2015 McKinsey insight and BCG bridge2BCG status updates for APD/ADC!

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd start a thread for 2015 McKinsey insight and BCG bridge2BCG status updates for advanced degree candidates. From the past years's posts, I expect McKinsey and BCG to be scheduling their 1st round interviews in early May.

Please feel free to post updates and indicate which programs in which region you applied to!

156 Comments
 

Hey guys, I just got an email from McKinsey. I wasn't invited for the Insight program, but was offered to be interviewed for FT later in the summer. Additionally waiting to hear back on BCG.

Please share what you guys end up with! Thanks!

 

Hello, I also wasn't invited for the Insight program, but was offered to be interviewed for FT later in the summer. . Do they offer everyone a slot to interview later in the summer of just a subset? Additionally waiting to hear back on BCG.

 

Also, if you do get invited for phone interview for Insight, does it mean you 'll automatically be offered a FT interview later (regardless of the result of the phone interview)? since some ppl got that offer despite being rejected for FT?

 

Did not get an interview for Bridge2BCG but they wrote :"The team would like to encourage you to apply this fall for full-time positions. Each year, we hire a large number of full-time advanced degree candidates, and we remain very interested in your profile. If you have any questions in the meanwhile, please feel free to contact us." Does anyone know if this is the standard answer?

 
"anonymouspostdoc"

Did not get an interview for Bridge2BCG but they wrote :"The team would like to encourage you to apply this fall for full-time positions. Each year, we hire a large number of full-time advanced degree candidates, and we remain very interested in your profile. If you have any questions in the meanwhile, please feel free to contact us."
Does anyone know if this is the standard answer?

Standard. That's exactly what my email said 2 years ago

 

Hi guys! Was informed that I was selected for an interview for Insight Healthcare earlier this week, but still haven't heard from anyone regarding the interview time. They are notifying until tomorrow about interviews, and interviews will last from now until May 12.

 

Can anyone confirm that the Bridge interview is fit only? I read about that in other forums. Invite email seems to indicate that.

"During this next step in the Bridge to BCG selection process, you will have a 20-30 minute phone conversation with a BCG consultant. This will allow us to get to know you and better understand your interest in consulting. The phone conversation will also focus on the essay response you submitted with your application. You do not need to prepare any other materials for this conversation."

 
Best Response

Yes I went to Bridge last year. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. The program consisted of a 3-day case study in groups of about 5. They add a consultant to each group to assist and answer any questions. We also had several talks from partners about the work that BCG does and they organized a bunch of panels to ask questions. The evenings are filled with social activities (drinks, dinners, other fun activities in the city).

A nice bonus of attending Bridge is that you will get an early interview (late August for me). The interview process was pretty standard. First round consisted of case and fit interviews with consultants/project managers. Second round you get the partners and my interview questions/cases became less structured. I ended up joining another consulting firm but I believe BCG is a fantastic place to work. Good luck!

 

The number of FT offers seemed pretty low. Maybe 5% or even less than that. We had about 60 participants and I only know a couple of people that got an offer.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with us Ngneer. Regarding the 5% number, is it the FT position offers or FT interview offers for ppl who attended the workshop? Because my understanding is that people who participate in the workshop still have to go through rounds of FT interview just like everyone else. Do you know anyone who actually got FT offer right after the workshop?

 

I had my phone interview today. It was more a conversation, and very brief--less than 30 minutes. Know your resume and essay, and just be prepared to talk about it. It was very friendly.

 

just had interview also... simple conversation, very short. was asked about one weakness in resume. it did feel exactly like a 'fit' screen.

 

Good to know guys, I hope your interviews went well. I am assuming these were for B2BCG.

Anybody with insights on Insight? How were the interviews?

 

Just had my phone interview for B2BCG, casual conversations about activities in leadership essay and resume. Interviewer said it'll take 2-3 weeks to hear back.

