Is it possible to get rejected after a first round case not because you failed it, but because others were better?

I had a first-round with a boutique TMT. I made 2 arithmetic errors (subtracted the wrong number by accident and was off by a zero) and ran about 5-7 minutes over on the case, and the interviewer told me there were parts we didn't get to.

However, I feel like overall, I didn't necessarily fail the case, though of course it wasn't perfect. I just feel like others may have done better and it's not necessarily that I bombed it. Unless math errors are fatal and taking too long is awful?

However, since it's a first-round, do people get cut just because others did better (versus a final round when you can only select a few people)?

10 Comments
 

Ah, that makes sense...I guess they can only interview a handful for the final round. It's just that I thought that first rounds weeded out people who couldn't case for shit, more so than like "who is the best at casing?"

 

No, it was CMA Strategy. However, I'll be interviewing with AS on Monday

 

Most firms (at least the larger ones) would officially say no. Especially in early rounds, the bar is meant to be absolute / objective and not relative to other candidates. However, people naturally benchmark you to the other recent candidates and due to practical or psychological factors will tend to aim to pass a certain percent of applicants through the first round 

 

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