BCG Online Case (Casey): Format, Question Types, and Prep (2026)

BCG's Casey is a chatbot-style online case used to screen candidates before live interviews in many BCG recruiting processes. You work through a business problem inside a chat interface, answering a sequence of questions while a virtual interviewer feeds you prompts and data exhibits. Exact timing and components vary by office, role, and invite, but the skills are consistent: scoping a problem, reading exhibits, running clean math, and writing tight answers. According to BCG's official case interview preparation page, what matters most is "how you approach the problem and the quality of your reasoning," not landing a single right answer.

Skip to the worked math example

What Is the BCG Casey Online Case?

Casey presents one business scenario, then walks you through a fixed sequence of questions about it. The interface looks like a messaging app, with the prompt, your answer box, and exhibits appearing in turn. There is no human interviewer, no hints between questions, and (in candidate reports) no going back once you submit.

Scenarios mirror real BCG engagements: profitability declines, growth challenges, market entry, pricing, or operations problems. BCG's own practice quizzes give you the closest preview of the style. Per the official BCG careers page, the three interactive cases are Set A Climate Strategy, Restore Customer Satisfaction (a digital banking refresh), and Support A Cloud Migration (an ERP and cloud upgrade evaluation).

This is firm-specific to BCG. The skill set, though, transfers across the wider consulting interview process, so prep does double duty.

What Question Types Does Casey Ask?

Casey mixes answer formats and question intents. The format is how you respond; the intent is what skill it tests. Knowing both lets you recognize each prompt fast and avoid over-writing a short answer or under-structuring a long one.

The reported opener is a dataset-selection question: Casey shows roughly eight possible data sources and asks which are most relevant to the problem. This is a scoping test, the same judgment behind a good issue tree, so pick what genuinely moves the analysis and leave the noise.

By intent, you will see four recurring categories: structuring (the dataset-selection opener and "what would you investigate" prompts), quantitative (growth, share, break-even, weighted averages, working from exhibits where roughly half the data points may be irrelevant), data interpretation (read a chart or table and extract the one insight that matters), and critical thinking (judge a course of action, watching for qualifiers like "likely" versus "certainly"). For deeper drilling on the chart-reading prompts, see data interpretation in case interviews and reading graphs and charts.

How Does Casey Scoring Work?

BCG does not publish a complete Casey scoring formula. What multiple prep sources agree on for the current version is useful and practical:

• Approach is scored, not just the final number. BCG's public guidance stresses reasoning quality. In written answers, show your logic and the business implication, not only the answer.
• No negative marking in current Casey. Earlier BCG online tests reportedly penalized wrong answers; the current Casey is widely described as removing negative marking. Practically, that means never leave a question blank. If you are unsure, eliminate the weak options and commit to your best remaining choice.
• You must answer to advance. There is no skip and no going back, so budget time so you are never forced to abandon a later question.

Treat any specific point-penalty or answer-weighting mechanic you read on a third-party site as directional, not official. The safe play is to eliminate weak options, write structured answers, and tie every response back to the business question. Casey weighs the same competencies BCG names publicly: problem-solving, numerical reasoning, business judgment, and clear communication. If you want a fuller model of how consulting answers get evaluated, the case interview scoring rubric maps the same dimensions.

How Do You Solve a Casey Math Question?

Casey math is short-text numerical input under a clock, usually pulling numbers off an exhibit. The grader rewards a clean setup and a sanity check, so state the formula, plug in, and connect the result to the decision.

Scenario. A consumer electronics company is considering entering the smartwatch market. The total market is $18B, growing 8% per year. Estimated Year 1 capture is a 3% share. Fixed entry cost is $120M. Variable cost per unit is $85. Average selling price is $250.

Question. How many units must the company sell to break even in Year 1?

Solution.

1. Contribution margin per unit = $250 - $85 = $165 per unit.
2. Break-even units = fixed cost / contribution margin = $120,000,000 / $165 = 727,273 units (round up to 727,273 since you cannot sell a partial unit).
3. Sanity check against the share assumption. Year 1 revenue at a 3% share = $18B x 0.03 = $540M. At a $250 selling price, that implies $540,000,000 / $250 = 2,160,000 units of demand, roughly 3x the break-even volume. So on these numbers, entry clears break-even comfortably and looks viable.

