McKinsey Case Interview Practice: Free Case and Prep Resources
McKinsey publishes five practice cases on its interviewing page, from Beautify and Diconsa to Talbot Trucks, each a fixed series of questions: what to investigate, an exhibit, and math with no calculator. Candidates report the live case runs the same interviewer-led way, unlike Bain's and BCG's candidate-led cases.McKinsey (opens in a new tab), read
Try a free McKinsey-style case now: Spain EV Hubs. No card, no signup.
Free, no signup: 2 worked McKinsey-style cases with model answers. Free, no card: your first full McKinsey-style case with an AI interviewer, one full Red Rock run, Site 1 of Sea Wolf and one full Sustainable Futures Lab run (each simulator starts with no account). Paid: Pro $49/month for every case, or one-time: Red Rock $29, Sea Wolf $29 or Sustainable Futures Lab $29.
Updated ·By Esteban Ronsin·Founder · former Deloitte and Accenture Strategy consultant
Built and reviewed with former McKinsey, BCG and Bain consultants and interviewers.
Free McKinsey interview prep resources
McKinsey interview prep resources: what you get, whether it is free or paid, and the link
Resource
What you get
Free or paid
Link
McKinsey interviewing page and sample cases
McKinsey's own guide to Solve, the Personal Experience Interview and the Problem Solving Interview, its four PEI themes, five sample cases with suggested answers, and its rules on using AI
25 McKinsey-style cases (10 profitability, 5 operations, 4 growth, 2 M&A, 2 market entry, 2 pricing), run out loud with an AI interviewer or step by step and scored on 7 skills; start with EV Charging Hub Profitability
Free + paid. The case list and a worked excerpt are public; a free account includes 1 full AI-graded case in voice or guided mode; Pro ($49/month) adds every case
Fernhollow Fitness: profitability case with answers Industry: Consumer services. Difficulty: medium.3 math questions.
McKinsey-style. Why did a growing boutique fitness chain lose 70% of its operating profit in two years, and should it keep opening new studios? 6 questions, 3 exhibits, a model answer for each
Free. The whole case and every model answer, no account; the practice button opens a live case like it
Pinecrest Cold Storage: investment case with answers Industry: Logistics. Difficulty: hard.2 math questions.
McKinsey-style. Should a cold-storage operator invest about $60 million in a new temperature-controlled warehouse, and at which of two sites? 7 questions, 3 exhibits, a model answer for each
Free. The whole case and every model answer, no account; the practice button opens a live case like it
The full Study and six Cases on a 35-minute practice clock, with a worked debrief
Free + paid. One full run of Simulation 1 with its worked debrief; you can start without an account and a free account finishes the run; the Red Rock pack is $29 one-time
Paid simulations treat three contaminated sites, four stages each, on a 30-minute clock, with a worked debrief
Free + paid. Site 1 of Simulation 1 only (4 decisions, 10 minutes) with its worked review; Sites 2 and 3 come with the Sea Wolf pack or the Solve pack; you can start without an account and a free account finishes the run; the Sea Wolf pack is $29 one-time
Thirteen linked decisions ranked against stated criteria, on a 20-minute Simulation clock (Learning mode is untimed), with a worked review
Free + paid. One full run of Classic Sustainable Futures Lab with its worked debrief; you can start without an account and a free account finishes the run; the SFL pack is $29 one-time
McKinsey fit and behavioral questions answered out loud, with follow-up probes and structured feedback (choose McKinsey on the page)
Free + paid. 1 behavioral or Learning Mode session with a free account; Behavioral Unlimited ($39/month, behavioral and PEI only) or any Pro plan adds more
Firm-style cases are practice cases written for Road to Offer or adapted from university consulting club casebooks, not the firm's own cases. Road to Offer is independent and not affiliated with McKinsey.
Try a free McKinsey-style case now: no card, no signup
An original practice case written by Road to Offer in a McKinsey-style format, not McKinsey's own case. Everything stays in your browser.
