SOVA (often styled Sova) is the online screen some Bain offices send after you apply and before live cases. It is not a case interview. It is timed psychometric work: verbal, numerical, logical, and a situational judgment test (SJT). Other offices use a different vendor or skip the screen. Your invitation is the source of truth.
This page is how to treat those four sections. It is not a leaked item bank. CoachNed's SOVA-style practice is original transfer practice, independent of Bain.
Last full pass: 24 August 2026. CoachNed is independent practice material, not affiliated with Bain.
Confirm you even have it
Bain's process varies by office, school, and role. Bain internships notes that some internship loops include SOVA (or TestGorilla). Full-time loops are the same story: some candidates never see it.
If the email names SOVA, prepare the four sections below. If it names something else, do not force this guide onto it. If it says nothing, ask the recruiter rather than guessing.
Live interviews after the screen are still candidate-led cases. SOVA does not replace them.
What each section is actually testing
| Section | What it looks like | What they are measuring | How to practise without a leak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical | Tables, percentages, ratios, "which statement is supported" | Accuracy under time, not consulting frameworks | Timed table reads; write the relationship before you calculate |
| Verbal | Short passages, true / false / cannot say | Staying inside the text | GMAT-style critical reasoning: do not import outside knowledge |
| Logical | Sequences, diagrams, rules | Pattern without overfit | One rule at a time; do not invent a second pattern |
| SJT | Workplace scenes, rank or pick responses | Judgment and consistency with how you answered elsewhere | Decide your work style, then stick to it |
Public prep chatter often quotes a 30–40 minute block and a "top 20–30 percent" cut. Those figures are candidate reports, not a Bain-published cutoff. How to get into MBB records the same directional range. Do not treat a forum percentile as a score you can reverse-engineer.
Worked numerical: freight yield, not a grocery margin
You get a table. You do not get a partner.
Table. A regional carrier reports three lanes for Q2.
| Lane | Loads | Revenue ($000) | Cost ($000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (overnight) | 400 | 1,200 | 960 |
| B (deferred) | 900 | 1,350 | 1,080 |
| C (economy) | 600 | 480 | 420 |
Question. Which statement is supported?
- (i) Lane A has the highest contribution per load.
- (ii) Lane B has the highest contribution margin percent.
- (iii) Lane C is loss-making.
- (iv) Overnight is more than half of total contribution.
Work it. Contribution: A = 1,200 − 960 = 240 → 240 / 400 = $0.60k per load. B = 270 → 270 / 900 = $0.30k. C = 60 → 60 / 600 = $0.10k. So (i) is true.
Margin percent: A = 240 / 1,200 = 20%. B = 270 / 1,350 = 20%. C = 60 / 480 = 12.5%. (ii) is false — A and B tie; B is not uniquely highest.
(iii) is false — C contributes +60.
Total contribution = 240 + 270 + 60 = 570. Overnight share = 240 / 570 ≈ 42%, not more than half. (iv) is false.
Supported: (i) only. The trap is mixing per-load contribution with margin percent, and mixing "smallest" with "loss-making."
That is SOVA numerical: three calculations, four statements, one that survives. Drill the same motion on CoachNed math drills and the SOVA practice.
Worked SJT: the consistency trap
Scene. You are an intern. A teammate is about to send a client deck with a chart whose axis is unlabeled. The manager is in the air for two hours. The client meeting is in 90 minutes.
Response options (rank most to least effective, typical SJT style):
- A. Send it anyway; unlabeled axes are common in working drafts.
- B. Fix the axis, add a one-line title, and flag the manager on landing with what you changed.
- C. Delay the meeting until the manager reviews.
- D. Ask the client which label they prefer, in the meeting.
A defensible ranking: B, then C only if the error is material and you cannot verify the unit, then D never as a first move, A last.
What SOVA is doing with this item is not "gotcha consulting trivia." It is: do you protect the client, own a small fix, and communicate up — and do you answer the next SJT in the same personality. If you pick "heroic delay" here and "ship at all costs" five items later, the consistency flag is the score.
There is no official Bain answer key in public. Do not buy one. Practise the habit: client-safe, specific, owned.
Failure modes that are not "I am bad at math"
- Treating SJT as a single right answer. Rank in the firm's world: client, team, then your ego. Then stay consistent.
- Importing case frameworks into verbal. The passage did not mention MECE. "Cannot say" is often the honest option.
- Spending 4 minutes on item 2. Numerical is a volume game. Mark, move, return if the software allows — follow the on-screen rules.
- Outside knowledge. The table did not say fuel hedges. Do not invent them.
- Prepping a leaked clone. Bain's integrity rules and basic sense: original timed practice only. SOVA practice is independent material.
- Ignoring the live case. Clearing SOVA gets you into a Bain case. It does not get you the offer.
A five-day plan if the invite is next week
Day 1. Confirm sections and timing from the email. No other research.
Day 2. Numerical: 20 timed table items. Write the formula first, every time.
Day 3. Verbal: true / false / cannot say. Punish yourself for using outside facts.
Day 4. Logical: sequences. One rule, check it on two items, then commit.
Day 5. SJT set in one sitting, then a short case opening drill so you do not arrive at interviews in "test" mode.
If internships are the goal, pair this with Bain internships for ACI vs Summer Associate logistics. US intern monthly bases Bain posted for 2026 are about $9,000 (ACI) and $16,000 (Summer Associate) — those numbers live on that page, not on SOVA.