Getting a McKinsey Interview

If you can get interviews with BCG and Bain, you have a high, high probability of getting a McK interview--it's not as if each company is looking for a different skill set. The diversity thing does help. How many non-Asian minorities do you see at MBB events? Very few. Probably 1 out of every 50 people.

The GPA cutoff is just BS. None of the firms you mention has a strict GPA cutoff. Personally, I think that's bandied about by students who don't get interviews so that they can feel good about themselves when they find out that they didn't make the cut. It just so happens that grades and test scores are valued by MBB more highly than they are by banks. But so what? That doesn't mean that if you don't have a 3.7 you won't get an interview.

Thanks for the insight. The posting actually explicitly has 3.75 listed as the cut-off, but then again your average 3.6 guy didn't spend this past summer working on billion doller m&a transactions. We'll see, I suppose.

Whoops, must be a thing for semi- and non-targets then. The target I went to had no explicit cutoffs. I have never heard of it occurring at other schools. I find it odd that McK has an explicit cutoff for your school, but Bain and BCG don't. Sorry about the error and good luck with the app.

While I don't recall an explicitly mentioned cutoff either, it seemed to be a fairly widely accepted notion among interviewing students last recruiting season. It may be as you mentioned earlier about kids rationalizing why they didn't get an interview with McK, but I and many others I know interviewed for Bain and BCG but never had a spot to interview for McK.

The cutoff is just listed there; it really means nothing. I know many with 3.3s who interviewed with McKinsey. Honestly, there is too much misinformation out there, and people tend to believe "cutoffs" too easily. I have personally reviewed resumes, where 3.75 was the cutoff, but I would let the guy/girl through cause he had good experience. It's just the way it happens; always assume there is no GPA cutoff: if you do, how can it hurt you?
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From my school, a semi-target for banking, a kid with a 3.3 got a McKinsey offer. He was otherwise a stellar candidate.

I'm with xenowang here. Getting an interview at one of MBB does not mean you will get others.

i will chime in. got both bain and bcg first rounds on campus. did not get a mckinsey first round, despite top internship experience and 3.9+. ironically enough i was one of the kids invited to apply early to mckinsey (interview date of sept. 5), but chose to forgo it for more preparation time

"Even though McK started e-mailing me the summer before recruiting and had myself and one other kid from my school come to meet people at the office, I did not even get a first round interview. That other kid did, so who knows."

lol... my thoughts exactly. visited their office 3 times during the summer... two for panel sessions, 1 exclusive one where it was me and 3 other kids. constant contact with my hr recruiter and NO mckinsey interview. i was initially pretty pissed off

nfg05, was your offer for a Southern Bain office? I think that might explain why you got Bain but not McKinsey. I think for like Atlanta they take slightly more kids from certain targets (non-Ivies, etc.)

just wanted to announce that I GOT A FIRST ROUND WITH MCKINSEY! Now I have a week to prep for their problem solving test and case interview.