2015 MBB Advanced Degree Candidates Interview Roster

Hi all,

As the deadlines are quickly approaching or have recently passed (for ADVANCED DEGREE CANDIDATES), I thought I'd start a roster of interview invites/schedule and/or letter of rejection. For clarity, please reply when you have an invite/rejection and please try to include the following info:

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc):
Target/non-target:
Firm applied:
Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline:
Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?):

To start off:

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): southeast
Target/non-target: semi target
Firm applied: McK
Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: N/A since Insight app led to 1st round
Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): 1st round(PST), Atlanta, Sep 15-17. email mentioned 2nd round planned for Sep 29-30.

Currently waiting on BCG and applying to Bain..

Good luck to all of us!

 

Thanks for the heads up. From what I remember of reading up old posts from last year, West Coast tends to be a little slower than Midwest/East Coast, correct? (So hopefully those in those regions will hear a little earlier.)

 

Hm.. I just checked and BCG has the same deadline for ADCs all across the country (Jul 26th) on the west and east and south. Don't know if last year had the same national deadline vs regional. From the mechanics of how resumes are distributed and reviewed, it seems like 2-3 weeks from deadline sounds like the average amount of time people should wait before hearing back..

On the other hand, from Bain's AD webinar, they said the apps are due Aug 7th, and they plan on sending out 1st notification by the end of the month, and 1st round in early Sept and 2nd/final round is planned for late Sept.

Now that I see how BBs are planning, it makes sense why McKinsey wanted to re-schedule their 1st round interviews to an earlier date for southeast (but after a survey they stuck to the old plan).

In any case, let's keep the discussion and formal posts on notification flowing!

Best of luck everyone!

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): West Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: McKinsey Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): First round is in the Bay Area Aug. 12-14th, second round is Aug. 26-28th.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Northeast Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: McKinsey Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Practice PST: Aug. 6; IWIA: Sept. 22-24; second round: Oct. 6-8

 

southeast region. I received an email on Monday to select a time slot this week to chat with one consultant for 10min. They didn't say it is a pre-screening but I suspect it is.

3 questions were asked: 1. Are you flexible to go to northeast? 2. Why consulting 3. Tell me a time you solve team conflict

I don't know how it would go further.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): mid-atlantic Target/non-target: non-target Firm applied: McKinsey Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: approx. 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Invited to the DC IWIA on 8/12. Interviews begin 9/1

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Northeast Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: BCG (not a Bridge to BCG participant) Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: ~2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): 9/17 first-round interview

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): West Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: BCG Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: ~2.5 weeks since application was submitted, 2 weeks since phone call Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Invited to first round of interviews, on 9/18

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Southeast Target/non-target: semi Target Firm applied: BCG Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 3 weeks and I didn't get any 10 min chat thing others here have gone through though, so it was quite surprising!! Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Invited to first round of interviews, on 9/11 in Atlanta

Let's keep these posts coming guys and good luck!!!

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): West Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: BCG Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2.5 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): 1st round interview, LA, 9/11

 

Hi enhd, We had the same first round interview date, although not in the same office. I am wondering if you have heard back result of the first round interview?

 

By first round, do you mean the part containing the problem solving test? I heard back the next day. For the second cpround, the interview was on a Friday and I heard back in the next Wed evening, For the third round, the interview was on a Friday and I heard back around 6:30 pm that evening.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): West Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: McKinsey Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: N/A (I was an Insight participant so was automatically invited). Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): PST plus 2x group cases on 8/18 in Los Angeles

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Midwest Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: McKinsey Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): IWIA: Aug 26-29; second round: Sept 9-11

 

Region: International (Asia) Target/Non-Target: Target Firm/s Applied To: McKinsey, BCG Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: ~2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): McKinsey IWIA: October 9; BCG 1st Round: October 10

 

Region: West Target/non-target: Target (STEM PhD) Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG, Bain Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: McKinsey: applied on deadline, invited to IWIA/PST 2 weeks later. Didn't pass to next round. BCG: applied on deadline, received canned rejection email ~2.5 weeks later. Bain: applied on deadline, received 1st round interview invitation ~2 weeks later Additional info: McKinsey IWIA/PST (I'm not sure if this is the "1st round") was scheduled for 8-10 days after I received the invite (they gave candidates a time window to choose from). The next round is Aug 26-28 (for those that passed) Bain: Invited to on-site case interview workshop on August 27, one week after receiving invitation to 1st round interview. 1st round interview will take place Sept 10-14.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Northeast Target/non-target: Target Firm applied: Bain Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Received a rejection notice just now.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Southeast Target/non-target: semi Target Firm applied: Bain Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2 weeks Additional info (invite or no? when are they scheduling the interviews?): Received a rejection notice(sent from SF: I suppose they handled all Bain AD recruiting this year) this morning.