Spain EV Hubs: An EV charging network's falling profit
Written in the shape of McKinsey's own practice cases: the interviewer asks one question at a time, first what you would investigate, then one exhibit with math you do on paper, without a calculator. The full version is EV Charging Hub Profitability, an original Road to Offer case with three exhibits. McKinsey (opens in a new tab), read
1Step 1: Read the case
Your client runs fast-charging hubs for electric cars across Spain, each with a cafe and a small shop attached. Profit fell from 2022 to 2023. The CEO asks why, and what the company should do about it.
2Step 2: Ask clarifying questions
Open a question to hear the interviewer's answer.
What exactly does the business sell?
Interviewer: Two things: fast charging, and food and goods in the cafe and shop at each hub. We will look at each one's numbers after you structure the problem.
Has the number of hubs changed?
Interviewer: No. The network has been stable for the last three years.
How do our prices compare with rivals'?
Interviewer: Charging prices are in line with the market. Cafe and shop prices are well above highway rest stops and shopping centres.
Who are the customers?
Interviewer: Some come only to charge, some only for the cafe or shop, and some do both in one visit.
Have electricity prices moved?
Interviewer: They fell sharply in 2020, recovered, and were roughly flat from 2022 to 2023.
Is there a profit target?
Interviewer: No number. The client is still profitable; it wants to know what is driving the decline and how to fix it.
3Step 3: Structure your answer
The interviewer asks: what would you look at to find out why profit fell? Take two minutes, lay out your structure, then say where you would look first and why.
2:00
Show what a strong structure covers
Splits profit into the two businesses first, charging and the cafe and shop, because they can move in opposite directions.
Revenue for each: visits, the share of visitors who buy, spend per visit and price.
Costs for each: energy, staff, rent and equipment, fixed versus variable.
Customer mix: who only charges, who only shops, who does both, and how that mix changed.
Outside factors: electricity prices, new charging rivals, and rest stops or shopping centres selling food for less.
Ends with a hypothesis to test first, for example that the cafe and shop, not charging, lost the profit.
4Step 4: The interviewer's next question
The interviewer shows one exhibit: revenue and cost by business, in millions of euros. Charging: revenue 240 in 2022 and 265 in 2023, cost 114 then 120. Cafe and shop: revenue 120 then 72, cost 60 both years. Without a calculator, what happened to profit, and where?
Show what a strong answer does
Charging profit rose from 126 to 145 (up 19) while cafe and shop profit fell from 60 to 12 (down 48), so total profit fell 29, from 186 to 157, about 16%. A strong answer says the whole decline sits in the cafe and shop, notes its cost did not move so this is a revenue problem, and asks for visit data next.
Flour costs rose 18% on a $4M flour bill, and prices went up 3% on $20M of sales. How much margin did Harbor lose?
Your answer
Flour went up by about $720K and the price rise brings in $600K, so the net hit is roughly $100K.
What worked
Split the change into a cost side and a price side before adding them up.
Could improve
$720K minus $600K is $120K, not $100K: state the exact net before rounding.
Model answer
Flour: 18% of $4M is $720K more cost. Price: 3% of $20M is $600K more revenue. Net margin loss: $120K.
Next time, say this
Cost is up $720K and price brings back $600K, so Harbor loses $120K of margin.
3
1
Choose a case
25 McKinsey-style cases to pick from.
2
Solve it out loud
An AI interviewer asks, listens and follows up.
3
Get answer feedback
Feedback on every answer: what worked, what to fix.
What makes McKinsey interviews different
Interviewer-led questions.
Each of McKinsey's practice cases is a set series of three or four questions the interviewer asks, each with its own hints, rather than a case you steer yourself. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
No calculator.
McKinsey allows only pen and paper for notes and calculations, may ask to review your notes, and in virtual interviews wants your hands on camera while you calculate. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Tailored, not a framework.
McKinsey says there is not one logical solution, so listen carefully and give a solution tailored to the case rather than a standard framework. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Two stories per theme.
The Personal Experience Interview asks for two examples for each of four themes, Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth, discussed in detail as a conversation. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: McKinsey, read Nov 9, 2026.
