2021 ADC/APD Summer Programs/Full-Time Applications Thread
Applications are starting up so figured I'd set up a thread similar to last year so people could ask questions or share updates as they prepare for recruiting season. Giving back to the community I heavily lurked last year for sure!
Below are links with deadlines for firms with applications updated for 2021.
Summer Programs:
- McKinsey Insight (March 28, 2021)
- Bridge to BCG (March 30, 2021)
- Bain ADvantage (March 21, 2021)
- Connect to Clearview (April 12, 2021)
- Link to LEK
- Path to Putnam
- Clarion PROPEL
- Transition to Trinity
- Charles River Associates PhD Symposium
Other firms that hire PhDs include:
- EY-Parthenon
- Health Advances
- Navigant
- ZS
- IQVIA
- CBPartners
- Cello Health Bioconsulting
- Comment if I'm missing some
Link to Past Threads:
KdotFlow, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
More suggestions...
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
Hi ADCs! I was in your spot last year and now I'm starting at an MBB firm. Happy answer questions here and/or to share resources and example application docs via DM. Coaching interviewees as an assigned buddy for my firm has shown me how valuable it can be to give back. Welcome and good luck!
That's awesome! Did you get into one of the summer programs before the FT position? If so, did it help your application?
Great question! I applied for all three summer programs by MBBs, but I did not get into Bain's or BCG's. For both, I was put on a "stay in touch" type of list. In my region, McKinsey had a one-day info session and I did get into that.
As for whether it helped my application, it could help you get on folks' radars. But those summer programs are very limited, so it's okay if you aren't one of the handful of people who actually gets into Bridge to BCG or the others. Many more people I know were invited to the full-time interview than to the summer program.
Keep in mind this was all during Covid, and the firms changed a lot of their recruitment that year. Who knows what will happen this time!
Hi! Did you have any contacts/networking before applying to the programs?
Hi! I did speak to people at some of the companies, but there was no referral system for them so I don't know if it made an impact for the summer programs : ) I did more networking for the full time applications though.
Hi ADCs, like the first commenter WSO served me well last year and its time to pay it forward. Received offers for LS and generalist firms during covid, currently a PhD in a LS firm. Happy to share more in PMs about this path. Best of luck everyone!
Anyone heard back from Bain ADvantage since the application submission? I got an invite to play the McKinsey Imbellus game yesterday.
Heard some people received invitations to case-prep workshops but that might be office-specific
Do you know which offices offered these case interview workshops?
.
I saw in past years’ threads that there was a way to see the predicted career percentages after taking the BCG pymetrics test.
Has anyone been able to see that this time?
I wasn't able to - just saw the description of my traits based on the 9 categories and my top 3 most unique.
they got rid of that last summer for some reason
Not looking forward to taking the Imbellus test this weekend.
The last part got me. It was pretty complicated to figure out.
Just glad it’s over. Least favorite part of any interview.
Anyone applying to other workshops that have deadlines soon?
I'll apply to Clarion, Clearview and LEK but curious if I missed some.
Those are the ones I am aware of.
Charles River Associates just posted theirs:
https://boards.greenhouse.io/craevents/jobs/3006540
@kdotflow glad to see the tradition of thread continuing.
@all best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions
Hi, I was wondering if an incomplete application to the summer program would affect FT applications? I applied to Bridge2BCG but had technical issues with the one-way video interviews and wasn't able to complete before deadline :( Would it be more negative than a rejection? Is there anything I can do to make up for it? Thanks in advance!
Email them!! Same to me. I disconnected. They let me extend it to tomorrow.
Thanks a lot! Will do!
Hope you get the extension! To answer your first question, your Bridge application is completely separate from the FT app so will thus have no effect. I know plenty of people who did not apply to Bridge or got rejected and received a FT interview later in the summer.
Thank you! I was able to get an extension. It was encouraging to know that the FT app is completed seperately :)
Is anyone applying to Link to L.E.K? Didn’t know they had a hirevue.
