BCG test

The reason why BCG potential test is so difficult is because of the time constraint.

So what I did was work on any questions from the BCG potential test I could find and try to solve them super quickly. For example, this question should be solved in 30 seconds

"One of the biggest global airlines has decided to buy new aircrafts. The ratio of first class, business and economy seats in the new aircrafts will be 1 to 3 to 8 and the total number of seats will be 240.

Average ticket prices for popular destinations are expected to be €700 for first class, €300 for business and €150 for economy. The average duration of these flights is 3 hours.

First and business customers get free Wi-Fi on board but economy customers need to pay €2 / hour to use Wi-Fi.

Assuming that only 5% of economy customers use Wi-Fi all the time, what are the expected revenues from a flight to a popular destination using a new aircraft at its full capacity?

1. €56,048
2. €56,016
3. €56,480
4. €56,160"

Good luck on the test!

Hi,

1. Try to find as many people in your country as you can who have done the test. Ask them for the topic, industry and questions they remember. For example in one of the countries there was a test about airlines and reading a couple of articles / company reports / wikipedia artticles with industry terms could significantly improve performance
2. Try to practice tests with strict time-management. McKinsey PST from the official web site and all mck and bcg -like tests you can find online
3. Additional recource can be GMAT Integrated reasoning from the official guides and apps if you feel that you are not p[erforming well
4. As far as I remebmer calculator is allowed on BCG test. Make sure you know how to simplify calculations and use it fast

I agree with Vlad, I reported below some additional tips based on a previous post:

• One of the most important thing to do well in the case is to do at least a couple of Potential tests before the actual test date. Unlike the McK PST, there are not so many available online, but you should be able to find a few at least.
• Commit to a time for each question, and go on if you surpass that time. If you do not set discipline, you will end eating too much time for some questions (these tests sometimes are actually structured to have some questions it is better to skip and review at the end). If time and test allows, you can then go back to the questions at the end.
• Practice a lot of math before – it is normally a key component of all the tests
• Practice graph interpretation: take some random graphs, give yourself 30 seconds and check if you can get the main insides from them. Then repeat till when you get a sufficient level of accuracy
• Practice quick reading and quick understanding of key information only: get a Harvard Business School case, give yourself 2 minutes and check how much information you can absorb. Then repeat till when you get a sufficient level of accuracy
• Use elimination process when in doubts

You can find the original post here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/online-analytical-tests-483#a992

Finally, you have to take into account you get penalized for wrong answers in the Potential test, so you should adapt your strategy accordingly.

Best,
Francesco

Hey Margherita,

I've done the BCG on-line test at the end of Sept within my university (Politecnico).There was no numerical test, only a study case with 23 questions / 45 min (or less).

Each question had multiple choice answers, and you had info material whit charts and data to read from - no calculator allowed.

Personally I found it tricky and quite difficoult, especially for the small amount of time available. After all I achieved a great "mark" and now I am through the recruiting process.

If you need further info PM me!

Carlo

Hi!

Time is the biggest factor when it comes to those tests (BCG you have to answer like 25 questions in 40 minutes), so you should have had some practice skimming text and be really good at mental math. Practice with some math tools or piece of paper. In most cases I don’t think you are allowed to bring a calculator, and even so you will save much time using mental math. You get 3 points for a correct answer, 0 for no answer and minus 1 point for a wrong answer, so don't just guess.

Hope I could help you. Best of luck!

(edited)

Hi Anonym,

I worked at BCG until recently.

If you like, we can have a call on it? Feel free to write me.

Best regards

Marco-Alexander

Hello!

One year ago (November 2014) the structure was as follows:

1st round: paper-based numerical test SHL-like + the dreaded "traffic lights" test . You have to pass both to continue the selection process

2nd round: just before or after the interviews you'll be required to take a computer-based test similar to McKinsey's PST

I hope that helps,

Giuseppe

I just took the BCG potential test last month (Jakarta office). It was 45 minutes to solve 23 questions.

The versions are more less similar.

In case you have already started your preparation for case interviews and good at reading charts, analytical thinking, and mental math, then BCG potential is an additional of probably an hour as what you should plan for.

Basically, to prepare you can use some mock potential test, and after every test just look into solution to see where you have gone wrong. 3-4 mock test it would be enough for you to prepare for the potential test.

Do you need any further help?

Cheers,
GB

Hi All,

Anyone has experience with the BCG Copenhagen office? They introduced a new format of 30 minutes and 80 questions that resembles to the IQ test.

Hello A!

The BCG online case is very similar to a regular case the only difference being that your direction in the business case is guided by the questions being asked. So it will be similar to an "interviewer-led" case format. There are a lot of resources online for case solving and all you need to do is Google. If you want to sharpen your case skills in general I would recommend Victor Cheng's Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng and his book. Message me if you have any other specific questions and all the best!

Best,

André