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Number of cases needed

Case case interview preparation Case Prep
Recent activity on Jul 10, 2018
3 Answers
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Anonymous D asked on Jul 04, 2018

Hi,

How many number of cases that you think you have aced the case interview? I know a lot of people have different answers to this and I just want to know about the range.

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Sidi
Expert
replied on Jul 04, 2018
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers

What I have seen again and again is the following:

It is much more important to focus on quality, rather than quantity! If you fail to build the right routines and habits, the effect of more mock case will be actually detrimental at some point. So finding an outstanding partner or booking an expert should come very early in your process! This will allow you to double down on your problem areas from the start!

Most people that I helped getting into MBB reached a solid "offer-ready" level by the time they had solved about 30 full ~40 minutes cases with an experienced case partner (and also doing revisions after getting good feedback on every case).

Cheers, Sidi

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Anonymous replied on Jul 10, 2018
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Vlad
Expert
replied on Jul 04, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

It's more about quality rather than quantity:

  1. Don't count the cases you've done yourself
  2. Don't count the cases you've done from the casebooks
  3. Count the cases you've done with experienced candidates (50+ cases solved / passed the first round) who can give you a real case and a good feedback.

In that case, you need 40-50 cases depending on the role, office, etc (e.g. MBAs in top schools need just a bit of practice compared to regular candidates. Both because of their knowledge and because the on-campus hiring is not that tough)

If you take a good coach, you can make it in 20-35 cases. The coach will give you the right knowledge. Partners will help you integrate the skill. At the end of the day, it's just a skill that can be trained.

Why do you even need partners and coaches? When you are stressed during the case interview and out of energy having the 3rd case in a row, 90% of your questions and reactions should be fully automatic. Otherwise, it's extremely hard to solve the case, trying in find out what you've memorized from v.Cheng book.

Best!

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Sidi gave the best answer

Sidi

McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers
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