 

Just had phone interview for Bridge with a project leader today. Simple fit questions, but one unexpected question threw me off and I think I should have better prepared :( Honestly, I really didn't know what to expect for the phone screening....

I didn't get into Insight program, but got a very nice email two weeks ago from McK recruiting team saying that they would like to interview me this summer for a FT position.

Haven't heard anything from Clearview yet.

 

no worries, momocat. i also was thrown off by an unexpected (though simple) fit question (for bridge) and should have been better prepared. i prepared structured answers but was then unable to sound natural and engaging. no worries, is good practice for real first rounds.

 

Hey guy, I am done with both BCG and McKinsey interviews. As jules18 said, I took it as a good practice for 1st round interviews.

I have found two case partners from this forum. Anybody else up for doing a case or two over Skype/Hangout? (Or in person if you are in Chicago).

 
"Professor_Pellegrini"

ClearView is sending out invites for their 1st round phone interview. Any ideas on what to expect and what to focus on prep-wise?

Half of the interview will be fairly standard fit/experience questions. The case will be similar to the example on their website, definitely have a good understanding of the drug development process as it will invariably help with answering the case. You may also be asked your perspective on issues within the biotech/pharma industry so I recommend reading up on recent articles on Fierce biotech/pharma just to have something to discuss.

 

Got in to Bridge Chicago. Looking forward to meeting some of you. Good luck everyone! Edit: Did not get into Insight Engineering & Science, but they extended invitation to interview in late August/early September. Also, if any of you want to practice over Skype/Hangout, please pm me :-)

 

I got into B2BCG Chicago, as well. Should be fun! Does anyone know roughly how many people go in each branch? I feel like I have heard numbers ranging from 20 to 60.

 

Invited to Bridge Boston. Best wishes to all Bridge/Insight applicants.

I'm also up for Skype/Hangout case practice. Please PM me if interested.

 

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I got an invitation today for the Bridge program in Dallas. I was wondering if anyone on this board is going to the same one. I'm really excited and can't wait for Bridge to start!

 

Attending Bridge Chicago. Looking forward to meeting everyone at the event! Good luck to all candidates who are interviewing this summer.

Had a phone interview with Clearview today, and the interviewer was so nice! He said there is going to be another round of interview.

 

Congratulations to those going to Bridge and Insight! Has anyone heard from Insight Asia Pacific or Healthcare (good news or otherwise)?

 

Hi, I work at an MBB, and attended one of these programs before interviewing and joining, about a couple of years ago.

  • These programs are actually very informative if are considering consulting, but are skeptical that this would be a good move for you. For me, the most interesting take-away was just how many non-MBA, academic-types were partners and in other leadership positions. I probably had a skewed understanding to begin with, but the program shattered the wall-street douche-bag stereotype.

  • Getting into these programs is quite competitive, so congrats if you made it. However, note that the majority of the program attendees do not get an offer. The main benefit is that you will be interviewing earlier, when they are yet to fill an entire class (actually, not an entire class, since the Summers receive offers a year in advance).

  • Most of the PhDs who applied for the program were actually rejected, and then offered positions during the regular interview process. So don't give up if you're not selected.

  • If you are invited to the program, and are very serious about consulting, you should start practicing cases. Note, however, that case practice is not needed at all for the program itself. Just that the interviews will start pretty soon (~ 1 month?) after the program, so it pays to be ready.

  • If you are invited to the program, you will most definitely be invited to interview in the first round. At my school, getting a first-round McKinsey interview was not a big deal, but getting a BCG interview was actually quite difficult. Note that I'm not at all saying that McKinsey is less competitive -- it is not. Just that McKinsey tends to apply its first big filter between the first and second rounds, while BCG applies it before the first rounds (there are only 2 rounds total).

  • Be nice and polite to the recruiting staff!!

  • Finally, business at my firm (and I'm sure the other two MBB) is very, very good these days. This is most definitely the best time to apply since the crisis, and probably the best time in the past decade.