It was a bit of a surprise for me, too! But the 10 minutes of brain games felt like nothing in comparison to Pymetrics and Imbellus, haha.
Am I not qualified to apply as an ADC if I'm a PhD candidate set to graduate in April/May 2022? This year will be my final summer before graduation.
I applied to McKinsey Insight and Bridge to BCG, but BCG emailed me saying my application will not be considered because of my anticipated graduation date. McKisney hasn't said anything and I was able to take my Imbellus test, so I'm a bit confused.
EDIT: Thanks everyone. It turns out that I am an ape and put down the wrong year for graduation in my application. Luckily, they're still giving me the one-way interview.
I don't see a problem with your anticipated graduation date. My colleagues and I who applied last year (i.e., in 2020) have graduation dates from Jan 2021 to August 2021. The BCG recruiters I spoke to have typically been very flexible about when you start.
I would still try for the full time applications, though it might help to find out if BCG thought that is too early or too late; they are catching up due to slow/minimal hiring last year, so they could be prioritizing different people at this point. Good luck!
Very strange, I also know people with similar graduation dates who applied last year and did qualify. I also know people graduating in 2022 and applying for Bridge this year. Is there a possibility of a mistake in your application/dates? Based on their eligibility description you should be the following:
- US or Canadian school or hospital
- looking to start full-time with BCG in late 2021 or in 2022
So my assumption would be that either there is a mistake and they think you graduate in April/May 2021, not 2022, or if there is a mistake with the indicated start date (e.g. 2023 or before July 2021).
I think you should ask HR if you meet the other criteria posted above. I don't think the May 2022 date disqualifies you as I put down the same.
Also applied to bridge, advantage, and insight. I wonder when we'll hear back! Did Imbellus (for Mckinsey), one way interview+pymetrics (BCG), and 2h case workshop for Bain. Seems to be mid April based on last year's posts.
Anyone know if Bain Toronto sent invites for the 2h case workshop? I've read that SF, NY, ATL have
Texas has as well!
Just got the email to participate in the McKinsey Insight. It may be office specific. My top office choice was Texas.
Congrats! Yeah, I wonder if they do it by office. I chose LA, so fingers crossed that they’re still rolling out.
Congrats! I've heard that the Boston office also sent the invites
Just got an invitation to McKinsey Insight (May 7th)!
Not really sure though if they assign you based on your office preference or the region you are from. The website says " You will be aligned to a date based off of your school and region."
What did you put down as your top choice?
My top office preference was San Francisco but my Insight invitation is from the Chicago office recruiter. I am currently in the Midwest, so that would make sense if they assign you based on current location/school. I also remember during one of the McKinsey Info session they said assignments for Insight would be based on your current location. At least in my case that seems to be true.
Actually now that I've read my invite email more carefully, I got the Insight invite from a San Francisco recruiter. I'm currently based in the South, and my undergrad school was in the midwest, with my preference being Texas. As there are two dates for the Insight program, maybe they try to accommodate people based on their locations, but sometimes it's not always the case?
Heard back from Link to LEK last night to schedule a 1st round interview - super quick turnaround from the April 6th deadline! Has anyone else heard back?
Also heard back from LEK last night to schedule the interview. Good luck!
Same! We can do it!! Good luck to everyone!
Congrats, I got an interview as well! I was really surprised that it just took them a couple days.
Did McK release insight invite for both dates or just the 05/07?
Mine is 5/14
Does anyone know how probable it is to get a job offer out of one of summer programs, especially in a virtual context? Thanks!
For one of the Insights 2020, there were about 25 people, and 6 are joining McK now. I know of other 4 that passed R1 but not R2 and were encouraged to reapply this season, 2 people joining BCG, 1 joining Bain, and 3 joining LS firms, some people were just clearly there to learn about what is this thing called consulting, e.g. 1 person looked super bored and disinterested during the event, not even trying to pretend to care. I don't know everyone since it was virtual, so there may be more people with offers, but I would say these are pretty good odds overall. Also Bain and BCG were not really hiring as much last season and they were waiting to see what COVID times will bring, so I would imagine this year will be the best year for applying.
