---
title: "Bain Internship 2027: Programs, Pay, and How to Get One"
description: "Updated October 2026. By  Dr. Florian Smeritschnig , former McKinsey Senior Consultant. A Bain internship usually means one of two paid programs: the Associate Consultant Internship (ACI) for bachelor..."
url: https://strategycase.com/bain-internship/
date: 2026-10-12
modified: 2026-10-12
author: "Florian Smeritschnig"
image: https://strategycase.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Bain-Internship-Career-Guide.png
categories: ["Bain", "Consulting Applications"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Bain Internship 2027: Programs, Pay, and How to Get One

*Updated October 2026. By [Dr. Florian Smeritschnig](https://strategycase.com/about/), former McKinsey Senior Consultant*

A Bain internship usually means one of two paid programs: the Associate Consultant Internship (ACI) for bachelor’s and master’s students, or the Summer Associate program for MBA students. The ACI is for students with one summer left before graduation. In the US, Bain pays ACIs a $9,000 monthly base salary and Summer Associates $16,000 a month, according to its own job postings.

Most guides stop there, as if Bain ran one program on one US calendar. Bain’s office pages tell a different story: London, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth don’t offer the ACI at all. Munich hires interns year-round for 10 to 12 weeks, Madrid runs a two-month summer with a January deadline, and Paris takes master’s students for five to six months. Plan around the wrong office’s calendar and you can lose a full recruiting cycle.

I spent 5 years at McKinsey and since 2020 my coaching clients have secured 700+ consulting offers, 340 of them at McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. Below is what Bain publishes across its careers pages, checked on October 9, 2026. You’ll find every internship program and who it’s for, deadlines office by office, what interns earn, how the process runs, and how to get an offer.

## **Key Takeaways**

- **Bain runs two main internships.** The ACI is for bachelor’s and master’s students ($9,000 a month in the US), and the Summer Associate program is for MBA students ($16,000 a month). Most of the 30-plus other programs on Bain’s list are shorter on-ramps.
- **Not every office runs the ACI.** The office pages for London, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Johannesburg, Kyiv, and Rio de Janeiro say they don’t offer it, and Seoul runs a trainee program instead.
- **Each office keeps its own calendar.** US offices open applications in the spring, the Middle East offices set an October 30, 2026 deadline, Madrid and Lisbon close on January 24, 2027, and the German-speaking offices hire year-round.
- **The US window moved earlier.** The first US deadline for summer 2027 was March 29, 2026, about 14 weeks earlier than the year before. For most US students, that falls in the spring of sophomore year.
- **Sophomores get an earlier door.** Bain’s single application for its BEL, CREW, and First Forward programs, for eligible US and Canadian sophomores, opens in mid-October and closes November 30, 2026. It asks for recorded video answers instead of interviews.

## **What Is a Bain Internship?**

**Definition:** A Bain internship is a paid placement on a live Bain & Company case team. The Associate Consultant Internship (ACI) is for bachelor’s and master’s students, and the Summer Associate program is for MBA students. Both start with a short training block, move into real client work, and can end in a full-time offer.

Bain is explicit that this is real work. According to its [ACI posting](https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/associate-consultant-internship/), interns get up to a week of training, then join a case team, own a distinct piece of the project, and present their findings alongside everyone else. Summer Associates get several days of training before they’re staffed. You don’t need consulting experience, and Bain accepts every discipline.

If case interviews are new to you, start with the free StrategyCase [Case Interview Foundations course](https://strategycase.com/courses/case-interview-foundations/). Its 40+ videos and 7+ hours of instruction get you ready for your first conversation with Bain.

A post on [Bain’s careers blog](https://www.bain.com/careers/life-at-bain/careers-blog/an-inside-look-at-the-bain-internship-experience/) from August 2025 shows what the summer looks like. Francesca, a University of South Carolina student, interned as an ACI in Bain’s Washington, DC office, working on three workstreams for an aerospace and defense client. Her days combined a morning team meeting, updates to the case leadership, client calls, and time for her own analysis. One of her interviewers ended up as her senior manager.

### **Bain & Company or Bain Capital?**

Some searches for “Bain internship” are looking for Bain Capital, the private investment firm. It’s a separate company with its own careers site and recruiting process. This guide covers Bain & Company, the consulting firm.

