I don't have people to do cases with. Is it enough to practice by myself?

This is kind of my problem with prep. I have basically no friends, certainly none interested in consulting. I had like 2 cases with a school alum who now left. But other than that I just have myself.

Is it realistic to just practice by myself? Here is what I do. I basically read a case off a case book, then think about it myself before looking at solutions. I record myself repeating the prompt and taking the time to framework it etc. I think it is working, but I don't have a high standard to compare it to.

I also have LOMS, bought it recently but haven't started with it.

Is it ever enough to just practice cases by yourself?

Comments ( 6 )

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  • Senior Consultant in Consulting
6d

Huge mistake. Talking back and forth with a person is very different than speaking to yourself alone. It's not impossible to pass case interviews with subpar prep, but it's certainly less likely

Find students from other universities to prep with online. There are websites to do that and you can probably find people by asking on WSO and r/consulting

5d
random.prospect , what's your opinion? Comment below:

No, highly encourage you to find others to case with. Learning to "solve" individual sections by yourself can help, but only really reflects a portion of the interview as there are fewer things to juggle. Practicing live will help you get more comfortable communicating with the interviewer and learning the flow on top of the actual problem-solving. It helps point out weak spots that you just won't be able to see by doing it yourself.

Probably preferable that you find alumni/friends, but I've used preplounge to find other people to practice with.

  • 1
3d
legendspirit , what's your opinion? Comment below:

It depends on your work ethic and how you manage your time. I got an MBB offer with only a month (six weeks, to be exact) to prep. Sure, I ran through cases with a few people, but 95% of my efforts were by myself. Although I spent an average of 8-12 hours a day for those six weeks, getting an offer with only self-practice is manageable. Definitely leverage LOMS. Like you're doing, record yourself doing the cases, hear it out, and try to compare it with other cases you've heard. Plenty of ways to get that "real" case interview experience ; you can look into podcasts, LOMS, online virtual cases, etc.

Of course, it's always better to case with someone else, especially if they know what to look out for, but if that's out of your range, don't stress too much about it. Shoot me a PM, I can try to find some time in the next few weeks to case prep you if you want!

3d
newyorkcityny123 , what's your opinion? Comment below:

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