Hello!

This is about the McKinsey London, UK office.

McKinsey London says they look for a minimum of AAB at A Levels (end of High school official exams) and a 2:1 grade for your university degree.

I’m rather confused as I got BCC for my A Levels (yes they’re awful but I had major extenuating circumstances) and am currently completing a bachelors degree in a STEM subject at a great university in the UK (one of the top 10s but not a target school).

I applied for the McKinsey summer internship as a business analyst a few months back. I was invited to do the imbellus test which I assumed everyone received. I didn’t know there were A Level minimums although it was common sense to assume they’re looking for the best of the best so I wasn’t surprised to see that there was a minimum for A Levels.

However, after searching online and on this website, people are saying that only some people are invited to do the imbellus test and people are congratulating for making it past the CV/cover letter screening. I should have been rejected straight away then and not received the invite considering my grades? Is this not the case then? I mean I did get rejected straight after the imbellus test but I assumed everyone was invited to do the test.

Does everyone applying to the London form get the test then? The reason I ask as I was going to apply for their graduate position next year but seeing the AAB, I thought it would lead to an automatic rejection.

Extra info: My CV is great and my cover letter was nothing extraordinary. Just a normal cover letter. My CV had drastically changed since applying a few months back (summer internship at a big name, awards, consulting experience, etc, which I didn’t have on my CV before).

My CV also didn’t include my grades at all. I know in the application it did ask me so I put them in but I’m not sure if they see the application after and that’s why they rejected me? Or whether they see the application and CV/cover letter before the test.

I was going to email or ask some of my uni alumni who work there whether the A Levels are a requirement or they’re desirable grades but not essential but I felt that a question like that would annoy them (idk it’s nerve wracking making a potentially bad impression).

I was wondering if this is the same with BCG as I received an online assessment after applying too?

There was a document leak a few years back that showed the pre screening of MBBs and they pretty much showed unless you go to a target like Oxford or Cambridge, you need a 1st and a minimum of AAB to pass the initial screening (idk what the initial screening is). 

Would be super helpful if all my questions could be answered so I’m no longer confused XD

I know Bain & Company don’t worry about A Levels and they look at everything holistically so will see my circumstances, etc (I know this as I have two friends that work there that I made through my uni alumni/LinkedIn and they asked HR for me).