Congrats to those who get into Insight! I got rejected which was sort of expected, as I did not do well in the Imbellus game :( The email also says that applying for FT will not require to retake the Imbellus game. Anyone knows if it means the old Imbellus results will be taken into consideration for FT application? TIA!
Did the rejection email mention them emailing you in future about a "Keep in Touch program"?
Yes, the rej email mentioned this program but I haven't received the actual invitation
b
I think that's what they do. Same with BCG Pymetrics - we don't need to give it again when applying for full time.
I’ve been wondering this, since if I didn’t do well on the imbellus and that was the reason for not getting invited, maybe it would be worth retaking it? Still confused about how they evaluate it.
Does anyone know if everyone that took the Imbellus test for McK Insight but didn't get through can skip the game while applying for FT positions?
Rejected from Insight. Email mentioned them sending an invitation for a "Keep in Touch program". Is this a standard rejection email?
I got a rejection as well -- email mentioned the "Keep in Touch Program". It did mention that the school recruiter will get in touch, which makes me think it might be a thing they do for target schools?
Did anyone hear from Bain after the case interview workshop?
Haven't heard anything after the case workshop (which was three days ago). I remember during one of the Bain events they mentioned they would send out invites for ADvantage interviews the week of April 12 or 19.
Great, thank you!
Also heard back from Bain Texas on interview offers for end of April!
Just got an interview invitation. Attended a case interview workshop early last week.
DC office
Which office?
Just got an ADvantage interview invite from the SF office (case workshop was last Wednesday). Sounds like interviews will be the last week of April.
Do you happen to know if invited for ADvantage come in waves, or is there only a single set of invites for ADvantage and similar programs?
For the Link to LEK interview, does anyone know whether it's a general case problem or life sciences case problem specifically? Also does anyone have experience with the format of the interview? For FT first round interview, there are 2 interviews that are 30 min each, so I was wondering whether the Link to LEK interview is structurally different.
I think it is probably LS specific, as Link to LEK is a program for MD/PhDs who want to do the LSS position (which is just gonna be LS projects). For me it looks like it's gonna be one 45 min interview, so maybe a few fit questions at the beginning and then a case.
Does anyone know what time the Connect to ClearView application closed? I was running late and tried to submit tonight, but it said the job posting is no longer available...
Same happened to me this afternoon. There was no wording about it closing at any certain time earlier in the day. I emailed them about it. Let’s see what they say.
You got their email with the new link right?
I emailed them through their website contact page and haven't gotten a response yet. Could you DM me for the specifics (email address for the recruiting team or the application link). Thanks!
Just received an invite for a first round phone interview (next week) for C2C- fit plus case. I sent my application about 3 weeks ago, but wasn’t expecting to hear back any time soon given deadline. Anyone else?
Just got an invite for a C2C phone interview next week as well.
Congrats!!
Hi! Thanks for all of the helpful content. I applied to Insight (rejected), Bridge to BCG (pymetrics and 1-way, waiting to hear from them), and ClearView (just in time, thanks to the comments above!). 🤞
I'm going to apply to CRA LS Symposium (due 4/25), but I'm not sure what they're looking for regarding the writing sample. Does anyone have tips?
I heard from people who participated previously that if you have a publication, then you just attach the pdf file. If you don't have a publication yet, then just submit like an abstract.
How important would you guys say that networking is in getting that full-time interview offer? I'm pretty bad when it comes to reaching out to people (and I don't know very many consultants to begin with.)
It seems networking your way to a referral can only help your case, but becomes increasingly important if you're coming from a 'non-target' institution where you wouldn't have the benefit of a recruiting pipeline. That being said, I believe you'd still have to jump through the requisite pre-interview hoops (e.g. Pymetrics/Imbellus).