Key facts from McKinsey's own pages
Five official practice cases.
Beautify, Diconsa, Electro-Light, Transforming a national education system and Talbot Trucks, each with logic, thought processes and suggested answers. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
McKinsey's tech client-facing roles page still lists personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusive leadership and courageous change. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Solve on PC or Mac.
An untimed tutorial starts each task, the length is in your invitation, and it runs in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Japanese. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: McKinsey, read Nov 9, 2026.
McKinsey's own practice cases and prep pages, one by one
Everything McKinsey's careers site gives you to prepare, opened and read on the date shown. McKinsey gives no level or practice area for its cases, so each line is our summary of the case's own situation and the questions it asks. Read on McKinsey's site .
McKinsey's own practice cases and prep pages, one by one: level, area and what each one is, linked to McKinsey's page
A global prestige cosmetics company asks whether retraining its in-store beauty consultants as virtual, social media advisors would pay off. Four questions: factors to weigh, what would make a loyal in-store shopper switch, years until the investment turns profitable, and an exhibit on rivals' AI chatbots.
For the Gates Foundation, whether Mexico's state-run Diconsa network of 22,000 rural stores could pay out benefits and offer basic financial services. Four questions: what to investigate, families' yearly savings from collecting benefits locally, a regional survey exhibit, and how to sell banking where trust and familiarity are low.
A top-three US beverage maker weighs launching a low-sugar electrolyte sports drink. Three questions: launch factors, the market share it needs to break even from a market exhibit, and what it would take to win its target share.
A fictional Eastern European country of 20 million wants to transform its schools within ten years. Three questions: what to diagnose, a chart comparing it with neighbours, rich economies and peers, and how many fewer schools it would need at a neighbour's average school size.
A European truck maker asks whether building electric trucks for Europe is attractive. Three questions: what to collect, a total-cost-of-ownership exhibit for diesel and electric trucks, and the highest eTruck price that matches a diesel truck's total cost. Worked below.
The interviewing page's PEI module: Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth, each with a one-line description and a preview question, plus the advice to bring two examples per theme.
Show all 9
McKinsey's own practice cases and prep pages, one by one, continued
The rules for every assessment and interview: alone, one screen, camera on, pen and paper only, no calculator or generative AI, notes discarded.
Worked: Talbot Trucks, in McKinsey's question order and hints
A European truck maker known for quality sells to big fleets and to owner-operators with a few trucks, and asks whether making electric trucks for Europe is worth the investment. McKinsey's case asks three questions: what you would collect to judge it, what a total-cost-of-ownership exhibit says about diesel versus electric, and the highest eTruck price that keeps its total cost equal to a diesel truck's. Read the official case (opens in a new tab)(read )
How you might work it is ours, not McKinsey's answer key.
1
Organize before you answer
McKinsey's hint is an overall approach before the details. Give the top level in one sentence: the market (European demand, emissions rules, big fleets versus owner-operators, charging networks), the economics for Talbot (investment, cost to build, price and margin), its capabilities (batteries and e-motors) and the competition. Then say which branch you would check first: whether customers will pay.
2
Read the exhibit before the numbers
The exhibit splits a truck's yearly cost into driver, depreciation, fuel, maintenance and other. Note what is equal first: the driver costs the same 3,000 euros a month in both, and both trucks last four years. Then what differs: the eTruck is cheaper to fuel, maintain and run. The hint asks for a trend that is not obvious: with a driver shortage, slower charging that idles a driver may cost more than the exhibit shows.
3
Do the math on paper, out loud
Diesel per year: other 10,000, maintenance 5,000, fuel 30,000 (30 litres per 100 km over 100,000 km at one euro), depreciation 25,000 (100,000 over four years) and driver 36,000, so 106,000. The eTruck without its purchase: 5,000, 3,000, 15,000 (100,000 kWh at 0.15) and 36,000, so 59,000. That leaves up to 47,000 a year for depreciation; turn it into a price over the four-year life, say it out loud, then check McKinsey's revealed answer.
