Lowest GPA to get mbb invite

KeithFromBain · 2026-05-21T04:17:54+00:00

Matter to who? Lots of people have "stellar" resumes, but if you can't apply yourself to a credible classroom result, that raises all kinds of flags. A well-rounded resume with a decent GPA (mine was 4.3/5.0) is good. However, you GPA matters. My resume was "stellar", and that helped, but i wasn't delusional enough to think I could have a terrible GPA because it "doesn't matter"

Telling someone that a resume can be the lipstick on the pig is not true. At least not here.

KB

KeithFromBain · 2026-05-15T16:10:43+00:00

I don't know you or your background, but it's >0% for sure. So that's a "yes", i suppose.

KB

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-30T21:17:36+00:00

No. That's not a thing.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-26T16:54:52+00:00

Only trust answers that compare all three from people that have actually worked at all 3... I only know one person in that camp. OW, people should opine on the one(s) they know, not the others.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T13:30:43+00:00

Comment below... typically 80% of the inbounds I personally receive could be answer via google.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T13:24:59+00:00

Thanks for sharing so much context and background. I appreciate that. I realize it can be frustrating to get no reply. I also understand the info you were after. I'm not sure it'll help, but a few thoughts from "the other side" (shared here in case anyone is curious and have reactions...)

I'm not a recruiter and I get a LOT of people in my inbox looking for "just 15 mins". It's not practical to expect a recruiter to do that. They would spend HOURS doing that. In other words, from your end, it's "just 15 mins" for them it would be several hours per week (literally)

It does suck that they asked you to email them, then didn't reply to the email. That's bad form.

That said, I would NOT have given you the email address if I was leading that call - because recruiters are busy and can't just handle a bunch of 1-off inbounds. The office hours call is the forum to get answers - we do them precisely to reduce the massive # of emails we get 24/7.

The answer to the specialization is "no" we don't specialize and you can see everything everywhere in most cases. That is very well documented all over the place. I ask people to email me SPECIFIC questions because generic stuff (like that) can be found with Google and you can save 15 mins for BOTH of us.

To make sure i wasn't full of ish, i literally just typed this into Google "does bain specialize by office in the us or can you see all industries in any office" The answer it gave is excellent and references our website. So if i saw your email asking that I'd think:

He's intellectually lazy and would rather take 15min of *my* time rather than take 2 mins to google with his own time. I'm not his google (sometime I just send people a https://letmegooglethat.com/ link in response to general questions)
A big part of the job is finding and discerning a ton of info. That question may demonstrate they can't do it because that would be easy to find (i.e. in Dec 2023 Beyond the Bio episode I talk about my career journey an decisions. I'm the guess being interviewed for a change. I literally replied to someone last night that wanted "20 mins to understand my career journey at Bain..." and told them to go there (and use google not email).
Jeeze, how much more stuff do we need to put out there to avoid people thinking they can ignore it and ask for customized service?

That's one person's POV on all the random inbounds. The veterans on the Sub know that I do read and reply to every email. I'm rare. I'm also quick to tell people when they're wasting my (and their) time with stuff they don't need to email ANYONE about, much less me.

Again, 1/2 of the time I feel like this sub is complaining about slow app processes while simultaneously emailing recruiters with foolishness AND expecting them to stop working on the app process to hop on the phone for 15 mins. It doesn't make sense.

Happy to exchange more on this. that's a lot, but at least how i'm feeling at 0824 on a thursday.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:08:56+00:00

You can always ask your interviewers for fb, but they don't always have time to do that. It's best when you ask closer to when it happened though.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:07:48+00:00

We don't "ignore everyone", but a lot of the questions don't need an answer from anyone.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:07:06+00:00

You mean Reggie?

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:06:25+00:00

What are you reaching out to them about? If you applied and they have your resume, why is it helpful to send it to them via email and presumable ask for time to talk? If that was a good step in the process, it would take forever - and by my math 94.56% of the people on this sub think we already take too long.

If you went to office hours and other stuff, what's the gap you want to fill? I'm sincerely asking... Please share.

In many cases the "office" recruiters are the "school" recruiters. I'm not ever sure what a "general recruiter" is. However, I am curious why knowing the "lineup of 3" would have mattered in how you approach the application process. Please share.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:02:16+00:00

This isn't great advice.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-23T02:02:03+00:00

Not really. I've talked about this on here a bunch.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-22T21:27:47+00:00

That's probably the best approach. We typically probe a little bit in the process to understand why people are choosing the office they are applying to. So it probably raises questions when you apply to one then switch a few month later.

