Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 451,000 Peers!

Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!

How does the Consulting Q&A work?

Anyone can ask a question

Anyone can write an answer

Upvotes let answers rise to the top

Bombed two cases (case math), any tips on how to improve?

case math First Round Math problem second round

Question edited on Mar 31, 2024

Hagen

Expert

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hagen

Expert

gave the best answer on Feb 22, 2023

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there, First of all, it’s great to see your level of motivation despite the two rejections! I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it: I ... (read entire answer)

8
Answers

770
Views

68
Total Upvotes

on Mar 31, 2024 on Mar 31, 2024
Last Activity

Timing for math portion of case

case math case structure Case Timing Math problem quant problems Quantitative skills Structure timing

Most recent answer on Mar 31, 2024

Cristian

Expert

#1 rated MBB & McKinsey Coach

Cristian

Expert

gave the best answer on Jan 29, 2024

#1 rated MBB & McKinsey Coach

You're not going to like the answer :) There is no set time. The interview is a conversation. What matters is not going at a certain speed through it. There is nothing that needs to be ‘finished’. You don't need to ‘cr ... (read entire answer)

5
Answers

255
Views

60
Total Upvotes

on Mar 31, 2024 on Mar 31, 2024
Last Activity

Comment on final math number for McK cases

case math

Most recent answer on Feb 29, 2024

Florian

Expert

Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Florian

Expert

gave the best answer on Aug 17, 2021

Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there, ----- UPDATE I have written a detailed insider perspective on the McKinsey case interview here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview ----- Your observations are correct. In McKinsey cases, every q ... (read entire answer)

4
Answers

739
Views

40
Total Upvotes

on Feb 29, 2024 on Feb 29, 2024
Last Activity

Looking for exciting discussions from the community?

Case Math Question

case math profitability

Most recent answer on Jan 15, 2024

Gabriele

Expert

Business Dev. @Multiversity | MBA @ Columbia | Ex-Bain & VC Investor| MSc @ MIT, BSc @ Bocconi

Gabriele

Expert

gave the best answer on Jan 14, 2024

Business Dev. @Multiversity | MBA @ Columbia | Ex-Bain & VC Investor| MSc @ MIT, BSc @ Bocconi

Sure, see below my solution to this, and happy to walk you through some tips on how to solve these kind of cases in a dedicated session together!In the case provided, we have to reason in terms of unitary revenues & ... (read entire answer)

3
Answers

271
Views

38
Total Upvotes

on Jan 15, 2024 on Jan 15, 2024
Last Activity

Math Concepts for PE cases

case math Private Equity

Most recent answer on Dec 01, 2023

Benjamin

Expert

Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Benjamin

Expert

gave the best answer on Aug 17, 2023

Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Hi, In addition to Andi's resource, I want to add a couple of points regarding PE cases, based on my experience specializing in PE work as well as interviewing candidates for BCG's PE practice area. Many PE cases are i ... (read entire answer)

6
Answers

478
Views

7
Total Upvotes

on Dec 01, 2023 on Dec 01, 2023
Last Activity

How to improve case math?

case math

Most recent answer on Oct 17, 2023

Francesco

Expert

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Francesco

Expert

gave the best answer on Oct 17, 2023

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there, 1) What is the best way to improve this area? Any materials aside from case books that you would suggest? In terms of how to approach math during the case, this is what I would recommend: Repeat the question – ... (read entire answer)

5
Answers

317
Views

43
Total Upvotes

on Oct 17, 2023 on Oct 17, 2023
Last Activity

Materials for practicing CONCEPTUAL Case Math

case math mental math

Recent activity on Oct 16, 2023

Anonymous B gave the best answer on Sep 30, 2020

sounds like you are doing the right thing. My advice is to revisit past cases with complex maths structuring to remind yourself how you have done it in the past. Then in the interview you can see if techniques you have ... (read entire answer)

6
Answers

3.3 k
Views

19
Total Upvotes

on Oct 16, 2023 on Oct 16, 2023
Last Activity

Mental math

case math mental math

Most recent answer on Oct 06, 2023

Francesco

Expert

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Francesco

Expert

gave the best answer on Oct 06, 2023

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there, Q: Any blogs / websites etc to get mental math tips? You can always write down the math, unless the interviewer explicitly asks to do the math in your head, which is quite rare. For this reason, I would recomm ... (read entire answer)

6
Answers

492
Views

56
Total Upvotes

on Oct 06, 2023 on Oct 06, 2023
Last Activity

Tough math questions for McKinsey interview practice please?

case math McKinsey

Most recent answer on Sep 30, 2023

Vlad

Expert

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Vlad

Expert

gave the best answer on Aug 11, 2018

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi, Something that helped my candidates - download ALL casebooks available online and go through the math problems in the cases. They will give a good sense of required business terminology. Then you can google what y ... (read entire answer)

3
Answers

10.8 k
Views

11
Total Upvotes

on Sep 30, 2023 on Sep 30, 2023
Last Activity

Break-even units calculation

case math

Most recent answer on Sep 01, 2023

Hagen

Expert

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hagen

Expert

gave the best answer on Feb 24, 2023

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there, I would be happy to share my thoughts on it: I feel the whole case study is odd given that if all units are in thousands, then one would have $7m of contribution margin per student, and if one were to ignore t ... (read entire answer)

