Bain application deadlines vary depending on the program or role. It is critical that you submit your Bain application on-time to ensure that you have the best chance of being selected for Bain’s programs and roles.

 

If you’re finding it difficult to keep track of all of Bain’s application deadlines, then this article is for you. As a former Bain Manager and interviewer, I’ve compiled for you a comprehensive list of all Bain application deadlines.

 

Bain Application Deadlines

 

All Bain application deadlines for Bain’s various programs and positions are compiled below. We will update this table as soon as we receive official announcements for the upcoming year.

 

	Target Audience	2024 Deadline	2025 Deadline
Bain Associate Consultant	Undergraduate seniors, Non-MBA Master’s students	July 7 or September 8	To be announced
Bain Associate Consultant Intern	Undergraduate juniors	July 7 or September 8	To be announced
Bain Consultant	Second-year MBA students, advanced degree holders	August or September (Expected)	To be announced
Bain Summer Associate Intern	First-year MBA students	November (Expected)	To be announced
Experience Bain	Incoming MBA students	May 1	To be announced
Bain BASE	Incoming diversity MBA students	May 5	To be announced
Bain ADvantage	Graduate students, post docs, medical residents	February 28	To be announced
Bain BEL	Diversity undergraduate sophomores	February 21	To be announced
Bain Consulting Kickstart	Diversity undergraduate freshmen	April 15	To be announced
Bain CREW	Undergraduate sophomore women	November (Expected)	To be announced
Bain Be Bold Scholarship	Incoming female or gender diverse MBA students interested in consulting in Australia	May 2024	May 2025 (Expected)

 

Bain Associate Consultant Deadline

 

Deadline: July 7, 2024 or September 8, 2024

 

The Bain Associate Consultant position is the entry-level role at Bain for recent undergraduate and non-MBA Master’s students. It is a two-year, full-time position that leads to a promotion to Senior Associate Consultant.

 

We highly recommend applying to the earlier deadline to give yourself the best chance of receiving an interview.

 

Bain Associate Consultant Intern Deadline

 

Deadline: July 7, 2024 or September 8, 2024

 

The Bain Associate Consultant Internship is an entry-level, 10-week internship for undergraduates who have just completed their junior year. Interns will be assigned to a client team and contribute to real projects.

 

We highly recommend applying to the earlier deadline to give yourself the best chance of receiving an interview.

 

Bain Consultant Deadline

 

Deadline: August or September 2024 (Expected)

 

The Bain Consultant position is a mid-level role at Bain for recent MBA graduates, advanced degree graduates, and working professionals that have three or more years of relevant business experience. It is a two to three-year, full-time position that leads to a promotion to Senior Manager.

 

Bain Summer Associate Intern Deadline

 

Deadline: November 2024 (Expected)

 

The Bain Summer Associate Internship is a mid-level, 10-week internship for MBA students that have just completed their first year of business school. Interns will be assigned to a client team and contribute to real projects.

 

Experience Bain Deadline

 

Deadline: May 1, 2024

 

Experience Bain is a virtual summer program for incoming MBA students to learn more about management consulting at Bain, receive recruiting tips and advice for the upcoming fall recruiting season, and network with Bainies and peers in the program.

 

Bain BASE Deadline

 

Deadline: May 5, 2024

 

The Bain BASE program is a one-week, in-person experience that provides incoming Black, Hispanic/Latin American, and Indigenous MBA students with a full day of consulting training before being staffed onto a real case team for a few days.

 

Bain ADvantage Deadline

 

Deadline: February 28, 2024

 

The Bain ADvantage Program is a one-week internship for graduate students, post docs, and medical residents that includes business training and being staffed on an actual case team working on solving real business problems.

 

Bain BEL Deadline

 

Deadline: February 21, 2024

 

The Bain BEL program is a one-week program in which participants will receive training, work on a case team, and have the opportunity to interview for a summer internship position. It was established to provide undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds with exposure to a career in consulting.

