2021 ADC/APD Summer Programs/Full-Time Applications Thread

That's awesome! Did you get into one of the summer programs before the FT position? If so, did it help your application?

Hi! Did you have any contacts/networking before applying to the programs?

Heard some people received invitations to case-prep workshops but that might be office-specific

I wasn't able to - just saw the description of my traits based on the 9 categories and my top 3 most unique.

they got rid of that last summer for some reason

The last part got me. It was pretty complicated to figure out.

Those are the ones I am aware of.

Email them!! Same to me. I disconnected. They let me extend it to tomorrow.

Hope you get the extension! To answer your first question, your Bridge application is completely separate from the FT app so will thus have no effect. I know plenty of people who did not apply to Bridge or got rejected and received a FT interview later in the summer.

It was a bit of a surprise for me, too! But the 10 minutes of brain games felt like nothing in comparison to Pymetrics and Imbellus, haha.

I don't see a problem with your anticipated graduation date. My colleagues and I who applied last year (i.e., in 2020) have graduation dates from Jan 2021 to August 2021. The BCG recruiters I spoke to have typically been very flexible about when you start.

I would still try for the full time applications, though it might help to find out if BCG thought that is too early or too late; they are catching up due to slow/minimal hiring last year, so they could be prioritizing different people at this point. Good luck!

Very strange, I also know people with similar graduation dates who applied last year and did qualify. I also know people graduating in 2022 and applying for Bridge this year. Is there a possibility of a mistake in your application/dates? Based on their eligibility description you should be the following:
- US or Canadian school or hospital
- looking to start full-time with BCG in late 2021 or in 2022
So my assumption would be that either there is a mistake and they think you graduate in April/May 2021, not 2022, or if there is a mistake with the indicated start date (e.g. 2023 or before July 2021).

I think you should ask HR if you meet the other criteria posted above. I don't think the May 2022 date disqualifies you as I put down the same.

Texas has as well!

Congrats! Yeah, I wonder if they do it by office. I chose LA, so fingers crossed that they're still rolling out.

Congrats! I've heard that the Boston office also sent the invites

What did you put down as your top choice?

My top office preference was San Francisco but my Insight invitation is from the Chicago office recruiter. I am currently in the Midwest, so that would make sense if they assign you based on current location/school. I also remember during one of the McKinsey Info session they said assignments for Insight would be based on your current location. At least in my case that seems to be true.

Also heard back from LEK last night to schedule the interview. Good luck!

Same! We can do it!! Good luck to everyone! 

Mine is 5/14

For one of the Insights 2020, there were about 25 people, and 6 are joining McK now. I know of other 4 that passed R1 but not R2 and were encouraged to reapply this season, 2 people joining BCG, 1 joining Bain, and 3 joining LS firms, some people were just clearly there to learn about what is this thing called consulting, e.g. 1 person looked super bored and disinterested during the event, not even trying to pretend to care. I don't know everyone since it was virtual, so there may be more people with offers, but I would say these are pretty good odds overall. Also Bain and BCG were not really hiring as much last season and they were waiting to see what COVID times will bring, so I would imagine this year will be the best year for applying. 

Did the rejection email mention  them emailing you in future about a "Keep in Touch program"? 

b

I think that's what they do. Same with BCG Pymetrics - we don't need to give it again when applying for full time. 

I've been wondering this, since if I didn't do well on the imbellus and that was the reason for not getting invited, maybe it would be worth retaking it? Still confused about how they evaluate it.

I got a rejection as well -- email mentioned the "Keep in Touch Program". It did mention that the school recruiter will get in touch, which makes me think it might be a thing they do for target schools?

Haven't heard anything after the case workshop (which was three days ago). I remember during one of the Bain events they mentioned they would send out invites for ADvantage interviews the week of April 12 or 19.

Just got an interview invitation. Attended a case interview workshop early last week. 

Just got an ADvantage interview invite from the SF office (case workshop was last Wednesday). Sounds like interviews will be the last week of April.

I think it is probably LS specific, as Link to LEK is a program for MD/PhDs who want to do the LSS position (which is just gonna be LS projects). For me it looks like it's gonna be one 45 min interview, so maybe a few fit questions at the beginning and then a case.

