Best way to prepare for BCG First Round

Hi there,

The most important thing here is narrowing down the noise. There is a lot of content flying around, and you need to work hard to focus on what's important (much like when solving a case).

I recommend the following:

1) An initial planning session with a coach: 1 hour with a coach now will have a productivity multiplier effect on all your efforts moving forward. They will figure out what materials are best for you, guide you towards the best ways to learn, and come up with a preparation plan with you.

2) Leverage free resources first: PrepLounge Q&A and case library, Poets and Quants, SpencerTom, Google, etc.). Leverage these options, read-up, and over time you'll get a feel for what you really need and where you really need to invest your hard-earned $

3) Case with other PrepLoungers: Casing with other PrepLoungers is free. Not only do you get to practice casing, but you get direct feedback. Additionally, you learn a lot just from casing others. Finally, from other PrepLoungers you'll learn which materials/coaches are helpful.

In summary, while free options don't beat paid options, you can use them for a while to get a feel for what works for you. Have an initial coaching session to get you on the right track, then go the paid route when it's clear either 1) You are stuck or 2) It's clear the paid route will improve your productivity/progress

First off, congrats on landing an interview! This in itself is already an accomplishment-- so please take a moment to feel proud of yourself and the effort you have put in :)

Two months is a good amount of time, so great that you are proactively planning for it. Everyone has their own version of "what works", but here is my take on how I would best utilize time/resources given the situation:

1. Familiarize yourself in "what is the case interview"-- this is the basics of how the interview works, learning what types of cases are conducted (eg profitability, market sizing), case frameworks. Most importantly, understand here that interviewers are trying to test HOW you think... and the rest of the prep you'll do is around training yourself to showcase this (~1 week)
2. Build your own toolkit-- practice casing yourself to understand how you lead the interview. This looks like tailoring frameworks for your memorization, self-assessing your biggest areas for development (eg. mental math, closing summary, etc etc) and working on them (~1 week)
3. Practice with others-- shortly following the above two steps... I cannot stress enough the importance of doing live cases AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. While the case may flow smoothly as you quiz yourself, the dynamic completely changes with another person. My suggestion is to do cases until the point where you are no longer getting "stuck" in the interview and feel comfortable. Then take a couple of sessions to do a case and receive feedback from an experienced interviewer-- this will be illuminating on which areas to close in on. Typically here, I like to identify for you the skills that matter the most in the interview which need improvement AND the skills that take the longest to fix (eg. communication styles, word crutches, maths) (~2 weeks)
4. Incorporate the feedback into a mix of sessions-- focus as much as you can on improving those areas (often helps to acknowledge before the session what you want to work on, with your case partner). After a few sessions, you may want to revisit an experiened interviewer, just to touch base on the improvement and see if you are indeed nailing it. (~3.5 weeks)
5. Incorporate a break of a few days. Case prep can get very intense, frustrating, and seem endless. It is natural. Taking a few days to step away and fully recharge can make a huge difference, and reduce the amount of stress. Case interviewing should be fun!! It is so important to enjoy the time preparing, as this positive demeanor also reflects in the interview. (At some point within 3 and 4)

Of course, everyone's journey (and time/resources!) will be unique... I'm happy to discuss your personal specifics and any other consulting prep questions you may have, feel free to just reach out!

Hope this helps,

S

Hey!

2 months should be sufficient for the prep - although not exactly a comfortable timeline.

We can do an exploratory session if you'd like. I can give you overarching coaching for the case interviews and the overall process while also helping you out with a plan.

Hope this helps!

Based on what you've shared, I think the next step for you is to find a case partner and start practicing in a real-life setting!

Hey, you still have 2 months to prepare (which is plenty!) and your background sounds great. If you're interested, PM me and I can help you develop a plan :)