Resources for BCG-style charts

Hi there,

Chart/Exhibit reading is not a must in BCG 1st round interviews, nor a must in any round of interviews. When I interviewed with BCG years back, none of my interviews had any chart reading.

That said, you should be prepared anyway, in case if there is such requirement. One way to practice this would be to read into the BCG articles published online. Many of the articles/reports has charts. Cover up the title/key take away, and see if you can read the chart and get the similar insights as in the article.

Best,

Emily

Hello!

I had the same test and it´s very similar to GMAT. I would strongly recomment you practice it, since normally it´s very different from the things you have seen before -particularly the data sufficency part-.

There are free exams in the internet that you can use for practice (the one of LBS MBA page, Verits prep, as well as some free trials for courses such as the one of The Economist (https://gmat.economist.com/)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

There are no BCG-style charts. The charts are similar across all consulting companies.

Several tips:

1. Take a minute to look at the chart / table. It's important ot gather the thoughts!
2. Read the graph title
3. Look at the graph type and define the type (pie chart, line chart, etc)
4. Look at the legend (ask for clarifying questions if necessary)
5. Identify whats going on on the graph. Look for: Trends, % structures,
6. Look for unusual things (consultants love to integrate these traps in charts) - correlations, outliers, etc
7. Make 3-4 conclusions from the graph. Think of potential hypothesis on what could be the root cause / what are the consequences
8. Prioritize the most important for your current analysis and move forward with the case

Sources to learn from (prioritized):

1. "Say it with Charts" by Gene Zalazny
2. "Pyramid Principle" by Barbara Minto
3. Learn basic statistics (Any GMAT or MBA prep guides)
4. Check all available MBB presentations and publications. Practice to derive conclusions and check yourself with the actual ones from the article / presentation
5. GMAT IR part (Official guide and Manhattan prep)
6. "Consulting Bible" and "Vault guide for consulting" - check the chapters on cases with graphs in these books

Good luck!

Hi,

The following MBA casebooks provide cases, broken down by firm type (I.e. McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.)

• Ross
• Columbia
• Darden
• LBS

Dear A,

I agree with Vlad

Best,
André

(edited)