Same happened to me this afternoon. There was no wording about it closing at any certain time earlier in the day. I emailed them about it. Let's see what they say.

You got their email with the new link right?

Just got an invite for a C2C phone interview next week as well. 

I heard from people who participated previously that if you have a publication, then you just attach the pdf file. If you don't have a publication yet, then just submit like an abstract. 

It seems networking your way to a referral can only help your case, but becomes increasingly important if you're coming from a 'non-target' institution where you wouldn't have the benefit of a recruiting pipeline.  That being said, I believe you'd still have to jump through the requisite pre-interview hoops (e.g. Pymetrics/Imbellus).

I was rejected from Insight and will probably wait until June to apply for the full-time positions. I plan to build more experience in the extracurriculars that I'm currently involved in so the numbers on my resume look better -- if you can look for ways to gain additional experience between now and June, that might be a good idea. I also plan to brainstorm more ways to include impact on my resume. Not sure whether this will work, but it's what I plan to do!

Also, guys, don't forget that all summer programs are more competitive (especially by resume with no interviews) than applications for FT positions. The candidates with a really impressive resume attend 3-4 summer programs, but they will only select one job at the end. I know plenty of people who got job offers in previous years without attending the summer workshops (because they didn't apply for those or because they weren't selected). There was certainly a big number of people who applied for the summer workshops but weren't selected to attend them, and still got invited to interview for FT for the same firms.

As far as deadlines go, I sat in on an undergrad info session for McKinsey and the recruiter laid out the following timeline:

July 19th: Deadline #1 for all roles

Sept 16th: Deadline #2 for all roles

Aug-Sept: Interviews for group 1

Early-Mid Oct: Interviews for group 2

It sounds like a few people heard from LEK last week. ClearView started sending out invites but feels like they go through them based on when people submitted their application. They also have two events (June and July), so there is still time. Haven't heard anything about BCG and Clarion yet. They should reach out to people soon though. On the BCG website it says they will reach out by mid-April.

Haven't heard anything yet from B2B

Congrats on being granted an interview for full time! That's the end goal with most of these summer workshops I guess. What were your office choices?

Did you apply to a FT position at the same time using a separate application? 

Congrats! I got the same interview invite as well!

Congrats! Which office for bcg?

Congrats! What were your office choices?

Congrats! What were your office choices?

If it makes you feel better, I got rejected and was not asked to keep in touch and apply later haha

Invited to Bridge, rejected from Insight

the same, what does it really mean?

I was rejected from B2B and offered a FT interview with zero consulting experience. I joined the campus consulting club a few weeks ago for their prep materials but didn't include that on my resume.

Invited to bridge summer engagement series thing. 0 consulting experience, no consulting club. 

Got rejected for Insight and C2C, accepted to Bridge.

No consulting experience. Only joined the consulting group at my college (they don't have a PhD one) 2 weeks ago but have not participated yet. Had to rush to prepare since getting contacted to apply for bridge. Has been a whirlwind.

I was offered first-round, rejected from B2B, and have 0 consulting experience and 0 affiliation with clubs.

Same. Kind of expected. Didn't feel very enthusiastic while doing the application.

I'm in the same boat, and would absolutely say attending bridge would have been preferable. Presumably, every bridge attendee gets a FT interview as well, but we miss out on the culture/fit test.

Did you get the "Keep in Touch" invite? If you did, I think it's better to stick with what you have (apart from any internship/additional experience you will have by deadline time) 

I included undergrad items but kept it to a single page. McK has said they're happy to review longer CVs, but I figured if someone was only going to spend a few seconds reviewing it, it would be best to keep it concentrated to just the highlights. I also wanted to work on a single document for all the applications, rather than a one page resume and a CV.

Coincidentally, this came out today:

Here is my advice: The strongest will fit on a single page. Exceptions are few. An 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of letter paper fits about 700 words. So be efficient. Recruiters often say they spend six seconds reviewing the average candidate. Are you worth seven?

I also received the invite for a phone interview (fit as well) this morning.

Me too!