4
Say what it means
The number is a ceiling, not a price: an eTruck can cost well above a diesel truck and still match it on total cost. The question for Talbot becomes whether it can build one below that ceiling with a margin, and what could break the comparison, such as battery life, resale value or charging time.
5
Close with a recommendation
One answer with a condition: invest if Talbot's cost to build leaves a margin under the ceiling, starting with large fleets that run fixed routes and can charge at depots. Next steps: a cost estimate for the battery pack, interviews with three fleet buyers, and a charging partner.
McKinsey says what matters most is “your ability to think critically, tackle complex challenges, and create meaningful impact”, whatever field you come from. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
A conversation, not a rehearsed story
For the PEI, choose experiences that genuinely mattered to you, talk about your specific role, and “lead with reasoning, not actions”. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Your thought process, on paper
McKinsey may ask to review your handwritten notes during an interview “to better understand your thought process”, so lay out your math and structure where an interviewer can follow it. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Past “good enough”
For undergraduates McKinsey looks for curiosity, drive and “a habit of pushing past ‘good enough’”, in the classroom and beyond. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: McKinsey, read Nov 9, 2026.
The McKinsey interview process, and what trains each step
1
Solve assessment
For most consulting roles McKinsey asks applicants to play Solve, a gamified problem-solving assessment. McKinsey says there is no need to prepare and bars apps, websites, AI tools, notes and screenshots during it; it does not name the games, which candidates report as Red Rock, Sea Wolf and Sustainable Futures Lab. Our simulators are independent practice, not affiliated with or endorsed by McKinsey.
McKinsey asks you to bring two personal examples for each of four themes: Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth. It asks you to choose experiences that mattered to you, talk about your own role, lead with reasoning rather than actions, and expect a conversation, not a rehearsed story.
McKinsey presents a typical client scenario as a business case and recommends its five sample cases: Beautify, Diconsa, Electro-Light, Transforming a national education system and Talbot Trucks. It says there is no single logical solution, so tailor your answer rather than reciting a framework. Candidates report the case is interviewer-led: the interviewer asks one question at a time.
For most client-facing roles you have personal experience interviews and problem-solving interviews, and some roles add an expertise interview. McKinsey's page gives no number of rounds; your recruiter confirms the details.
Missing from McKinsey's pages: how many interview rounds there are and how long each runs, whether the live case is interviewer-led (only the practice cases' format suggests it), how answers are scored, how long Solve takes (only your invitation says), and the names of Solve's games.
13 McKinsey-style interview questions
In our words, not McKinsey's, grouped by McKinsey's own steps, with what a strong answer does. The case questions follow the order of McKinsey's practice cases: what to investigate, the exhibit and math, then ideas and a recommendation.
Problem Solving Interview: what would you investigate?
Every McKinsey practice case opens this way. McKinsey's hint: develop an overall approach before diving into details.
1A European airline's new budget subsidiary is still losing money in its second year. What would you want to investigate?
What a strong answer does: Gives the top-level split in one sentence (revenue per seat, seats filled, cost per seat, against the parent and rivals), goes one level down, and says which branch to check first and why.
2A national health ministry wants to halve waiting times for planned surgery within three years. What would you look at?
What a strong answer does: Tailors the structure to the system rather than forcing a profit tree: demand for operations, capacity in surgeons, theatres and beds, and how patients flow between them, then names the likely bottleneck.
3A water bottler's margins have shrunk for two years running. Where would you start?
What a strong answer does: Separates price, volume and mix from cost per bottle, asks the one question that would change the plan, and lands on a first hypothesis to test.
Problem Solving Interview: the exhibit and the math
McKinsey's hints: note your observations, look for trends that are not obvious, and talk the interviewer through each calculation, on paper.
4An exhibit shows a cinema chain's attendance per screen falling in the suburbs and rising downtown. What do you take from it?
What a strong answer does: Reads the title, units and years first, gives the headline in one sentence, then the less obvious point, such as the mix shifting toward fewer, busier sites, and what it means for the client's question.
