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MBB interview ended 10 min early. I fumbled on the quant at times but was able to pull through. Any thoughts on if I can make it to R2?

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Ariadna
Coach
on Sep 04, 2024
BCG | Project Leader and Experienced Interviewer | MBA at London Business School

Hi there, 

I don't think that's a bad sign in itself. Where you able to finish the case? Including recommendation? 

After the case, the last part is typically you asking questions. Did you get to do that? And how did the interview actually end? 

Usually interviewers are told to not finish early, but there could be exceptions (e.g., when the candidate wants to finish early or when something truly urgent happens with the interviewer). 

Ariadna 

Anonymous A
on Sep 04, 2024
Hey yep we got to the end of the case and went through 3-4 Q&As. Overall I feel I connected with the recruiter well. The only part I felt weird was the quant part where they had to prod me to get to the next step. They were also surpirsed to be done early a they remarked that at the end.
Ariadna
Coach
on Sep 04, 2024
BCG | Project Leader and Experienced Interviewer | MBA at London Business School
It is then a real possibility you have done the case well & quick (except the math part you mentioned) and that was it. So I would really not read more into it for now! But can totally imagine the wait is unpleasant >> do try to take your mind off this, as at this point there is nothing further you can do!
Anonymous A
on Sep 04, 2024
Thank you, fingers crossed for a good outcome! Do you know what the timeframe in hearing back for R2 is?
Ariadna
Coach
on Sep 04, 2024
BCG | Project Leader and Experienced Interviewer | MBA at London Business School
I personally don't know, sorry.
Peter
Coach
on Sep 04, 2024
Ex-McKinsey Engagement Manager; 18/20 personal case record; ask me for my free cheat-sheet

Hi

It's hard to tell without the full detail - but usually if a case itself ends early it's a bit polarising - either you crushed it and the interviewer was satisfied enough that they were happy to end early, or you didn't.  

R1 cases are usually run 'by the book' to ensure they get an accurate assessment across all case dimensions - they typically don't end early per se. 

On the other hand if the fit portion of the interview was relatively short and you still engaged in the case for ~25min or so then that would be a different situation.

JMO - good luck!

on Sep 06, 2024
Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Hard to tell - so many factors at play. 

I have passed candidates who have not been perfect at math, and I have failed candidates who were perfect at the math (but were poor at other aspects).

Best thing you can do now is wait for the official decision.

All the best!

Florian
Coach
on Sep 05, 2024
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 500+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU

Hi there,

The time itself does not give any indication. It could be that the PEI was very quick, and for the case, enough observations were collected on your performance.

From the outside, it's always difficult to predict these outcomes. However, one fumble in math + showing that you can be coached should not lead to a rejection (if the rest of the case was good).

Fingers crossed!

Cheers,

Florian

Fathu
Coach
on Sep 12, 2024
Ex-BCG Europe/ME/Africa | 50+ offers from MBB, Kearney, OW | Personalized coaching | Free 15-min intro call

Hello there,

Interview finishing ahead of time might have had nothing to do with your performance as a candidate. For instance, your interviewer might have felt they had enough information for a decision so they decided to take those last 10 minutes to prepare for a forthcoming SteerCo (Steering Committee) meeting.

Also, simple errors on the quant alone would not typically lead to a rejection. Decisions are made about the case performance overall.

If you were able to get the case back on course and delivered a logically coherent recommendation based on the facts and prior analyses, you should be less worried but there's no way to tell with certainty which way the decision would go.

All the Best,

Fathu

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