7
Answers

660
Views

71
Total Upvotes

on Sep 01, 2023 on Sep 01, 2023
Last Activity

Case Math Prep

Case Interview case interview preparation case math Case Prep math

Most recent answer on Sep 01, 2023

Vlad

Expert

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Vlad

Expert

gave the best answer on Jul 27, 2018

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi, Pls find below my list 1) Case math Practice common market sizing topics (Airport passenger flow, real estate volumes, subway passenger flows, car usage, etc.). You should become comfortable with making assump ... (read entire answer)

2
Answers

3.8 k
Views

10
Total Upvotes

on Sep 01, 2023 on Sep 01, 2023
Last Activity

McKinsey Sample Case - Logic Question...

case math Math problem McKinsey Value Chain

Most recent answer on Sep 01, 2023

Anonymous gave the best answer on Apr 11, 2017

Hi there, Let me chime in here. First, try to think of this problem in terms of the expected value of the candidate drug: Expected Value = Likelihood of success * Present Value (in case of success) Second, with ... (read entire answer)

2
Answers

8.6 k
Views

16
Total Upvotes

on Sep 01, 2023 on Sep 01, 2023
Last Activity

Do you have a question for our consulting experts, too?

Mental Math ressources

case math fast math math logic

Recent activity on Sep 01, 2023

Clara

Expert

McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Clara

Expert

gave the best answer on Sep 01, 2023

McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello! Precisely for the high amount of questions (1) asked by my coachees and students and (2) present in this Q&A, I created the “Economic and Financial concepts for MBB interviews”, recently published in PrepLoun ... (read entire answer)

5
Answers

2.4 k
Views

7
Total Upvotes

on Sep 01, 2023 on Sep 01, 2023
Last Activity

CaseCoach - CaseMath

case math casecoach

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

Andi

Expert

BCG 1st & Final Round interviewer | Personalized prep with >95% success rate | 7yrs coaching | #1 for Experienced Hires

Andi

Expert

gave the best answer on Aug 01, 2023

BCG 1st & Final Round interviewer | Personalized prep with >95% success rate | 7yrs coaching | #1 for Experienced Hires

Hi there, I'm not familiar with CaseCoach Maths materials, but given they have been designed by former MBB, I'd expect the difficulty level to be somewhat calibrated. Besides that, a good indication of real case difficu ... (read entire answer)

4
Answers

435
Views

9
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Heavy math cases - how to take a good "case note"?

case math

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

gave the best answer on Aug 09, 2023

Provided info + your math SETUP = 1 organized page Actual calculations (messy) = 2nd, “random” throwaway page Always keep track of units Use a table for multi-dimensional info Keep approach/formula seperate from the act ... (read entire answer)

5
Answers

276
Views

15
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Simple qns: how to mentally calculate compounding 125% for 5 years fast

case math

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

Francesco

Expert

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Francesco

Expert

gave the best answer on Aug 18, 2023

#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there, Q: How do you mentally calculate 5*(1.25)^5 fast? I believe you want to calculate an increase of 25% per year for 5 years. The fastest approximation is probably with the rule of 72. Applying it, you get that y ... (read entire answer)

5
Answers

243
Views

11
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Casebook with the best Math Part

case math casebook Casebooks Math problem PrepPlan quantitative

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

Hassan asked on Aug 17, 2023

Medical Doctor interested in Strategy Consulting

Which consulting casebook has the best math/quantitative section in your opinion? I wanna do some focused math prepping by only doing the math part in a casebook.

4
Answers

291
Views

0
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Request for a division table for percentage conversions

case math Division fast math Math tool

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

Anonymous gave the best answer on Dec 08, 2018

Hey there, I made the following quickly on Excel. However, I wouldn't advise you to try memorise the whole thing, as it's a) a lot to try remember and b) doesn't have that much value. Rather, memorise the first column ... (read entire answer)

3
Answers

5.8 k
Views

5
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Case math difficulty level

case math MBB

Most recent answer on Aug 31, 2023

Hagen

Expert

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hagen

Expert

gave the best answer on Mar 31, 2023

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there, I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it: I would highly advise you to reach out to an experienced coach who can provide you wit ... (read entire answer)

10
Answers

1.2 k
Views

117
Total Upvotes

on Aug 31, 2023 on Aug 31, 2023
Last Activity

Best Casebook to Practice Math Structuring

case math

Question edited on Jul 27, 2023

gave the best answer on Jan 31, 2021

Hi there, Most casebooks have a section on math...but I wouldn't rely on this for your prep. 100% Recommend Rocket Blocks. https://www.rocketblocks.me/ Online "Drills": https://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/fast-math- ... (read entire answer)

8
Answers

2.7 k
Views

98
Total Upvotes

on Jul 27, 2023 on Jul 27, 2023
Last Activity

1 - 20 of 114 results

Consulting Q&A – Ask Questions about Your Career

In this overview, you will find all the questions asked so far by the PrepLounge community. Anyone can ask questions and write answers. Our coaches are also happy to share their expertise. If you like an answer, give it an upvote so that it rises to the top. Here you can also find our guidelines and FAQs for the Consulting Q&A.