 

"Received a rejection notice(sent from SF: I suppose they handled all Bain AD recruiting this year) " That is weird, given that you are applying to Southeast offices. I applied to West and East offices (I live in West). Yet, I received an interview invitation from someone in the Atlanta office who says she is "leading Bain’s North American Advanced Degree recruiting efforts this season. "

 

Hi buttons, FWIW, my rejection was also issued from an email address indicating a San Francisco office. I wasn't surprised because the rejection came before I'd expected to be considered for a specific location. (At some firms, the first interview is held at the nearest office to the candidate's current location. Only afterward does the candidate interview at the office where they hope to work -- presumably to save money on travel.)

 

Region: West Target/non Target: Target (current MD student) Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG, Bain TIme: 2 weeks for all Rejected by all three. This was a bit surprising considered I made it to second round during the McKinsey APD summer internship recruitment last January and was rejected by Bain despite being invited to the Advance into Consulting program (could not attend as I had a board exam that Friday)

 
fliestoomuch310:

Region: West
Target/non Target: Target (current MD student)
Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG, Bain
TIme: 2 weeks for all
Rejected by all three. This was a bit surprising considered I made it to second round during the McKinsey APD summer internship recruitment last January and was rejected by Bain despite being invited to the Advance into Consulting program (could not attend as I had a board exam that Friday)

Wow, that's tough. Did you use the same base application material for both summer/AIC and FT apps? If not, you should check your FT materials to make sure there's no glaring, killer mistake on them.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Midwest

Target/non-target: Target

Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG and Bain.

Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline/additional info:

-McKinsey: Applied to Insight; was denied, but received a FT invite two weeks later. IWIA/PST was held August 21st; those who passed were notified August 24th. Second round will be held September 9th-11th in Chicago.

-BCG: Applied to FT position, received a rejection 2.5 weeks later.

-Bain: Applied to FT, received a rejection exactly 2 weeks following deadline.

 

Region (mid-atlantic? southeast? west? etc): Midwest

Target/non-target: Target

Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG and Bain.

Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline/additional info:

-McKinsey: Applied to FT position one week before deadlines, received invitation exactly one week later.

-BCG: Applied to Bridge to BCG program, was accepted and attended. Automatically received invitation to first round interviews.

-Bain: Applied to AIC program, was accepted and attended. Received invitation to interview for FT position two days after AIC event (before the deadlines or even submitting any application for FT positions)

 

Region: West

Target/non Target: Semi-Target

Firm applied: McKinsey, BCG, Bain

Time till notification received since resume submission or deadline: 2.5 weeks (roughly)

McKinsey: Rejected

BCG: Received 1st round interview scheduled for mid-September .

Bain: Received 1st round for early September. Case interview workshop scheduled for late August

 

Hey guys, I hope everyone is enjoying the recruiting process thus far with great luck. I thought I'd share my recent 1st round interview experience at BCG to revive this thread and to open up discussion on interview experience if others feel up to it/curious :)

I had an extremely positive experience interviewing, though I'm not entirely sure how well I actually did. 1: BCG was extremely well organized for running these interviews with a nice envelop containing reimbursement form, info on interviewers, 2nd round schedule throughout NA, when we expect to hear back by (Sep 16 at the latest as many 2nd rounds are on Sep 17/18) etc. 2: consultants/interviewers/staffers were all extremely friendly and approachable and interesting to talk to; I'd advise people to make small conversations with other applicants and consultants who come by to chat with applicants, instead of poring over the materials in the envelop. I could see some applicants visibly nervous/quiet; try to make yourself comfortable and relax, this is not the end of the world! Interviewers would come by and pick us up one by one.