Good luck

 

Those are some excellent points. Thanks for the advice. Would've given you a silver banana, but this poor grad student has none!

As most of us are getting close to the real interviews, could you please give some tips on do's and don't's of case practice? What helped you the most? What do you think you could've done better?

 

I'm sure none of these are news to you, but here are some tips:

  • To the extent that there is a predictor for getting an offer, it is the group that you practice cases with. You should find people that are serious and committed to doing well in the interviews, and willing to engage regularly.

  • Practice live cases. Much better to spread them out over a couple of months than to do rapid-fire cases a week before your interview.

  • Practice fit. You don't know the cases you are going to be asked to solve in the interviews. You don't even know the universe of cases you're going to be asked. You DO know the fit questions you are going to be asked. Maybe you won't be asked all of them, but you'll certainly be asked >33% of them. You should have fit down cold. Practice with a partner. Applicants know this, yet they spend so much time practicing cases, and not nearly enough time practicing fit. If you are a scientist, and cannot convince a layperson of the the value of your research in 2-3 sentences, then you should really spend time on this.

 

Got an offer for Bridge NYC! Looking to practice with advanced case partners - msg me if you are interested for skype cases. See others in NYC!

 

for those who have attended Insight before, could you please tell us about your experience with the case? In the agenda it states there would be a 2 day case, how should I prepare for it? Will there be a real business case that we have to solve? Will it be evaluative? Thanks.

 

Yes, there will be a real case, but you need absolutely zero preparation for the program itself.

Haha, they say nothing is evaluative, but I'd treat it as if it were.

Just participate actively, get to know the people, and seriously be yourself, as cliche as it sounds. An MBB job is a good opportunity, but certainly not worth changing your behavior to please the firm. If you're invited, you are likely strong enough to have a great career regardless of where you end up.

Best

 

Has anyone heard back from their second round for Connect to Clearview? I was expecting to hear back by the end of this week and haven't.

 

I am also expecting to hear back from Clearview today but still haven't. They told me last week in my interview that they would let us know by today (June 12-and their website says the same thing) but I haven't received anything yet either.

 

When they say business casual, they mean on the dressier side of business casual. Blame the over-eager kids who come dressed in suits for even info sessions.

Also depends on the office. NY, for example, is much less casual than the Midwest.

 

That's good advice :-) So maybe trousers and a dressy (formal) blouse? I am just weary of starting off on the wrong foot.

 

did you guys apply to only one location? They didn't restrict it on the application so I checked all 3 east coast locations, but still haven't heard back from them beside the acknowledgement email

 

Honestly, the AIC program sounds like what McKinsey does after you take the PST.

If that is it I'm not sure what the value in it would be other than networking (with other candidates and Bain). Not to say that networking isn't important, b/c it is, but there's not really much you can do with 5hrs.

Kinda sad actually. But if I got accepted I'd go just for the networking aspect, even if the rest was a bust.

 

I just got dinged with the following email (I'm guessing everyone got the same one?):

Thank you for submitting your application to Bain’s Advance into Consulting program. Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to offer you a place at this year’s program.

Due to the large number of applicants and limited capacity/geography options for this year’s sessions, we had to turn away many talented and qualified candidates. However, given the quality of your application materials, we would like to include you in our webinar session in late July (exact date/time and instructions on how to join will be sent out in the coming few weeks).

The webinar will allow you to: • Learn more about Bain and how we will support your career and future goals • Receive advice on how to best prepare for the case interview process • Hear about when and where we will be conducting first round interviews

In addition to attending our webinar, we still want to encourage you to stay interested in Bain and consulting more broadly. Our full time application process submission deadline is August 7, 2015. Please go to www.joinbain.com to apply for a full time position. Please note that your application to AIC does not mean you have applied to our full time program; you will need to complete an application via the Join Bain system in order to be considered.

We look forward to having the opportunity to connect with you further!

 

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