Notice the discipline that wins points: do not round the $165 margin or the intermediate revenue early, keep your units straight (dollars versus units), and finish with the implication ("this clears break-even with margin to spare"), not a bare number. The same setup and check logic is covered in break-even analysis for case interviews, and the underlying speed comes from mental math drills.

Drill timed break-even, margin, and growth-rate setups until the arithmetic is automatic under Casey's clock:

When Is the Video Recommendation, and How Do You Structure It?

If your version includes the video, it comes after the chatbot questions. The widely reported format is 60 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to record, with a hard cutoff when time runs out. It tests communication clarity and structure, not polish, so lead with the answer and back it with the two or three reasons that matter most.

What Mistakes Cost the Most Points?

The most frequent error is spending too long on early questions. Candidates sink five to seven minutes into a straightforward structuring prompt and run out of time on harder math later. Budget two to three minutes per question and move.

The math errors that recur are mechanical, not conceptual: rounding intermediate calculations early, confusing percentage points with percentages, and skipping unit checks on exhibits. A single early calculation error often cascades, because later questions can build on the same numbers. Because current Casey reportedly has no negative marking, never leave a blank; if you cannot solve it cleanly, eliminate options and commit.

For a broader catalog of what graders penalize, see case interview mistakes to avoid.

How Does Casey Fit the Full BCG Pipeline?

Casey is one early gate. The skills it screens transfer directly to BCG's live rounds, which are candidate-led and exhibit-heavy by design. Clearing Casey means you have already proven the exhibit-reading and math reasoning the live case will demand under a more conversational format.

Practice a data-heavy BCG-style case end to end:

Framework

BCG Full Interview Pipeline

1. 01

   Application

   Resume and cover letter submitted online

2. 02

   Casey Chatbot

   Online case screen; exact format varies by invite

3. 03

   First Round

   2 live interviews (case + fit), ~45 min each

4. 04

   Final Round

   2-3 interviews with Partners

5. 05

   Offer Decision

   Within 1-2 weeks of final round

How Should You Prepare in Two Weeks?

Week 1, foundations. Days 1-2: complete all three BCG official practice cases at careers.bcg.com, since they are the closest proxy for Casey's style. Days 3-4: drill exhibit interpretation about two hours daily using financial news charts, writing the one key insight in under 60 seconds each. Days 5-7: math reps on percentages, growth rates, weighted averages, and break-even, both mental and calculator-assisted.

Week 2, simulate. Days 8-10: timed 30-minute sets of 8-10 mixed questions so pacing becomes automatic. Days 11-12: record five-plus video recommendations daily. Days 13-14: two to three full end-to-end mock assessments.

Casey is a BCG screen, but the underlying skills are firm-agnostic, so the same drills help across the BCG case interview and other firms' assessments. The consulting aptitude test overview benchmarks Casey against McKinsey Solve, Bain SOVA, and the Big 4 tests. Career switchers without a business background can use case interview prep for career changers.

Related Guides

• BCG case interview guide: the full BCG process, live case format, and interviewer scoring
• BCG Pymetrics test guide: the behavioral traits screen that often runs alongside Casey
• BCG Consulting Career Assessment (CCA): BCG's broader screening some candidates receive instead of or alongside Casey
• BCG one-way video interview guide: the video screening step that may follow Casey
• Consulting aptitude test overview: how Casey compares to McKinsey Solve, Bain SOVA, and Big 4 assessments
• McKinsey Solve guide: McKinsey's equivalent online assessment with similar analytical demands

Sources (checked June 18, 2026)

• BCG case interview preparation (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/case-interview-preparation
• MConsultingPrep BCG online case chatbot guide: https://mconsultingprep.com/bcg-online-case-chatbot-interview
• MyConsultingCoach Casey guide: https://www.myconsultingcoach.com/casey
• Prepmatter BCG online case assessment: https://prepmatter.com/blog/bcg-online-case-assessment
• IGotAnOffer BCG Casey chatbot guide: https://igotanoffer.com/en/advice/bcg-online-case-assessment