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BCG Online Test ExpensiveOil -- Tips for Solving Quickly

BCG BCG online case
New answer on Oct 05, 2022
3 Answers
1.1 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Oct 04, 2022

Hi all. I am preparing for BCG's online new chatbot test with some of its older online case studies. 

I've been able to get the answers all correct but am not doing so under the timelines set. 

Using this test as an example (see link), does anyone have tips on how you would get to the answers for the questions? (Link: http://media-publications.bcg.com/BCG-Online-Case-Example.pdf)

I did manual calculations and tried my best to approximate, but even so took over the required 8 minutes on this test.

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Viacheslav
Expert
replied on Oct 04, 2022
Ex-MBB (Bain & Company, 5+ years) | Entrepreneur, fintech startup co-founder

Hi, there are several techniques you need to master:

  • Practice mental math in the following areas: 
    • Percentages
    • Double digit multiplication
    • Large numbers with a lot of zeroes
  • If you do not have a business background, work on your business sense by reading articles from MBB and business press, and also by trying to create MECE frameworks for problems discussed in these articles
  • Read the question first
  • Skim and underline important data before reading everything
  • Focus on the information necessary to answer the question, you don't need to understand every bit of data given - sometimes they add too much irrelevant data on purpose
  • Eliminate obviously wrong answers first
  • Always try to estimate (depends on the discrepancy in multiple choice answers)
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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 04, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

That link doesn't work…

Regardless, this all comes down to practice. You need to get practicing and get a number of practice tests + questions under your belt in order to improve.

There are a number of techniques you can employ as well. That can include eliminating answers, plugging answers back into the original question, reading the question before the text, etc. etc.

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Sophia
Expert
replied on Oct 05, 2022
Top-Ranked Coach on PrepLounge for 3 years| 6+ years of coaching

Hello,

Practice makes perfect!

Beyond that, which components of the questions are giving you the most trouble exactly? Is it working with large/awkward numbers, reading a chart, understanding what the question is asking for, or something else? I would try to get clarity on what exactly it is that is taking you the most time, and try to focus on that particular aspect in your practice.

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Viacheslav gave the best answer

Viacheslav

Ex-MBB (Bain & Company, 5+ years) | Entrepreneur, fintech startup co-founder
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