 

Bain Consulting Kickstart Deadline

 

Deadline: April 15, 2024

 

The Bain Consulting Kickstart program is an interactive, virtual series that provides exposure to a career in consulting for undergraduate freshmen from underrepresented backgrounds, including Black, Hispanic, Latin American, and Indigenous.

 

Bain CREW Deadline

 

Deadline: November 2024 (Expected)

 

The Bain CREW program is an in-person, 1.5 day workshop for women in their sophomore year of undergraduate studies to hear from women leaders in consulting, get a feel for working as a consultant, and build a business toolkit.

 

Bain Be Bold Scholarship

 

Deadline: May 2025 (Expected)

 

The Bain Be Bold Scholarship is for EU, UK, or US business school students who identify as female or gender diverse that are interested in a career in consulting in Australia. The scholarship winner will receive an early internship offer to Bain Australia’s Summer Associate program and be a Bain Australia ambassador on their campus.

 

Bain Recruiting Timelines

 

The Bain recruiting timeline generally follows the schedule below.

 

	Internship application timeline	Full-time position application timeline
Undergraduate and non-MBA Master’s students	June to October	June to October
MBA students	November to December	August to September
Advanced degree holders	February to April	June to September
Experienced hires	Typically not offered	Year-round, but especially in March to May

 

Bain recruiting timeline for undergraduate and non-MBA Master’s students

 

Recruiting for undergraduate and non-MBA Master’s students takes place from June through October.

 

To be eligible for the internship program, undergraduates should be in their third-year or junior year of school. Non-MBA Master’s students should be in their first-year or penultimate year of school.

 

To be eligible for the full-time position, undergraduates should be in their fourth-year or senior year of school. Non-MBA Master’s students should be in their final year of school.

 

Bain recruiting timeline for MBA students

 

Recruiting for MBA students takes place in in the fall and winter. Internship recruiting is intended for first-year MBA students and takes place from November to December. Full-time recruiting is intended for second-year MBA students and takes place from August to September.

 

Bain recruiting timeline for advanced degree holders

 

Recruiting for internships and advanced degree programs takes place between February and April and is intended for candidates in their penultimate year of study.

 

Recruiting for full-time positions takes place between June and September and is intended for candidates in their last year of study or recent advanced degree graduates.

 

Bain recruiting timeline for experienced hires

 

There are no deadlines for experienced hires. Bain recruits experienced hires throughout the entire year. However, March to May is a particularly attractive period to apply.

 

Bain does experienced hire recruiting to fill in spots that are unfilled after undergraduate and MBA recruiting. Therefore, the March to May period is the recruiting period in-between recruiting cycles where Bain typically interviews the most number of experienced hires.

 

How to Prepare Bain Application Materials

 

Most applications for Bain programs or positions require: a resume, cover letter, test scores, unofficial transcripts, and office preferences.

 

Resume

 

Your resume is the single most important component that will determine whether or not you are extended an interview for any Bain program or position.

 

Therefore, you’ll want to dedicate at least a few days perfecting your resume while also getting feedback from peers, your school’s career center, or even consultants that you know.

 

Make sure to follow the tips below to perfect your consulting resume.

 

• Keep your resume to one page only. If it is longer, you’ll need to make your resume more concise and less wordy

 

• Every bullet on your resume should start with a verb in the past tense to show that you have completed or achieved something

 

• Every bullet should have some kind of number or metric in them so that you can quantify your accomplishments and make them sound more impressive

 

• Your resume’s bullets should show a mix of quantitative skill accomplishments (e.g., analyzing data) and qualitative skill accomplishments (e.g., managing or working with others)

 

• Avoid using technical jargon, unfamiliar abbreviations or acronyms, and buzzwords with unclear meanings

 

• Your resume should prioritize showcasing your work experiences, particularly if you have worked at a brand name company

 

• Include personal interests at the end of the resume to give resume reviewers something interesting to read about

 

If you need professional help crafting the perfect resume that will land you consulting interviews, check out our resume review and editing service.

 

Cover Letter

 

If you are a borderline candidate, a well-written consulting cover letter could push your application over the edge and help you get an interview.

 

Make sure to follow the tips below to perfect your consulting cover letter.

 

• Tailor the salutation to the appropriate members of the Bain recruiting team

 

• The first sentence of your opening paragraph should be a powerful statement that summarizes your areas of expertise and the number of years of experience

 

• The body paragraphs should focus on why you would be a great fit for Bain, focusing on problem solving, a results-oriented track record, leadership, and passion

 

• Keep your body paragraphs concise, but make sure you substantiate the claims you make about your skills or achievements by using concrete examples

 

• Keep your concluding paragraph short and sweet, reiterating why you’d be a great fit for Bain and including a call to action to give you an interview

 

• Instead of rephrasing your resume, use the cover letter to provide a narrative that connects your experiences to Bain’s needs and culture

 

Test Scores

 

Some Bain applications require you to submit your test scores for the SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, MCAT, or LSAT, depending on which exam you have taken. You will not need to submit an official score report. You will only need to input the numerical scores and the sub-score breakdowns.

 

Unofficial Transcripts

 

Some Bain programs and positions require you to submit an unofficial transcript to show the classes you have taken and your cumulative GPA. This does not need to be an official transcript that is directly sent from the school to Bain. Instead, you can submit a PDF document that you downloaded from your school’s website.

 

Office Preferences

 

All Bain applications will ask you to list your top three office preferences. While these selections are not binding, you should try to select the offices where you’d most likely want to live.

 

You will be asked to give a weight to each of your office preferences such that the sum of all weights adds up to 100%. For example, you may indicate your office preferences as 70% Los Angeles, 20% San Francisco, and 10% Seattle.

 

However, note that the second and third choice offices you select will not have much of an impact on your application. Bain typically will only consider you for your top-choice office.

 

How to Prepare for Bain Interviews

 

Most interviews for Bain programs or positions consist of case interviews, behavioral interviews, and fit interviews.

 

Case interviews

 

A case interview is a 20 to 40-minute interview in which you are placed in a hypothetical business situation and asked to develop a recommendation to solve a business problem. Case interviews are a special type of interview that all management consulting firms use in their interview process.

 

Examples of common types of case interview questions you could get asked include:

 

• What is causing profitability to decline and what can we do about it?

 

• How can we increase revenues?

 

• Should we enter a new market?

 

• Should we launch this new product?

 

• Should we acquire this company?

 

• How should we respond to this competitor?

 

The business problem that you will be asked to solve can be from any industry or function. Expect to see case interviews in industries ranging from retail to pharmaceuticals to financial services. However, know that no prior knowledge or experience in the industry is required to successfully solve the case interview.

 

Case interviews are used because they closely simulate what the consulting job will be like. In a case interview, you’ll need to use problem solving, quantitative skills, business judgment, and communication to work through the business problem, uncover insights, and make a firm recommendation.

 

Consulting firms, such as Bain, like to use case interviews in their recruiting process because they can assess a variety of skills and traits that are required to be a successful management consultant.

 

Behavioral interviews

 

Consulting behavioral questions ask you to draw upon a time or experience in the past in which you demonstrated a particular quality or trait. For example, you may be asked common consulting behavioral interview questions such as:

 

• Tell me about a time when you led a team

 

• Give an example of a time when you went above and beyond

 

• Tell me about a time when you failed

 

• Describe a problem that you solved using data

 

• Tell me about a time when you resolved conflict while working on a team

 

Bain asks behavioral questions because how you’ve handled situations in the past is a predictor of how you will handle problems and challenges in the future.

 

Additionally, these questions also give Bain interviewers a glimpse into who you are as a person. Your answers will show what qualities you demonstrate and what values you hold important to you.

 

Lastly, these questions give the opportunity for the interviewer to go deeper into your resume. They’ll be able to dive deeper into the details behind your accomplishments and achievements to see if you actually accomplished what was on your resume.

 

To answer behavioral or fit interview questions well, follow these guidelines:

 

• Prepare 6-8 different stories in advance that draw upon your professional and personal work experiences. This ensures that you have prepared answers and stories that you can draw upon no matter what behavioral question is asked

 

• Only select and share experiences that are the most impressive, impactful, or unique. You want to showcase the highlights of your experiences, not just any experience that is relevant

 

• Make sure that you the stories you prepare are collectively diverse. You’ll want to have at least one story that is relevant to leadership, teamwork, problem solving, resilience, integrity, decision making, communication, and interpersonal skills

 

• Structure your answer to help keep your answer clear and easy to follow. Most candidates use the STAR method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result

 

• When giving your answer, cover the Situation and Task sections quickly and spend most of your time focusing on the Action and Result

 

If you want to learn how to answer 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours, check out our behavioral interview course.

 

Fit interviews

 

Bain asks fit questions to assess your genuine passion for consulting and to see if you are actually interested in working at the firm.

 

Most Bain programs and positions have an extremely limited number of spots. Therefore, Bain wants to ensure that the applicants that they accept will have a high likelihood of wanting to work at Bain full-time.

 

There are two common motivational questions that you should prepare for:

 

• Why are you interested in consulting?

 

• Why do you want to work at Bain?

 

What To Do If You Miss the Bain Application Deadline

 

If you miss a Bain application deadline, you should reach out to a Bain Recruiter, consider applying to other programs or firms, and prepare for the next recruiting cycle.

 

Reach out to a Bain recruiter

 

The first step you should take is to reach out to a Bain recruiter. While missing the Bain application deadline can be disappointing, recruiters may still be willing to consider your application or provide guidance on your next steps.

 

Be professional and courteous in your communication. Explain your situation briefly and express your continued interest in the position. In some cases, there might be flexibility or additional opportunities to apply at a later date.

 

Consider applying to other programs or firms

 

If the Bain application deadline has passed and you cannot apply to a particular Bain program or position, explore other consulting firms and programs. Many top-tier consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, and others, have similar programs and opportunities.

 

You can also consider looking into boutique consulting firms that may have different application deadlines.

 

Prepare for the next recruiting cycle

 

Missing the Bain application deadline gives you the opportunity to better prepare for the next recruiting cycle. Use this time to enhance your resume, gain relevant experience, and strengthen your application materials.

 

Here are some steps you can take:

 

• Gain relevant experience: Seek internships, part-time jobs, or volunteer opportunities that build your skills in consulting-related areas, such as data analysis, project management, or strategic planning

 

• Network: Connect with current consultants and Bain alumni to learn more about the firm and the industry. Networking can provide insights and potentially lead to referral opportunities

 

• Improve your skills: Consider taking courses in business strategy, business analytics, and communication. These are all valuable skills that will not only help you pass your interviews, but also help you succeed as a consultant

 

• Prepare for interviews: Practice case interviews and behavioral interviews. Utilize resources like case interview prep books, online forums, and mock interview services

 

• Stay informed: Keep up to date with Bain’s latest news, insights, and thought leadership. This knowledge can be valuable in your application and interviews

 

Recommended Resources to Land a Bain Offer

 

To give yourself the best chance of landing a Bain consulting offer, we highly recommend the resources below. Getting help from a former Bain Manager and interviewer can significantly improve your chances of landing a Bain offer.

For help landing consulting interviews

 

• Resume Review & Editing: Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

 

For help passing case interviews

 

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.

 

• Case Interview Coaching: Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.

 

• Hacking the Case Interview Book (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.

 

• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

 

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

 

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course: Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.