The interview: My 2 interviewers had somewhat non-traditional background with the first interviewer being an ex marine with master's in public policy and the second interviewer (who's a principal; thought you interview with them in final rounds) who studied physics and econ as undergrad with an MBA from HBS (but definitely didn't come off as a typical MBA if you know what I mean...) They were both extremely friendly, laidback and approachable, and would share great stories before/after case; I would definitely enjoy working with them. The 2nd interviewer started jotting down notes as I started speaking from the very beginning of the interview which was a bit nerve-wrecking and was staring at my resume while he listened to "tell me about yourself" story (not in a rude way but I initially felt a bit awkward as a result). But after the initial phase, we got to have real casual conversation. Also, prepare the fit portion (at least spend some 10 hours outlining answers to typical questions)! I feel that this gets overlooked a lot of times. Also, in order for you to deliver the fit questions (as well as the case) well, it's important that you relax and be yourself. Questions asked include: tell me about yourself, tell me about a time when you had a difficult teammate, how did you establish credibility in teams? surprisingly no why consulting questions. As per cases, they were straightforward profitability cases with a couple of charts/graphs, nothing too crazy (I was actually surprised by this). It was clear that you really have to drive the case, and they appreciate creativity. Math portion was also quite easy and simple, so make sure to avoid making mistakes!

tl;dr relax, be friendly and be yourself and talk to people! also prepare fit for real.

 

I'm still waiting to hear back. Which offices have you applied to? My office preference is in the Northeast region. I'm wondering if the hold up is because the Northeast is running their interviews later than everyone else.

A couple of my friends who selected the mid-Atlantic and mid-West regions heard back immediately and one already had his final round. However, I have one friend who applied to the Northeast region and got a rejection within a day or two as well.

 
Stillmoves5628:

I went through the interviews for McK in the mid-atlantic region. I heard back after 2nd round a few days later, and by final round a few hours later. Like others have said, my guess is that it just depends on when the interviewers can get together. Best of luck!

Is it reasonable to infer you have offers from McK and BCG now?

Congrats again man.

 

Got the final round interview invite...took them a couple of weeks. All the best to everyone and congratulations Stillmoves5628!! Can you share some insight into differences between the 2nd round and final round? Is it more focused on fit then traditional case interviewing? I'm trying to understand how to focus my prep until interview day.

 

Heard from BCG (west coast) yesterday that I made it to the final round, which is this Friday. The recruiter mentioned that one of my interviews would be a written case. Does anyone have any experience with these, or advice for preparing? Thanks!

 

I had my final round with BCG Chicago last week and also had a written case. I'd advise the following with a caveat that your case might be totally different from mine:

1) You definitely won't have enough time: Make sure whatever you write is directly presentable and try to immediately write down in a nice slide format. 2) There's not much point in structuring with a framework upfront; rather, read/scheme enough of data to figure out what the particular, small problem is for that part of the case, and THEN, and only then spend time coming up with a comprehensive list of factors/potential solutions etc. 3) There will likely be multiple questions/aspects to answering the case. Keep these objectives in mind and avoid wasting time getting into too much detail. Having said that, in my particular case, nearly all data/slides were relevant, so it's important that you identify the pertinent problem for each part (primary/1-level insight), then quickly move on to spend significant amount of time coming up with solutions/creative answers (2nd level insight). 4) I know it will be incredibly difficult to do this in practice, but unless you're naturally amazing at presenting and pulling stuff out of your ass, you definitely want to dedicate at least 5 minutes to practice presentation.

As far as preparation goes, it's really not all that different from a normal case. Mine was more of an ensemble of mini cases. Good luck!

PS. hope I don't get shat on again for sharing my experience! lol

 

Hi Moncho, This is the last day for interviews at my local office: I reckon they make decisions only after meeting the whole lot. If I'm not DQed outright based on my performance, I'd expect a delay while regional offices decide whether to consider me. enhd mentioned that he heard back the Wednesday evening after his Friday second-round interview, so it could be a fair wait.

 

Yes, thank you! I spoke a bit too soon, I ended up hearing back later that night. Here's my rundown with BCG.

Office: West coast School: Target July 26: Applied (on the deadline) July 31: Phone call with recruiting coordinator August 13: Invitation to first round -- had a mock interview with BCG consultant over the phone between this and first round September 18: First round September 21 (Monday): Invited to decision round September 25: Decision round September 29 (Tuesday!): Received offer

Hope that helps reassure future applicants that it's not always a bad sign if you don't hear back within 72 hours... How's recruitment going for you?

