MBB is the shorthand for McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company — the three strategy-consulting firms candidates treat as the top generalist brand. They are not a consortium. They do not share interviews. A McKinsey interviewer-led case, a BCG exhibit pack, and a Bain candidate-led PE-flavored case reward different habits. Apply to all three if you want, but prepare three rooms.
This page is the map. The recruiting funnel and referral math: how to get into MBB. Pay: McKinsey, BCG, Bain. Life at McKinsey as a proxy for hours: working at McKinsey.
Last full pass: 24 August 2026. CoachNed is independent practice material, not affiliated with McKinsey, BCG, or Bain.
What the work is (and is not)
All three sell senior-client problem solving: strategy, operations, organization, transactions, digital. All three hire generalists and specialists. All three run hard hours (the McKinsey page's 60–80 week range is the honest MBB conversation). All three are up-or-out-ish: you grow or you leave.
Stereotypes that are directionally useful and dangerous if you stop there:
- McKinsey: scale, problem-solving brand, PEI, Solve, interviewer-led cases.
- BCG: ideas and transformation, Casey chatbot, candidate-led exhibit-heavy cases, BCG X / Platinion as separate doors.
- Bain: results and PE, local staffing, candidate-led cases, SOVA in some markets, intern monthlies they actually post.
Firm marketing will always claim uniqueness. Your coffee chats should be about this office's staffing and this practice's work.
BCG's public 2025 figures (reported April 2026 on what is BCG): $14.4 billion revenue, 33,500 employees. Do not invent McKinsey or Bain headcount on this page; use each firm's own materials when you need a number.
2026 US campus pay (from our salary siblings — not new invention)
| Firm | Undergrad title | Undergrad base (typical US) | MBA / post-grad title | MBA base (typical US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKinsey | Business Analyst | ~$112,000 | Associate | $192,000 |
| BCG | Associate | ~$110,000–$115,000 | Consultant | $190,000 |
| Bain | Associate Consultant | $112,000 | Consultant | $192,000 |
Year-1 totals overlap in the mid-$200s depending on signing and bonus; Bain's public conversation includes a higher bonus ceiling. Details and source caveats: the three salary posts. Title trap: McKinsey Associate ≠ BCG Associate.
Internships: Bain posted ~$9,000/month ACI and ~$16,000/month Summer Associate (Bain internships). McKinsey and BCG intern monthlies are not treated as posted facts on those firms' CoachNed intern pages.
Recruiting is five gates — the assessments differ
How to get into MBB describes resume → online assessment → first round → final round → offer, and cites the directional ~200,000 applications / ~2,000 offers / under 1% picture per firm from that page's sources. Do not treat "under 1%" as a personal probability model.
Assessments (confirm invite):
- McKinsey: Solve — commonly Redrock ~35 min + Sea Wolf ~30 min.
- BCG: Casey — commonly ~25–30 min, 8–10 questions. Practice: Casey chatbot.
- Bain: SOVA in some offices — verbal, numerical, logical, SJT. Practice: SOVA.
Cases: McKinsey interviewer-led (guide, 10-case bank). BCG/Bain candidate-led (BCG, Bain).
Behavioral: McKinsey PEI is one story, 10–20 minutes, no switch. BCG fit is shorter and more conversational. Bain wants you back on the team Thursday night.
Worked example: one candidate, three applications, one order
You. Non-target master's, two years in CPG ops, one PE coffee chat, weaker PEI stories, strong candidate-led casing, Chicago geography constraint.
Not useful. "I'll just apply MBB and see."
Useful ranking.
- Bain Chicago first: PE curiosity + ops + local staffing story is a real Bain letter (what is Bain). Candidate-led is your strength. Check SOVA.
- BCG Chicago second: same drive, prep Casey separately, write a non-substitutable why (cover letter).
- McKinsey third if you can build eight PEI stories that survive probes and you will sit Solve without stealing the Bain week. Interviewer-led is your weaker muscle — start drills now, not after BCG finals.
If the PEI bank is your superpower and you like interviewer-led, reverse 1 and 3. The example is the method: match room to evidence, not prestige order.
Practise the case half on try. Do not use one mock style for all three firms.
Failure modes when "MBB" is the strategy
- One prep plan. Passivity that McKinsey rewards as "following the interviewer" is a Bain fail.
- One why-consulting paragraph pasted three ways. Why consulting then a firm-specific why.
- Comparing the wrong Associate. Salary pages exist for this.
- Inventing headcount, pass rates, or intern pay. Cite siblings or official careers pages.
- Ignoring specialist doors. QuantumBlack, BCG X, Platinion, Bain Vector are different applications.
- Treating under 1% as destiny. Referrals and school paths change gate 1 (how to get into MBB).
What "strategy consulting" still looks like on Monday
The brand is strategy. The week is often: a messy client question, a team of three to five, a deck that has to survive a steering committee, and travel that working at McKinsey describes as the MBB default rather than an exception. Implementation, digital build, and PE diligence sit inside the same three logos — they just live in different practices and job families. A generalist BA/AC/Associate week is not a Platinion architecture week and not a QuantumBlack modeling week. Read the posting.
If you want the job, practise the room you will sit: try a case, then drills on the skill that failed. Assessments when invited: Casey, SOVA, Solve via the McKinsey module guides.
Pick offices, not a logo cloud. Then practise in the format that office will actually run.