McKinsey Solve Accommodations: How to Ask and When

Does McKinsey offer accommodations for Solve?

Yes, McKinsey offers accommodations in its recruiting process, and its Solve FAQ names three grounds: a disability, a health condition or a specific learning difficulty. The route it gives is to speak to your recruiter. It names no specific accommodation, no extra time amount and no decision time, so everything past "ask your recruiter" is outside what McKinsey has published.

McKinsey also points to its page on navigating McKinsey with a disability. Read it for the firm's wider position; this article builds on the Solve FAQ, the Solve careers page and the assessment integrity expectations.

Before you write anything, try one run of Red Rock, a game candidates report, so you can tell your recruiter which part of a timed task costs you the most. This is independent Road to Offer practice, not a McKinsey test.

Who do you ask, and when?

Ask your recruiter, in writing, before you book a sitting. The recruiter is the official contact for accommodations. The timing is our advice, because McKinsey sets no public deadline for asking. Solve support is for faults, not for requests based on a condition.

The extra time that support can give you is a remedy for a technical problem, and the FAQ says you must contact them when the issue arises. It is a different thing from a condition-based accommodation. If you are also unsure about devices, read how the Solve tech check works, and if your date is the issue, see the deadline extension article.

What should your request say?

A good request names the need in plain words, says what helps you, asks what the recruiter needs, and asks for the outcome in writing. McKinsey provides no template, so the order below is our suggestion, not a form.

Here is an original, fictional message from Tomas, who finds timed data tasks harder because of a reading-related learning difficulty. It is a sketch to adapt, not a McKinsey form.

Hello [recruiter name], I have received the Solve invitation for [role]. The date in the email is [date and timezone]. I have a specific learning difficulty that affects how quickly I read and check data, and I would like to discuss accommodations. In exams, extra reading time and a quiet room help me. I understand the decision is yours. Please tell me what information you need and how to send it, and confirm the outcome in writing before I sit the assessment.

Notice what the message does not do. It does not demand a percentage, because none is published. It does not attach records nobody asked for. It does not guess at the answer. If you want the same discipline for your resume file at this stage, the McKinsey resume guide covers it.

How much time should you leave for the reply?

McKinsey publishes no reply time, so budget for a first answer and a follow-up before your date. The budget below is a fictional planning example: the invitation cutoff, minus the days your request could take.

Tomas has 10 days to his cutoff. He writes the same day, assumes 3 days for a first reply and 2 for a follow-up, and keeps the rest as a buffer.

The same 10 days look different if replies are slow. Only the reply gaps change below, and they are invented to show the effect of starting late.

If the budget goes negative, say so in your first message and ask what happens to the sitting while the request is open. The Solve deadline extension article separates the dates that can matter.

Can you get extra time on McKinsey Solve?

You can ask for extra time, but McKinsey publishes no amount and does not list extra time as an accommodation. The FAQ names no specific accommodation, so no figure can be quoted and no outcome promised. Any percentage you read elsewhere has no McKinsey source behind it.

What the FAQ does say about time concerns technical problems: contacting support does not cost you time, and support may add time or reset the link depending on the issue. Candidates describe different assessment lengths in different invitations (a reported range of about 65 to 95 minutes, per the Solve guide), but McKinsey states only that your length is in your invitation email. So the useful thing to put in a request is the effect on you, such as needing longer to read and check figures, not a minute count you cannot support.

Can you use your own assistive tools, notes or recording?

Not unless the use is part of an accommodation approved in writing. McKinsey bans applications, websites, AI tools, pre-prepared notes, recording and screenshots in Solve, with one exception: an accommodation for a disability approved in writing. If you rely on a screen reader, magnifier, dictation or another aid, do not assume it is covered.

Pen and paper are a separate matter. McKinsey's general integrity page says pen and paper are the only notes aids across assessments and interviews, while Solve's own FAQ bans pre-prepared notes and gives no further detail on note-taking. Your invitation governs. Candidates also report an in-game calculator in Red Rock, which is a reported game feature rather than an outside tool; see the Red Rock study guide for that, and whether Solve is proctored for how the rules are enforced.

What proof or detail do you need to give?

McKinsey states no documentation requirement, so describe your need briefly and ask the recruiter what is needed. Neither the Solve FAQ nor the Solve page tells you to attach records to a first message. Sending sensitive documents before you are asked is your decision, not a McKinsey instruction.

Share what the process needs and no more. If the recruiter names a channel for documents, use that one. Because steps differ between candidates, avoid comparing yours with someone else's; the article on whether everyone gets Solve explains why.

Does the same request carry into case and PEI rounds?

McKinsey does not say whether a Solve approval carries into later rounds, so ask your recruiter to confirm what covers each stage. The integrity expectations apply to any assessment or interview, including virtual ones, and say consequences apply "unless an accommodation is approved," with questions going to your recruiting contact. That makes the recruiter the single person to ask for the whole process.

Practical sequence: raise the full process once, in the same thread, and ask whether notes on your approval are kept for later stages. Then prepare the rounds themselves with the McKinsey case interview guide and the PEI guide. For the wider route across firms see the MBB roadmap. Candidates entering through other routes can check the MBA Solve article and the experienced hire article; they describe no separate accommodation route either.

What stays the same once something is approved?

The integrity rules, the way your result is read and the technical support route stay in place for every candidate. McKinsey states no change to them beyond the one aids exception. Treat an approval as a specific, recorded permission and do not assume it widens to anything else.

On the result, McKinsey says it considers Solve together with the rest of your application and any other assessments, with the recruiter deciding on multiple factors. It publishes no different reading for an approved accommodation, and the sources checked say nothing about a request being held for or against you. See how much Solve matters for that boundary, and the retake article if you are asking about sitting again, because the sources set out no retake rule either.

What should you do this week?

Write the message, send it before you book, and keep every reply with your invitation. Then prepare against the date you have. The online assessments hub lists the independent practice games, and the Ecosystem Building guide covers an older game some candidates still mention. The SFL practice page is for a reported game that McKinsey does not name, so skip it if your invitation lacks it.

Sources and evidence boundaries

The official sources below were checked on October 11, 2026. They support the stated process, not any prediction about your own request.

• McKinsey Solve FAQ, August 2025: accommodations, recruiter contact, banned aids and the exception, support, languages, length in the invitation.
• McKinsey Solve careers page: support addresses, integrity and the link to the disability page.
• Assessment integrity expectations: rules for any assessment or interview and the accommodation caveat.
• Navigating McKinsey with a disability: the page McKinsey links for more information. This article cites its existence only.

Reported, not official: extra time percentages, reply times and which conditions are accepted all circulate on prep sites with no data or method behind them, and are not used here. Not published in the sources checked: a list of accommodations, an extra time amount, required documents, a decision time, a deadline for asking, and whether an approval carries across stages. The sample message, Tomas and his day budget are original teaching examples, not McKinsey outcomes.