Associate Consultant Intern

I applied through OCR. Bain held information sessions and has a lot of alumni from my school, so it wasn't hard to talk to people. Heard back that I got an interview about a week after applications closed.

Based on the people who were being interviewed, you need to have a solid GPA (not perfect - mine was a 3.7), meaningful internships (where you actually did something - brand name certainly helps, but isn't as important if you have really good experience), and demonstrated interest (network network network).

First-round interview was back-to-back cases, 30 mins each. Interviewers were both very nice and engaged. Cases weren't the most difficult but they really want you to explain your structuring and thinking process. It's okay to go a little slow as long as you don't mess anything major up. And always think about how new information or calculations affects the client.

And, PRACTICE MENTAL MATH/MARKET SIZING. I screwed up both in the second case about halfway through and it derailed the rest of the interview.

Didn't make it to second round, but interviewer calls you and gives you feedback. Second round is three back-to-back cases, 30-45 mins each. I've heard that second round is more difficult than first round in that the interviews put more of an emphasis on intuitive thinking (getting away from frameworks and actually thinking about the problem).

Overall, difficult interview process but great firm.