5A snack bar sells to retailers for 1.50 and costs 1.20 to make and deliver; launching it costs 60 million. How many bars must it sell to break even, and is that plausible?
What a strong answer does: Finds the margin per bar (0.30), divides to get 200 million bars, says each step out loud, then checks the number against the size of the market before calling it.
6How many electric buses would a city of two million people need to replace its diesel fleet?
What a strong answer does: States a clear chain (riders or routes, buses per route, spares for maintenance), rounds to easy numbers, and names the assumption that moves the answer most.
Problem Solving Interview: ideas and the recommendation
The last question in McKinsey's cases asks what the client should do or would need. McKinsey's hint: group your thoughts around the issues raised.
7A regional cinema chain must choose between two new cities for its next site. What would make you pick one?
What a strong answer does: Sets two or three criteria up front (audience, rivals, cost to build), compares the cities on them, and commits to one with its main risk.
8A ferry operator asks whether to buy a second ship. Give me your recommendation in thirty seconds.
What a strong answer does: Leads with yes or no, gives two reasons with the number that matters most (payback or how full the ships run), names one risk and the next step.
9A carmaker's premium brand is taking sales from its own mid-market brand. What ideas would you test?
What a strong answer does: Groups ideas (price gaps, model line-up, channels, brand positioning) instead of listing them, and says how to test the most promising one first.
Personal Experience Interview: Connection, Drive, Leadership, Growth
McKinsey asks for two examples per theme. Its tech roles page still uses the older names: personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusive leadership and courageous change. The pairing in brackets is our reading; McKinsey does not map them.
10Connection (older name: personal impact). Tell me about a time you won over someone who started out disagreeing with you.
What a strong answer does: Shows what the other person cared about, how you built trust before you argued, and what changed in their view; it leads with your reasoning, as McKinsey asks, not a list of actions.
11Drive (older name: entrepreneurial drive). Tell me about a goal you set yourself that nobody asked you to pursue.
What a strong answer does: Names the obstacle, the moment you could have stopped and why you didn't, and a result you can measure, with enough detail to survive follow-up questions.
12Leadership (older name: inclusive leadership). Tell me about a time you got a team with very different views to deliver together.
What a strong answer does: Shows how you brought quieter or different voices in, one decision you made as the leader and why, and what the team achieved.
13Growth (older name: courageous change). Tell me about a time a plan changed and you had to learn something new fast.
What a strong answer does: Says what you didn't know, how you learned it and from whom, what you did differently as a result, and what you would do again.
McKinsey allows only pen and paper and may ask to see your notes. Practise every calculation by hand and say each step out loud. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Reciting a framework
McKinsey says there is not one logical solution and asks for tailored solutions over standard frameworks. Build each structure from the client's question. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
One story per PEI theme
McKinsey asks for two examples for each of four themes. Have eight you know in detail, so a follow-up never runs you out of material. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Treating Solve as a retake
You can take Solve only once every 12 months, and the score lasts a year. Take the real one somewhere quiet, on a PC or Mac, with no interruptions. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
AI in the room
McKinsey bans AI for real-time answers and asks you to disable AI note-takers before a virtual interview. Use AI before the day only. Source: McKinsey, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: McKinsey, read Nov 9, 2026.
A McKinsey prep plan, day by day
The order follows McKinsey's own pages; the timing is our suggestion.
Days 1 and 2
Read McKinsey's own pages
Read the interviewing page and the integrity expectations, then list two experiences for each PEI theme.
One or two a day, starting with Talbot Trucks or Electro-Light. Answer each question out loud with pen and paper before you reveal McKinsey's answer, and write down what you missed.
How should I prepare for the McKinsey case interview, and which free resources should I use?
Start with McKinsey's interviewing page and its five practice cases, worked on paper without a calculator, then train the three parts McKinsey names: Solve, the Personal Experience Interview and the Problem Solving Interview. On Road to Offer a free account includes 1 full McKinsey-style case with AI feedback, a free run in each Solve simulator and 1 PEI practice session, and the worked McKinsey-style cases with model answers need no account. Add case math reps and MBA casebook cases with a partner for volume. Firm-style cases are practice cases written for Road to Offer or adapted from university consulting club casebooks, not the firm's own cases.
