Best cases

Question

Hello,

I've been practicing a bunch of cases both here on PrepLounge and from various casebooks. I've noticed that practice cases differ a lot by length, difficulty, and clarity - some seem to be similar to the cases provided as examples on MBB websites, for instance, while others are a lot more convoluted or involve excessively lengthy and complicated calculations. This made me wonder whether some of those practice cases are a little antiquated and aren't really representative of what one might actually get in an interview.

I'd like to make sure I'm as effective as possible with my practice. With this in mind, could you please recommend me your top practice cases that you think best approximate what I might see in an actual interview? Both interviewee-led and interviewer-led would be very appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Yes, the cases vary….as do….surprise….the interviews themselves!

Please please don't get locked in to “what can I expect”. You have to expect anything, not get locked into what should happen.

When I coach my candidates, I make sure to keep throwing curveballs so that they enter their interviews prepared (ready for anything). This means cases that are charts heavy vs. light, brainstorming heavy vs. light, have a barebones prompt vs. have a long prompt with many clues.

Here's some critical reading for your question

And some other important reading here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/dos-and-donts-in-a-case-interview

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CASEBOOKS I LIKE

Now, that said, these are ones that I particularly like

Columbia
1. Cases by Firm
2. Cases ranked by difficulty of Math, Structure, AND Creativity
Stern
1. Cases by interviewer vs interviewee-led
2. Ranked by difficulty
Haas
1. Cases by interviewer vs interviewee-led
2. Ranked by difficulty
Darden
1. Cases by Firm
2. Cases ranked by difficulty across quantitative, qualitative, and overall

Now, remember, much more important than just reading a "hard" McKinsey case or having a friend case you in it, is actually how you're cased. I can make the easiest case be your worst nightmare (as can any other coach). Make sure that, if you're really trying to get pushed hard and get prepared for the toughest cases, you're looking at hiring a coach...delivery is truly key here!

Answer 2

Hi Anon!

Yes, that's a fair assessment.

I've also noticed this tendency in some case books to actually create cases that are way more complicated (especially on the maths side) than what you actually come across in interviews.

In almost all interviews IF the maths is complicated, it's complicated only on the conceptual side (i.e., how do you transform the business problem into an equation), not from a mathematical point of view.

Sharing with you a few cases that are based on actual MBB interviews that happened earlier this year (including also interviewer notes). Hope you will find them useful:

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hello,

Here are some cases I think are very good: