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

 

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

 

BCG Application Deadlines

 

All BCG application deadlines for BCG’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
Associate	Undergraduate seniors, Non-MBA Master’s students	August 7	To be announced
Summer Associate	Undergraduate juniors	July 17 or September 4	To be announced
Consultant	Second-year MBA students, advanced degree holders	September or November (Expected)	To be announced
Summer Consultant	First-year MBA students	November (Expected)	To be announced
Bridge to BCG	Graduate students, post docs, medical residents	March 20	To be announced
Bridge to Consulting	Diversity undergraduate freshmen and sophomores	March 25	To be announced
BCG Growing Future Leaders	Diversity undergraduate sophomores	September (Expected)	To be announced
BCG Advance	Undergraduate sophomore women	March 1	To be announced
BCG Empower	Incoming diversity MBA students	April 28	To be announced
BCG Unlock	Incoming MBA students	April 28	To be announced

 

Associate

 

Deadline: August 7, 2024

 

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

 

Summer Associate

 

Deadline: July 17, 2024 or September 4, 2024

 

The BCG Associate Internship is an entry-level, 10 to 12-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.

 

Consultant

 

Deadline: September or November 2024 (Expected)

 

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

 

Summer Consultant

 

Deadline: November 2024 (Expected)

 

The BCG Summer Consultant Internship is a mid-level, 10 to 12-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.

 

Bridge to BCG

 

Deadline: March 20, 2024

 

The Bridge to BCG program is a two-day immersive workshop designed to help advanced degree students experience the BCG case team experience. Over two days, participants will solve a mini-business case with a small team of 5-6 other participants managed by a real project leader.

 

Bridge to Consulting

 

Deadline: March 25, 2024

 

The BCG Bridge to Consulting Program is a workshop for freshman and sophomore students from underrepresented minority groups to explore life as an Associate at BCG. During this immersive workshop, participants will learn more about the firm, meet inspirational BCG leaders, network with their peers, and participate in interview prep training.

 

BCG Growing Future Leaders

 

Deadline: September 2024 (Expected)

 

BCG Growing Future Leaders is a 10-week summer internship program for sophomore students from underrepresented backgrounds in consulting, including Black, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous/Native American students.

 

BCG Advance

 

Deadline: March 1, 2024

 

BCG Advance is a one-week, invite-only virtual conference for sophomore women currently enrolled at a college or university in the US or Canada. During the conference, participants will learn more about BCG, grow their skills, and make connections with other participants and BCG consultants.

 

BCG Empower

 

Deadline: April 28, 2024

 

BCG Empower is a three-day workshop consisting of small group sessions, case prep, and social events for incoming students that identify as Black, Hispanic, Latino, or Indigenous. It is part of BCG Unlock, a summer learning program that introduces MBAs to BCG and a career in consulting.

 

BCG Unlock

 

Deadline: April 28, 2024

 

BCG Unlock is a series of virtual learning sessions that takes place over the summer for incoming MBAs to learn more about consulting and BCG, develop business skills, and network with BCG colleagues and other MBA participants.

 

BCG Recruiting Timelines

 

The BCG 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

 

BCG 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.

 

BCG 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.

 

BCG 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.

 

BCG recruiting timeline for experienced hires

 

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

 

BCG 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 BCG typically interviews the most number of experienced hires.

 

How to Prepare BCG Application Materials

 

Most applications for BCG 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 BCG 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 BCG 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 BCG, focusing on integrity, intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, collaborative mindset, and drive

 

• 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 BCG 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 BCG’s needs and culture

 

Test Scores

 

Some BCG 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 BCG 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 BCG. Instead, you can submit a PDF document that you downloaded from your school’s website.

 

Office Preferences

 

All BCG 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% New York, 20% Boston, and 10% Dallas.

 

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

 

How to Prepare for BCG Interviews

 

Most interviews for BCG 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 BCG, 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

 

BCG 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 BCG 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

 

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

 

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

 

What To Do If You Miss the BCG Application Deadline

 

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

 

Reach out to a BCG recruiter

 

The first step you should take is to reach out to a BCG recruiter. While missing the BCG 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 BCG application deadline has passed and you cannot apply to a particular BCG program or position, explore other consulting firms and programs. Many top-tier consulting firms, such as McKinsey, Bain, 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 BCG 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 BCG 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 BCG’s latest news, insights, and thought leadership. This knowledge can be valuable in your application and interviews

 

Recommended Resources to Land a BCG Offer

 

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