Where can I practice McKinsey-style case interviews for free?
Road to Offer has 25 McKinsey-style cases you run out loud with an AI interviewer that hands you one question and exhibit at a time, or step by step; your first full case is free with a free account, and the short EV charging sample case on this page runs in your browser with no account. Fernhollow Fitness (profitability) and Pinecrest Cold Storage (investment) are free to read with a model answer for every question, no account. McKinsey's careers site has its own five practice cases with suggested answers.
What practice cases does McKinsey publish on its own site, and how should I use them to prepare?
Five, on its interviewing page: Beautify (retraining beauty consultants as virtual advisors), Diconsa (basic financial services through Mexico's rural stores), Electro-Light (launching a low-sugar sports drink), Transforming a national education system and Talbot Trucks (whether to build electric trucks). Each is a fixed series of three or four questions with hints and a suggested answer you reveal: what to investigate, an exhibit, a calculation and an ideas question. Use them as a dress rehearsal: answer each question out loud before you reveal anything, do the math on paper (McKinsey bans calculators), then compare and write down what you missed. They cannot react to you, so then run the same shape live with an interviewer who asks one question at a time.
Which McKinsey practice case should I do first?
Start with a three-question case, Talbot Trucks or Electro-Light: each runs from what to investigate to one exhibit and one calculation, the core of the format. Then do Diconsa and Beautify, which add a fourth question and heavier math, and keep Transforming a national education system for public-sector roles or a last full run.
Is the McKinsey case interview interviewer-led or candidate-led?
McKinsey's pages don't use either term. Its five practice cases are written as a fixed series of questions the interviewer asks, and candidates report the live case runs the same interviewer-led way: you structure, then the interviewer hands you the next question or exhibit, unlike the candidate-led cases people describe at Bain and BCG.
Can I use a calculator in the McKinsey interview?
No. McKinsey's practice cases say calculators are not allowed, and its assessment integrity expectations ask you to use only pen and paper for notes and calculations, keep your hands on camera in virtual interviews, and discard your notes afterwards; the interviewer may ask to see them. Practise mental and paper math until it is routine.
Can I practice McKinsey Solve for free?
Yes, with independent simulators: McKinsey publishes no practice game and says Solve needs no preparation. On Road to Offer, Red Rock and Sustainable Futures Lab each give one full free run and Sea Wolf's free run is its first site; you start without an account and a free account finishes the run. Each game pack is $29 one-time and the Solve pack is $79. The simulators use original material, not McKinsey's games, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by McKinsey.
How long is McKinsey Solve, and can I retake it?
McKinsey's Solve FAQ says the length is stated in your invitation email and each task starts with an untimed tutorial. Scores are valid for one year and you can take Solve only once every 12 months, so treat your first attempt as the real one. It runs only on a PC or Mac, in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Japanese, and McKinsey may ask you at random to do an extra task in person or explain your logic.
What are the McKinsey PEI dimensions now?
McKinsey's interviewing page names four themes, Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth, and asks for two personal examples for each. Its tech client-facing roles page still lists the four qualities by their older names: personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusive leadership and courageous change. Prepare eight stories you know in detail, lead with your reasoning, and practise answering follow-up questions out loud; Road to Offer's fit practice runs McKinsey PEI questions with follow-up probes, 1 session free with a free account.
How many interview rounds does McKinsey have?
McKinsey doesn't publish a number. Its interviewing page says most client-facing roles have personal experience and problem-solving interviews, some add an expertise interview, and its careers FAQ says the process and timeline differ by role and location, with your recruiter sharing the timing of each step.
Can I use AI to prepare for McKinsey interviews?
Yes, for preparation. McKinsey's interviewing page encourages using AI to practise interview questions and to explain concepts, but does not allow AI to generate answers during an interview, AI during assessments unless specifically permitted, or invented achievements. It also asks you to disable AI note-takers before a virtual interview. Practise with AI before the day, then answer on your own.