So do some people have to go through the Imbellus game again even if they already took the test for Insight?
For those rejected from Insight, are you going to wait till June (which is approximately when the deadline is) to apply for full-time positions? Any advice on how you plan on building your profile/pitch to improve your chances of securing that full-time interview would be appreciated! Thank you!
I was rejected from Insight and will probably wait until June to apply for the full-time positions. I plan to build more experience in the extracurriculars that I'm currently involved in so the numbers on my resume look better -- if you can look for ways to gain additional experience between now and June, that might be a good idea. I also plan to brainstorm more ways to include impact on my resume. Not sure whether this will work, but it's what I plan to do!
Sounds good! Really appreciate your input -- will try to work on my profile too!
Also, guys, don't forget that all summer programs are more competitive (especially by resume with no interviews) than applications for FT positions. The candidates with a really impressive resume attend 3-4 summer programs, but they will only select one job at the end. I know plenty of people who got job offers in previous years without attending the summer workshops (because they didn't apply for those or because they weren't selected). There was certainly a big number of people who applied for the summer workshops but weren't selected to attend them, and still got invited to interview for FT for the same firms.
As far as deadlines go, I sat in on an undergrad info session for McKinsey and the recruiter laid out the following timeline:
July 19th: Deadline #1 for all roles
Sept 16th: Deadline #2 for all roles
Aug-Sept: Interviews for group 1
Early-Mid Oct: Interviews for group 2
Anyone heard (rejections/invites) from BCG, ClearView, LEK and Clarion? Still waiting...
It sounds like a few people heard from LEK last week. ClearView started sending out invites but feels like they go through them based on when people submitted their application. They also have two events (June and July), so there is still time. Haven't heard anything about BCG and Clarion yet. They should reach out to people soon though. On the BCG website it says they will reach out by mid-April.
Just got first round invite from ClearView!
Has anyone heard from Bridge to BCG yet after the one-way interview? They said to expect a response in mid-April and we're just about at that time now. And is anyone else an MS2 applying?
Haven't heard anything yet from B2B
Me neither I don't think they've sent their invites/rejections yet
Just heard from BCG on the invitation to B2B from May 10-13th.
Just received a rejection for Bridge to BCG, but was offered a first round interview for a FT position.
Congrats on being granted an interview for full time! That's the end goal with most of these summer workshops I guess. What were your office choices?
Thanks! I requested SF/NY/LA
Did you apply to a FT position at the same time using a separate application?
Nope, I only applied to B2B. In the rejection email they offered an interview for a FT position, and for that I'll have to submit a new FT application (but can reuse my B2B materials).
Congrats! I got the same interview invite as well!
i suppose i should officially stop lurking and join in here. admitted to Bridge this afternoon! the invite specifically mentioned being invited to first rounds later in the summer and that this would be scheduled in a few weeks.
also admitted to McKinsey's program a couple weeks ago and now starting to panic bc i don't know how to case :'(
Congrats! Which office for bcg?
i requested DC/Philly
Just got an invitation for bridge!
Congrats! What were your office choices?
Thank you! It’s my top choice workshop. I put down only the LA office.
Invited to Bridge!
Congrats! What were your office choices?
Thank you! I put down DC, Boston, and NY.
Rejected to bridge (only one it seems lol) but asked to participate in the summer engagement series, keep in touch and apply again for summer.
If it makes you feel better, I got rejected and was not asked to keep in touch and apply later haha
Same, rejected B2B without any "keep in touch and apply," sad! But accepted to Insights. This whole process is feeling like such a black box.
Same here. 2 for 2 with no "keep in touch". Maybe I should get some coaching...
*edit: 3 for 3, same thing for ClearView. Definitely need to work on things before FT applications.
Invited to Bridge, rejected from Insight
Same. I wonder how big the pools are in comparison.
Same. Wondering how different in their standards MBB are...
the same, what does it really mean?