## **Bain Internship Programs: Which One Fits You?**

Bain’s [Internships & Programs page](https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/) lists more than 30 programs, from two-day workshops to a gap year. Only two are full internships open to most students. Start with those, then check whether one of the on-ramps fits you.

![Bain internship program finder: which Bain program fits sophomores, undergraduates, MBAs, PhDs, and veterans.](https://strategycase.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bain-internship-program-finder-2027-819x1024.png)

### **The Two Main Programs: ACI vs. Summer Associate**

| | Associate Consultant Internship (ACI) | Summer Associate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Who it’s for** | Bachelor’s and master’s students with one full summer left before graduation | MBA students, in the summer before their final year |
| **Length** | 10 weeks in Bain’s US listing; varies by office | Summer-long |
| **Training** | Up to a week | Several days |
| **US base pay** | $9,000 per month | $16,000 per month |
| **If you succeed** | Possibly further interviews, or an offer as an Associate Consultant | An offer to return as a Consultant in the same office, with no further interviews |
| **Where** | Most, but not all, Bain offices | 63 offices on the posting |

*Source: Bain’s ACI and [Summer Associate](https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/summer-associate/) postings, October 2026.*

The ACI is the undergraduate door, and Bain calls it “highly selective.” The current posting asks for students on track to graduate by June 2028 where that applies to the office. Convert, and you return as an Associate Consultant, Bain’s entry-level consulting role.

The Summer Associate program is the MBA door, and it carries most of Bain’s MBA hiring. In 2020, Bain’s global head of consultant recruiting told [Poets&Quants](https://poetsandquants.com/2020/06/15/bain-on-mba-recruitment-during-covid-19/2/) that summer internship offers make up two-thirds to three-quarters of the offers Bain extends on MBA campuses. Deadlines are set school by school. For the MBA cycle across all three firms, see our [MBA summer associate recruiting guide](https://strategycase.com/mba-summer-associate-consulting-recruiting/).

### **Bain’s Programs for US and Canadian Sophomores**

If you’re a second-year undergraduate in the US or Canada, Bain’s exploratory programs are the earliest way in. All three are 1.5-day, in-person programs in North American offices, each built around one of Bain’s affinity groups:

- **Building Entrepreneurial Leaders (BEL):** February 4 to 5, with the Black at Bain and Familia at Bain communities
- **Connecting and Resourcing Empowered Women (CREW):** February 18 to 19, with Women at Bain
- **First Forward:** January 28 to 29, for first-generation college students and students from lower-income households

One application covers all three, though you’ll attend only one. It opens in mid-October and closes November 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT, according to [Bain’s BEL page](https://www.bain.com/careers/work-with-us/internships-programs/building-entrepreneurial-leaders/). You submit a resume, an unofficial transcript, any test scores, and an optional cover letter, then record answers to video prompts on HireVue instead of sitting formal interviews.

You need to be finishing a four-year degree in the US or Canada by winter 2028 or spring 2029, and international students at US or Canadian universities can apply. Bain covers travel within the US and Canada. Use Bain’s dates: student-run trackers list later ones for these programs (December 2026 to April 2027).

If you aren’t selected, Bain’s own advice is to apply for the ACI. Bain also runs Consulting Kickstart, a virtual series for sophomores, but hasn’t posted 2027 dates yet.

### **Programs for PhDs, Pre-MBAs, and Veterans**

- **ADvantage:** one week in select North American offices for PhDs, postdocs, JDs, MDs, and medical residents, in the second-to-last year of their degree or up to three years after it. After a day of training and four days on a real case team, you’re considered for a full-time consultant role in that office.
- **BASE and ExperienceBain:** for incoming MBA students. BASE is a selective, in-person week in US offices with the Black at Bain and Familia at Bain communities, and ExperienceBain is a virtual summer program for admits to eligible schools.
- **SkillBridge at Bain:** 10 weeks in nine US offices for active-duty US service members with more than five years of service and a degree, with a path to a full-time offer.