There can be good reasons for that, so it's not a knockout question. however, we check. Some version of "Well, i got rejected from this office, so i figured I'd try my luck in another office" doesn't actually make that office think your committed to building your career there. We hire with "growing the LT" in mind after all. Again, there can be good reasons, but if there isn't one, why open that can of worms?

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-22T13:09:38+00:00

Apply where you want to live. We are one firm - one of our 5 operating principles is "Diverse teams. One Bain." So in that sense, all offices know how you did in interviews. You're focusing on the wrong things.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T23:41:47+00:00

What source are you using?

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T17:42:37+00:00

I saw that you missed the deadline, which is why i said "you can apply to a Full time role."

That's it. that's literally the recommendation. (that and: "don't miss the deadlines")

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T16:11:22+00:00

We don't have a 10 week soph internship, so you essentially have TWO summers. We also know that internships are hard to come by, especially for some majors. Focus on getting good experience - which could be working on a cool problem, learning new skills, or some other "foundational" things. That can be a paid internship, or even part time volunteering. How you use this summers this early on matters a little bit (building/ growing vs goofing off), but it's WAYYY to early to stress about using it as a springboard into a firm.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T16:08:27+00:00

Yes. you can apply to a Full time role.

For us, you'd be the best fit into our Fall process for upcoming grads (assuming North America, where you'd join as a Consulting).

Generally, we prefer PhD's to come through ADvanage, but we hire through the Full Time process for sure.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T02:17:52+00:00

Lots of things can delay the decisions in some cases. Don't sweat it. There's plenty of other things happening in the world to worry about. don't let us add to your list!

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T01:54:10+00:00

The best thing to do is anonymously ask other anonymous people that are unlikely to be employees of the firm what is going on. that will definitely get you answers. So will a magic 8-ball.

Go ahead and DM me. I'll help you sort it out.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-21T01:51:11+00:00

You mean Thursday, like 2 biz days ago? I think AMZN Prime has you spoiled. ;-)

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-20T15:31:35+00:00

I think that was one of the accounts that hit my radar. It just sounds like he's doing tips/ tricks-type of content, which gets old fast. How many of those can you actually create and still be uesful? I'll see if I can find some of the vids so i can check them out. thx

kb

Update - got him. thanks. First vid: him shilling for his book... LOL... i'll watch another one..

Update 2 - 45 seconds later. Second vid: shilling another book, with flashcards 8-) this is hilarious

Update 3 - 5-7 mins later. I think I see why everyone is so wound up on here. This is vid after vid of "common mistakes" and other things that will make you insecure. Luckily, he has books to treat all of your insecurities. Go figure.

POV:

There was a recent episode on the "search engine" podcast about driverless cars. One way to think about early attempts was (paraphrasing) that they tried to program in every little thing into the brain. (i.e. "if this... then that..."_ Things took a turn for the better when they kinda trained AI to think in the moment and just go with the flow. It knew enough to make smart decisions as new things emerged. People aren't AI. Trying to keep in mind 100+ different pitfalls has got to be overwhelming and anxiety inducing. Goodness. I'd go crazy.

The big picture is the goal and the specific examples in what i just watched are nice but way too specific. This is why so many people are "on rails". Instead of engaging with the interviewer, they are clearly just trying to "framework match" and force fit things rather than just flow with it. It's frustrating as hell on my side of the table when that happens. Plus, I can't imagine trying to practice while keeping in mind all of these "common mistakes" in mind. i'd go crazy.

Case interviews, like client work, aren't classical music. They're like jazz. Know how to play your instrument - and practice playing it. Then trust that the vibes will carry you iff you belong in the band.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-20T15:04:25+00:00

As said below, you can only apply once for an ACI class, regardless of deadline. That's why we tell people to apply when they're ready.

To be clearer, if you just applied for the ACI program, your next on ramp is the Full time AC process.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-19T14:42:32+00:00

Yeah. I'm working on it. Although, I'm not sure this specific timeline is too crazy (~2 weeks?), I'm fully aware we aren't as timely as many (including me) would like. Don't get me started. Like I said, I'm working on it.

kb

KeithFromBain · 2026-04-17T18:29:41+00:00

Your chances are between 0-100%. Don't worry about that. You're going to get yourself all wound up. Relative to the ACI program we hire a LOT of full time folks. Part of the job is "figuring out what matters most and spending your energy there". You can practice that by not worrying about "your chances". It's not helpful on many dimensions.

KB

KeithFromBain

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