A BCG live case is candidate-led and exhibit-heavy. You propose the structure, you choose which chart to open, and you keep a hypothesis in play while the pack tries to distract you. Casey, the chatbot screen, is a different product: timed, no partner, you cannot go back. Do not practise only one and expect the other to follow.
This page is the live interview. Casey format and prep: BCG online case (Casey). Practice loop and a brewery worked case: BCG case interview practice. Fit: BCG fit interview.
Last full pass: 24 August 2026. CoachNed is independent practice material, not affiliated with BCG.
What the live round feels like
You get a prompt. You get (often) a stack of exhibits — more than McKinsey typically hands one-by-one. You are expected to:
- State the decision in one sentence.
- Lay a structure that matches this hotel, factory, or payer — not a generic growth poster.
- Pick a starting analysis and ask for the exhibit that tests it.
- Quantify in public, units on.
- Recommend with a number, a risk, and a next step.
Fit at BCG is shorter and less scripted than McKinsey PEI. Leland and other prep sources describe roughly 10 to 15 minutes of fit, often conversational, sometimes mid-case. The 3 Whys still show up: why you, why consulting, why BCG. A paste-from-McKinsey "why BCG" dies.
Online screens: Casey is commonly ~25–30 minutes, 8–10 questions (confirm the invite; BCG regional pages disagree on the minute count). Some loops use CCA or other tools instead. Invitation wins.
Live case vs Casey vs written (this page's comparison)
| Live interviewer | Casey chatbot | Written case (some loops) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who drives | You | The bot's next prompt | You, on paper / slides |
| Exhibits | Often 3–5; you choose order | One slice at a time; no going back | A pack you must prioritize |
| Rescue | A good interviewer may nudge | None | None |
| Fit | Interwoven; 3 Whys | Not the point | Rarely |
| How you prep | Candidate-led mocks | Casey simulator | Timed pack + slide story |
Two Casey-style questions run free on CoachNed; a ten-case library sits on Sprint/Annual or a $69 one-time pack — details on the Casey simulator comparison. That is assessment practice. It does not teach you to look a Project Leader in the eye and pick chart 4.
US campus pay context, if you are comparing offers: BCG salary — undergrad Associate ~$110,000–$115,000, MBA Consultant base $190,000. Do not mix BCG "Associate" with McKinsey "Associate."
Worked example: occupancy is up, profit is not
Prompt. A 220-room luxury hotel in a gateway city has occupancy up 6 points year-on-year, but GOP (gross operating profit) is down $1.8 million. The GM wants to know whether to cut rate to "fill the rest of the house" for Q4.
Drive, do not tour. Decision: cut rate or not. Structure: price/mix, variable cost per occupied room, channel mix (OTA vs direct), and one-time items (renovation, wage spike). Hypothesis: occupancy up plus profit down is a mix and cost story, not a "we need more volume" story. You want ADR by channel and cost per occupied room first.
Exhibit you request. ADR by channel. Direct: $410. Brand.com: $395. OTA: $310. Mix shifted: OTA share of room nights from 18 percent to 31 percent. Occupied rooms last year 58,400; this year 64,200 (that is the occupancy lift). Variable cost per occupied room rose from $78 to $96 (contract housekeeping + F&B).
Math. Room revenue last year (simplified): you do not have last year's mix, so use this year's nights × this year's mix as the "now" state. OTA nights now ≈ 0.31 × 64,200 ≈ 19,900. Direct+brand take the rest. Contribution per OTA night: $310 − $96 = $214. Direct: $410 − $96 = $314. Each night that moved from direct-like ADR to OTA costs ~$100 of contribution. The mix shift is 13 points of 64,200 ≈ 8,350 nights × $100 ≈ $0.84 million. Cost-per-room delta: $18 × 64,200 ≈ $1.16 million. Together ~$2.0 million, which covers the $1.8 million GOP hole with a little left for noise.
Synthesis. "Do not cut rate. The occupancy you already bought came through OTAs at $100 less contribution per night, and cost per occupied room rose $18. Those two moves explain the $1.8 million. A Q4 rate cut would add the lowest-contribution nights on a cost base that already inflated. I would cap OTA allotment, push the 8,350 shifted nights back toward direct, and reopen the housekeeping contract. Risk: a city-wide demand hole in Q4 that the exhibit does not show — I would check forward bookings by channel before locking the cap."
That is BCG: you chose the exhibit, you did mix math, you refused the GM's favorite lever.
Practise choosing the next analysis on a guided case. Chart habits: data interpretation.
Scoring, stripped of folklore
BCG is reading whether you can be left with a messy pack and still make a decision a client could use. That is structure, exhibit selection, math, judgment, and a close that is not a recap.
They are also reading whether you are someone a staffer would put on a team. That is the fit half: BCG fit. Do not use this page as a PEI deep-dive; McKinsey's PEI guide is a different sport.
Platinion and BCG X are not this interview. Architecture / implementation: Platinion. Build / data: BCG X.
Failure modes Casey will not save you from
- Reading every exhibit in order. The pack is a test of priority. Open the one that kills or confirms the hypothesis.
- McKinsey passivity. Nobody will hand you the next question on a schedule. If you wait, you stall.
- Cutting price because occupancy is the KPI on slide 1. Occupancy is not profit. The hotel example exists because this fail is common.
- Generic why BCG. If McKinsey still fits the sentence, rewrite it.
- Skipping the chatbot when it is on the invite. Casey guide and two free questions.
- Treating fit as optional. A clean case with a robotic "we" story still loses debriefs.
Two-week live-case plan (Casey on a separate track)
Week 1. Five candidate-led openings. Two full cases with a real exhibit pack (or CoachNed cases). One fit session: 3 Whys out loud.
Week 2. Two harder cases. One written-style pack if your office uses it. If Casey is scheduled, separate sessions on the chatbot — do not mix the muscles in one sitting the night before.
Confirm duration, calculator, and video rules from BCG's email. Regional pages do not agree on a single minute count, and this site is not BCG.