### **Programs Outside North America**

| Where | Program | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Germany, Austria | Jumpstart | For women students from their fourth bachelor’s semester, including PhD students; includes a selection day where you can secure an internship |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Spark | A year-round talent program with case workshops, open from your second semester |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland | Power of 4 | A gap year between bachelor’s and master’s: 11-week internships at Bain, Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, and FC Bayern Munich |
| Select offices (Europe, Australia, India) | True North | Workshops with a scholarship award, mostly for women; some editions include interviews or an internship offer |
| Europe and Middle East | Bainworks | A case-study weekend for students in their second year or later; it doesn’t come with a role attached |
| London | Belong@Bain, FRWD | Programs for students of Black heritage; FRWD is a paid digital-marketing internship for penultimate-year students at UK and Irish universities |
| Riyadh | Mustaqbalak Consulting COOP | A 4- to 7-month placement for Saudi bachelor’s students at Saudi universities |
| Seoul | Associate Consultant Trainee | At least 2 to 3 months on real cases, with applications three times a year |
| Australia | Be Bold, First Nations | Part-time scholarship programs |

*Source: Bain’s program pages, October 2026.*

## **When to Apply: Bain Internship Deadlines by Office**

The ACI posting tells you to check each office for exact deadlines, and the office pages differ more than most guides admit. Here is the pattern on October 9, 2026, from Bain’s [ACI application page](https://www.bain.com/careers/hiring-process/associate-consultant-intern/), where you can select an office to see its rules.

![Bain internship deadlines by office for summer 2027, showing fixed deadlines, closed US application windows, rolling applications, and offices with no ACI listed.](https://strategycase.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/bain-internship-deadlines-by-office-2027-1024x576.png)

| Offices | How the ACI runs | Length | Date to know |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **US** (13 offices) | Spring window; the online assessment is the last application step | 10 weeks | Summer 2027 windows closed March 29 and August 31, 2026 |
| **Toronto, Montreal** | Fixed deadline; Montreal requires French | Summer | October 11, 2026, for summer 2027 |
| **Mexico City, Monterrey** | Two cycles a year | Not stated | February to March and August to September |
| **Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Santiago, São Paulo** | One selection round a year, for penultimate- and final-year students | Not stated | Early in the year; dates not yet posted |
| **Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich** | Rolling, any start date; apply about six months ahead | 10 to 12 weeks | Year-round |
| **Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Rome, Athens, Warsaw, Nordic offices** | Rolling review, set start dates in most offices | Not stated | Year-round; Oslo and Stockholm reopen in fall 2026 |
| **Madrid, Lisbon** | Fixed deadline | 2 months, June to July | January 24, 2027 |
| **Paris** | Master’s students only; three cycles; school internship agreement required | 5 to 6 months | For a June start, apply November to December |
| **Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Riyadh** | Fixed deadline | Not stated | October 30, 2026 |
| **Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City** | Deadline depends on where you study | Not stated | Students at UK universities: October 2026 |
| **Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo** | Dates to be confirmed; Tokyo runs its own recruiting site | Not stated | Check the office page |
| **London, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Johannesburg, Kyiv, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul** | No ACI listed (Seoul runs a trainee program) | n/a | n/a |

*Source: Bain’s ACI office pages, checked October 9, 2026. US windows from Harvard’s career office.*

Two caveats. Bain’s global ACI posting lists Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bengaluru as locations, yet all three office pages say they don’t offer the ACI. Confirm with the office before you plan around it. And some office pages still show last cycle’s dates, so a date in the past may only mean the page hasn’t been updated yet.

### **US Students: The Spring Window Moved Earlier**

For summer 2027, Bain ran two US windows, closing March 29 and August 31, 2026, according to [Harvard’s career office](https://careerservices.fas.harvard.edu/blog/2026/06/11/consulting-application-deadlines/). The summer 2026 windows had closed on July 6 and September 2, 2025, according to [Villanova’s career office](https://connections.villanova.edu/blog/2025/06/03/2026-opportunity-mbb-application-deadlines-mckinsey-bain-bcg/). Measured against the start of the internship, the first window moved about 14 weeks earlier.

Aim for the first window. Villanova notes that Bain fills spots as applications arrive, so the second window competes for fewer open seats. Bain’s US office pages say only that applications typically open in the spring, and the summer 2028 dates aren’t posted yet. For every firm’s dates side by side, use our [consulting recruiting timeline](https://strategycase.com/consulting-recruiting-timeline/).

