And when it comes to cases, is PrepLounge the main platform people use, or do you combine it with other tools?

Basically: if you were starting from zero today, what would your first 4–6 weeks look like? Any advice from people who've gone through this process would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

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!

Answer 2

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