PST prep

Hi Anonymous,

I would not recommend to do specific practice before starting the PST prep – you may end working on something you don’t really to focus on; instead, I would recommend the following:

1. Try to find at least 5-6 practice cases online. There are several available for free, if needed you can purchase additional ones (PrepLounge has some available as well)
2. Do one of the tests immediately to check your score. As the passing score is around 70% and you have 26 questions, your target score should be above 18 (keep in mind you are likely to score a bit less in the actual test than your average score at home due to time pressure/nervousness). In the first test you are likely to score lower than that - don't worry, that's pretty normal.
3. Identify the type of questions where you made more mistakes. There could be different reasons why you are doing mistakes and there is probably a predominant type of mistake you are doing (eg slow math or weak critical reasoning). You have to identify the reasons for the mistakes and a way to fix them.
4. Continue the preparation with the remaining tests. After you have identified the main reason for mistakes, you can continue the preparation with the other tests before the interview - I would allocate them at a regular time distance, with an increase in frequency closer to the day of the test.
5. Go again through the questions where you did mistakes at regular intervals. Be sure to keep a "failure" spreadsheet, where you report all the mistakes and classify the reason for them each time.

The key areas where you may do mistakes and may need to practice are the following:

1. Time management. Commit to an amount of time for each question, and go on if you surpass that time. If you do not set discipline, you will end dedicating too much time to some questions (these tests are sometimes structured with questions which are supposed to be skipped and reviewed at the end). If time and test allow, you can then go back to the questions at the end.
2. Quick math. I would recommend practicing with online tools on a daily base to improve. It is better to allocate a small amount of time daily rather than to practice intensively few days only before the interview
3. Quick reading. Get a Harvard Business School case or an equivalent long one, give yourself 2 minutes and check how much information you can absorb. Then repeat until you get a sufficient level of accuracy. You can also check speed reading tactics (eg Tim Ferriss ones) and see if they work for you.
4. Graph interpretation. You need to practice on how to derive quickly insides from graphs. Take some random graphs, give yourself 30 seconds and check if you can get the main insides from them. Then repeat until when you get a sufficient level of accuracy
5. Critical reasoning. The GMAT critical reasoning section should be a good support as practice

Hope this helps,

Francesco

I've found prep guides for the GMAT pretty helpful, mostly in just understanding how they ask questions and the kinds of answers they're looking for. Preplounge's guide is here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/prep-guide-for-mckinsey-pst-12, or consultingcase101.com has some good quantitative problems. 

Hi A,

You can actually start straight preparing for PST and similar tests to stay focused on your main goal and get really well prepared. There are plenty of guides and free exams on the internet that you could take as a real example. Here are some tips that will help you to prepare for the test in whole:

1. Carefully select and make a list of your practice material.

2. Practice quick math.

3. Improve your data analyzing skills.

4. Learn how to speed-read.

5. Practice under real stress conditions (limited time).

Wish you luck in the test passing!

Best,

Andre

(editiert)

Hello,

THe best way is to practice with similar tests (like SHL or GMAT). CAndidates usually don't find any difficulty in terms of knowledge, the biggest challenge is to be enough quick in reading exhibit and doing calculation.

GMAT preparation material can help you in this, feel free to text me if you want any information.

Best,
Luca

Hi,

You can use preplounge tool, Viktor Cheng tool, Mimir Math on iOS

Also, I recommend practicing the following:

• Learn how to multiply double digit numbers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndkkPZYJHo)
• Learn the division table up to 1/11 (i.e. 5/6 = 83.3)
• Learn how to work with zeros using powers (E.g: 4000000 = 4*10ˆ6)

Good luck with your interviews!

Hi,
here you can find some useful links to practice PST:
- https://mconsultingprep.com/free-practice-mckinsey-pst/
- https://igotanoffer.com/pages/mckinsey-problem-solving-test
- https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Careers%20REDESIGN/Interviewing/Main/Problem%20Solving%20Test%20PDFs/practice-test-A.ashx

Hope it helps,
Antonello