Picture two sophomores at the same US school, equally strong on paper. One applies to a Bain sophomore program before November 30, builds case skills over the winter, and submits in the spring window. The other plans to start at the junior-year career fair, as students did a few years ago, and finds both summer windows already closed. That student’s next real shot at Bain is the full-time round the following summer, with no internship to show for it.

### **If Your Office Doesn’t Run the ACI**

London is the biggest gap. Bain’s London page lists no ACI, so your options there are the programs above (Belong@Bain, True North, FRWD) or the full-time Associate Consultant role after you graduate. Several Southeast Asian offices set separate deadlines for students at UK universities, but they require work authorization in that country.

Australia has the same gap. Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth list no ACI, although Sydney runs the MBA Summer Associate program.

## **Bain Internship Salary: What Interns Earn**

Bain publishes intern pay only for US applicants, as a flat monthly base salary. Its full-time postings now publish base pay too, which lets you compare the two.

| Program | US monthly base | 10-week summer, before tax | Annualized | Full-time base for the role you’d convert into |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Associate Consultant Internship** | $9,000 | About $20,800 | $108,000 | $120,000 (first-year Associate Consultant) |
| **Summer Associate (MBA)** | $16,000 | About $36,900 | $192,000 | $200,000 (first-year Consultant) |

*Source: Bain’s US postings for each role, October 2026. The 10-week and annualized figures are our arithmetic.*

So Bain pays interns slightly below the full-time rate: about 90% of the first-year base for ACIs and 96% for Summer Associates. On top of salary, Bain pays 100% of individual premiums for medical, dental, and vision coverage, per the same postings. For pay at every level after that, see our [Bain salary guide](https://strategycase.com/bain-company-hierarchy-and-salary-data/).

Outside the US, Bain doesn’t publish intern pay, so ask your recruiter. Program length matters as much as the monthly rate: a two-month summer in Madrid runs a third as long as a six-month placement in Paris.

## **The Bain Internship Application and Interview Process**

For consulting roles, Bain describes the process as a digital assessment followed by case interviews. Here is how that plays out for interns.

### **Step 1: The Application**

You apply online and pick your office, which decides most of what follows. US offices want a resume, a cover letter, and an unofficial transcript, and they encourage ACT or SAT scores. German-speaking offices make the cover letter optional but ask for your diplomas and references. Bain’s interviewing page says every candidate for a role gets the same questions, to reduce bias, which suggests its cases are standardized across interviewers.

### **Step 2: The Online Assessment**

Next comes Bain’s digital assessment, either Sova or TestGorilla. According to Bain’s [assessment page](https://www.bain.com/careers/hiring-process/digital-assessment/), it takes about 30 to 40 minutes, allows a calculator during the test (but not in later interviews), and strictly bans AI tools. In US offices, the assessment is the final step of the application and arrives closer to the deadline; in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, it comes within a week of applying. Bain says to expect an answer within 60 days.

Our guides to the [Bain TestGorilla assessment](https://strategycase.com/bain-testgorilla/) and the [Bain SOVA test](https://strategycase.com/bain-sova-test/) cover both formats.

### **Step 3: The First Round**

Bain’s South American offices spell out the structure: two case interviews in the first round and two in the final round. Candidates at other offices report a similar shape, with questions about your experiences folded into each interview. The case rewards Bain’s [answer-first approach](https://strategycase.com/answer-first-bain/): commit to a hypothesis early, then test it against the data.

Having evaluated candidates at McKinsey, I’d treat an intern interview as the full-time interview with less experience on your resume. The firm is deciding whether it can put you on a client team after a week of training, and the case is built to answer that question.

### **Step 4: The Final Round**

Candidates report final rounds of two or three interviews with senior consultants and partners, and some offices add a written case, where you turn a data pack into a few slides. In 2026, some European Partner rounds also started using an immersive case with a ChatGPT segment. So far it’s documented only for later-stage recruiting. If your invitation mentions it, read our [Bain AI interview guide](https://strategycase.com/bain-ai-interview/).

Fit runs through every round. Bain weighs it heavily (the “airport test”: would the team want to be stuck in an airport with you?), and its fit questions center on your past experiences. Our [Bain fit interview guide](https://strategycase.com/bain-fit-interview/) covers the questions and how to answer them.