 

McK Southeast also just finished 2nd round interviews yesterday, and today received an email asking for our feedback on the interview process and it also mentioned that we'd get a phone call by the end of next week.

I was a bit surprised that it'd take that long considering that SE and NE seem to be running late in the interviews... For others in other region, how long did it generally take to hear back on the 2nd round result?

 

Hi everyone-

After the long slog, I ended up with two offers. They are similar in many respects, but differ in office (one offer is in 1st choice office and the other is in a 2nd choice office), the minimum time you need to be at the firm to get a bonus (for one firm it's a full calendar year, so you're screwed if you start in Feb). Also one firm gave me a whole month longer to decide on the offer.

Are any of these things negotiable?

 

This is my understanding from reading and talking to people:

1) Your office is not negotiable since you were given an offer by the partners in that office. I think you have a slim shot if you wanted to by reinterviewing for the other office, but it would probably be looked unfavorably upon and you would have to answer some tough questions. The alternative is to switch offices a year or two down the line.

2) I thought all signing bonuses were contingent on being at the firm a full year? My offer letter says you have to return the prorated amount if you leave before the full year.

3) Why are you screwed if you start in Feb? Also I'm pretty sure ADC/APDs only have the option of Aug/Jan start due to the timing of the mini-MBA. Between Aug/Jan it is negotiable though.

4) Your offer deadline is negotiable... I'm pretty sure. I'm trying to extend mine now, so I hope it is haha.

So things that are negotiable: Start date, offer deadline.

 
enhd:

Hi everyone-

After the long slog, I ended up with two offers. They are similar in many respects, but differ in office (one offer is in 1st choice office and the other is in a 2nd choice office), the minimum time you need to be at the firm to get a bonus (for one firm it's a full *calendar* year, so you're screwed if you start in Feb). Also one firm gave me a whole month longer to decide on the offer.

Are any of these things negotiable?

I think you're reading the bonus part wrong. There are other discussions on this, but you likely have to be at the firm a full calendar year before receiving the bonus. In addition to the bonus for that full calendar year, you will ALSO receive a prorated bonus for the partial year you completed.
 

I hope so too but I'm just a bit anxious because 1) they said they'd notify us by the end of yesterday and 2) friends with Atlanta or west coast office as their 1st choice have heard back days ago.. additionally from my understanding, my 1st choice office, DC office, already did their first batch of final rounds which means that there are less seats remaining so to speak..

I really hope it's a good thing because I will be very mad if they kept me hanging just to ding me weeks later haha; do you know of others who waited only to be dinged later?... also, if you don't mind, how did your final round with McK go?

In any case, wish the best of luck to all of us on this thread :) Thanks for sharing all this info - I'm sure many many PhDs will find this thread very useful :)

 

Well, my IWIA was in the mid-Atlantic region and we were the first cluster to go through the ringer. It really is dependent on the office you've selected. If you're not their top choice, the process starts again with your second choice :)

I had some friends in my group that heard immediately as well. Don't know anyone who was dinged after having to wait, with the caveat that it's a small sample set (n=3, including myself)! Regarding there not being any spots left in the DC office: From all the McK folks I spoke to, I've heard that if you're good enough, they hire you. Could be 15 one year and 3 the next.

My final round was a fun experience, but I didn't make it to the offer. The cases weren't particularly challenging, but one of the partners couldn't make it to the office so we teleconferenced and that was weird and disjointed! I didn't really get specific feedback, but maybe I just wasn't considered a good fit. It's all about relaxing and being yourself. If you make it to final rounds, you're good enough from an analytical perspective and if the partners are doing their job, getting the offer means you're also a great fit :)

 

Sue, I heard back on Friday. My final round will be in a Midwest office. It took 9 days to hear back and that was my #3 choice, with all 3 choices being in different regions. Hope you don't have to wait much longer!

 

For those of you that have offers, do you mind sharing the details of them? I've seen McK and BCG offer numbers last year but I'm curious if they changed this year. Also, I've never seen the Bain numbers. Do you mind sharing?

 

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