I feel like there were probably 4 tiers: accepted, invited to FT interview, summer engagement series only (you and me it seems), and rejected without other mentions.
For those who got rejected from B2B/insight/Advantage and invited to summer events/ first round interview, how much consulting experience do you have and how involved are you with your campus’ PhD consulting club?
I was rejected from B2B and offered a FT interview with zero consulting experience. I joined the campus consulting club a few weeks ago for their prep materials but didn't include that on my resume.
Invited to bridge summer engagement series thing. 0 consulting experience, no consulting club.
Got rejected for Insight and C2C, accepted to Bridge.
No consulting experience. Only joined the consulting group at my college (they don’t have a PhD one) 2 weeks ago but have not participated yet. Had to rush to prepare since getting contacted to apply for bridge. Has been a whirlwind.
I was offered first-round, rejected from B2B, and have 0 consulting experience and 0 affiliation with clubs.
Just rejected from Connect to ClearView as well
Same. Kind of expected. Didn’t feel very enthusiastic while doing the application.
Haha, I had written it off when the application closed prematurely but forced myself to give it a shot when they reopened it.
Is anyone else an MS2 here and know how recruiting for us will look? For the Bridge program at least, it says interviews for full-time are this summer, but we still have a while before graduating. And can we use this as a pipeline into the MD Fellows program?
In case it helps anyone get past that first screening, I wanted to share the resources I used to put my resume together.
For format and structure, I replicated the example from the BCG ADC Resume Writing Workshop.
After a first pass, I revised each bulletpoint to lead with the action verbs from this list.
I also looked through the materials in the free resume/cover letter course on casecoach. I don't think there was much added-value there though.
Next, I had a non-PhD friend take a look at it to be sure it made sense to someone without a technical background.
Finally, I asked a consultant friend for some feedback and incorporated some more changes.
Good luck everyone!
Just got rejected from B2B but got the summer engagement series invite. Also got an interview with ClearView.
Has anyone else not heard back for Bridge to BCG yet? Seems like a lot of people heard back today but I've yet to get a rejection or acceptance.
I was rejected from bridge but got a FT interview. I feel like getting an invitation to bridge is the preferred route? Any one have insight on this?
I'm in the same boat, and would absolutely say attending bridge would have been preferable. Presumably, every bridge attendee gets a FT interview as well, but we miss out on the culture/fit test.
Agreed, with the added benefit of networking and case experience in a team setting. They use the words "fast tracked" in the letter but I still feel like I'm missing out a bit. I'm disappointed but also encouraged in some weird way. In my reading around I thought I saw there is a ~10% "acceptance" rate from bridge? If everyone at bridge gets an interview would that mean straight out hires?
Applied to MBB summer programs. Rejected outright from Bain ADvantage. Got "Keep in Touch" reject from McKinsey Insight, and accepted to Bridge to BCG.
For those that applied to McK insight, did you include undergraduate experiences at all? I notice their website mentions:
“Include all teamwork and/or leadership experiences. We encourage you to add all of these experiences to your CV or resume. You are welcome to include examples from your undergraduate experience as well.”
wondering if it’s worth making my resume over 1 page for undergrad items.
Did you get the "Keep in Touch" invite? If you did, I think it's better to stick with what you have (apart from any internship/additional experience you will have by deadline time)
I actually didn't apply for Insight since I already graduated - looking to apply for FT roles coming up!
I included undergrad items but kept it to a single page. McK has said they're happy to review longer CVs, but I figured if someone was only going to spend a few seconds reviewing it, it would be best to keep it concentrated to just the highlights. I also wanted to work on a single document for all the applications, rather than a one page resume and a CV.
Coincidentally, this came out today:
For anyone who applied to Clarion PROPEL, looks like invites for phone interviews were sent out this morning. It sounds like they just do a fit interview, no case component.
I also received the invite for a phone interview (fit as well) this morning.
Me too!
Have the Clarion PROPEL rejections come out too?
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