In my coaching, the Bain candidates who stall are rarely weak at math. They hesitate to commit to an answer, and Bain’s format exposes that in the first few minutes. Structuring a problem you haven’t seen before and doing the math on paper decide most rounds, and both can be trained. The StrategyCase [Case Interview Academy](https://strategycase.com/case-interview-academy/) drills both, along with exhibit interpretation, through video lessons and thousands of practice drills.

## **How Hard Is It to Get a Bain Internship?**

Hard. Bain describes the ACI as highly selective and publishes no acceptance rate, so any precise figure you see online is an estimate.

Here’s the shape of the funnel as I see it. Most applicants are filtered before anyone runs a case with them, at the resume screen and the online assessment. Once you reach the case rounds, the odds improve a lot. My estimate, explained in our [case interview success rates by firm](https://strategycase.com/case-interview-success-rate-by-firm-mbb-tier-2-big-4/), is that roughly 10 to 15% of candidates who reach Bain’s case rounds receive an offer.

Three things move your odds at Bain specifically:

- **Timing.** Apply in the first window, or early in a rolling office’s cycle, before seats fill.
- **Early contact.** Bain’s sophomore programs, Bainworks, True North, and Jumpstart all put you in front of the firm before you apply.
- **Grades.** US offices read your transcript with the application. Our [GPA guide for MBB](https://strategycase.com/gpa-for-mckinsey-bcg-bain-top-consulting-firms/) puts Bain’s competitive range at 3.7 or higher at US schools.

## **How to Get a Bain Internship: 5 Steps**

### **1. Choose Your Office First**

Your office sets your calendar and your language requirements, and it decides where a full-time offer would be. Bain says outright that Summer Associate offers are for the office you interned in. ADvantage participants can’t transfer offices afterward either, so I’d plan on the same logic for the ACI.

Bain’s advice to Summer Associates works for everyone: apply to an office where you’d be thrilled to get a full-time offer. Our [guide to Bain’s office locations](https://strategycase.com/bain-office-locations/) helps you compare them.

### **2. Get Known Before You Apply**

Bain’s early programs exist so the firm can meet candidates before the application. Use them, along with campus events and coffee chats. Francesca, the intern from Bain’s blog post, made the same point: she rated getting to know people at the firm as equally important as case prep. A referral from a Bain consultant who knows your work also helps, so here’s [how to earn a referral at McKinsey, BCG, or Bain](https://strategycase.com/how-to-get-a-referral-for-mckinsey-bcg-bain/) without being transactional.

### **3. Make Your Resume and Cover Letter Pass a Fast Screen**

In the US, a recruiter reads your resume, cover letter, and transcript before anyone meets you. Lead each resume line with a measurable result and keep it to one page, then write a cover letter with a specific reason for Bain and for the office you chose.

### **4. Be Assessment-Ready on the Day You Apply**

Bain says no preparation is required for its assessment, which is true in one sense: there’s nothing to memorize. Speed and accuracy with numbers and charts under time pressure can still be trained, and they’re the same skills the case rounds test. Since the link can arrive within days of applying, do a timed practice set before you submit.

### **5. Prepare the Way Bain Interviews**

Most prep advice says to grind 40 or more practice cases. For a sophomore facing a spring deadline, volume is the wrong target. Build the skills first: structuring an unfamiliar problem, leading with your answer, and doing math on paper, since Bain doesn’t allow calculators in interviews. Then use practice cases to test those skills in Bain’s format, and prepare three or four true stories for the fit questions, which Bain weighs as heavily as the case.

## **Do Bain Interns Get Full-Time Offers?**

Most strong performers do, but Bain’s wording differs by program, and the difference matters.

For Summer Associates, Bain says successful interns receive an offer to return as a full-time consultant in their office, without further assessments or interviews. For the ACI, the language is more careful: a successful internship may lead to more interviews or to an offer. Either way, treat the internship as your final round.

Bain doesn’t publish conversion rates. The most recent figure from a Bain recruiting leader dates from 2017. That year, the firm’s global head of consultant recruiting told [MetroMBA](https://www.metromba.com/2017/03/bain-company-mba-hires/) that 90 percent of its MBA summer interns returned to Bain. The figure is nine years old and covers MBA interns only. From my own experience at McKinsey that conversion number was roughly similar so it’s credible.

The decision usually comes down to whether your team would want you on its next case. That rests on the quality of your piece of the work and how fast you act on feedback. For how conversion works across MBB, see our guide to [consulting internship vs. full-time applications](https://strategycase.com/consulting-internship-vs-full-time-application/).

### **If You Don’t Get the Internship**

A rejection doesn’t end your Bain candidacy. Bain says a failed Summer Associate application doesn’t affect full-time recruiting, and that it reconsiders Summer Associate applicants in its full-time review. It tells ACI and early-program applicants to stay in touch and apply again. For US undergraduates, the next door is the full-time Associate Consultant round, which closed on July 19, 2026, for the class of 2027.

## **Frequently Asked Questions**

### **How much do Bain interns get paid?**

In the US, Bain pays Associate Consultant Interns $9,000 a month, about $20,800 over a 10-week summer, and MBA Summer Associates $16,000 a month, about $36,900 over 10 weeks. Both rates sit slightly below the full-time base for the role ($120,000 and $200,000 a year), and Bain covers individual medical, dental, and vision premiums. Bain doesn’t publish intern pay outside the US.

### **How hard is it to get a Bain internship?**

Hard. Bain describes the ACI as highly selective and publishes no acceptance rate, so treat any exact percentage as an estimate. Most applicants are cut at the resume screen and the online assessment. Among candidates who reach Bain’s case rounds, I estimate roughly 10 to 15% receive an offer.

### **When is the Bain summer internship 2027 deadline?**

It depends on your office. In the US, the summer 2027 ACI windows closed March 29 and August 31, 2026. Toronto and Montreal set October 11, 2026, the Middle East offices set October 30, 2026, and Madrid and Lisbon set January 24, 2027. German-speaking offices hire year-round, and MBA Summer Associate deadlines are set by school.

### **Is it harder to get into McKinsey or Bain?**

They’re close. At the case stage the bar is similar, and the differences are in format. Bain leans answer-first and weighs fit heavily, while McKinsey adds its Solve game and a structured Personal Experience Interview. If you’re applying to both, our [McKinsey internship guide](https://strategycase.com/mckinsey-internship/) covers McKinsey’s programs and dates.

### **What GPA do you need for a Bain internship?**

Bain publishes no GPA cutoff, but US offices ask for your transcript with the application, so your grades are read early. At US schools, the competitive range starts around 3.7, with some flexibility near 3.5 for candidates whose experience stands out.

### **Does Bain offer internships in London?**

Not the Associate Consultant Internship: Bain’s London office page says it doesn’t offer it. Students in London can apply to Belong@Bain, the True North scholarships, or the paid FRWD digital-marketing internship, or to the full-time Associate Consultant role after graduating. MBA students can apply to London’s Summer Associate program.

## **Related Guides**

- [A day in the life of a Bain consultant](https://strategycase.com/day-in-the-life-of-a-bain-consultant/): the job an intern is trying out
- [Written case interviews](https://strategycase.com/how-to-crack-written-case-interviews/): the format some Bain offices add to the final round
- [Consulting resume guide](https://strategycase.com/consulting-resume/): the format and language Bain’s screeners expect

## **The Bottom Line**

A Bain internship is the main way into the firm for students and MBAs, and the office you choose decides your program, your calendar, and even how long you’ll intern. Pick the office first, find its window in the table above, and work backward so you’re ready for the online assessment on the day you apply and for answer-first cases after that.

If you’re starting from zero, the free StrategyCase Case Interview Foundations course is the place to begin. If you’d like to know where you stand before Bain’s next window, [book a free consultation with me](https://strategycase.com/florian-coaching/) and we’ll talk through your preparation.

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**About the Author:** Dr. Florian Smeritschnig is the founder of StrategyCase.com and a former McKinsey Senior Consultant who evaluated candidates for the firm. Since 2020 he has delivered 2,200+ mock interviews and coaching sessions, and his clients have secured 700+ consulting offers, 340 of them at McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. He is the author of three books on consulting interviews and careers, including *The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview*.