Short answer: Start in sophomore year. Apply to programs for second-years, such as Bain's Building Entrepreneurial Leaders and CREW (due November 30, 2026) and McKinsey's Sophomore Summer Business Analyst program. Practise case interviews for a few months, network with consultants from your school, and apply beyond McKinsey, BCG and Bain. On November 9, 2026, Useno listed 66 consulting internships.

The timeline

WhenWhat to do
Sophomore fallSophomore programs, consulting club, first conversations with alumni
Sophomore winter to springStrategy firm internship applications open (McKinsey opened January 1 for Summer 2027)
Sophomore spring to summerCase practice, second-round deadlines (Bain's ran to August 31 last cycle)
Junior fallBig 4 consulting, boutiques and in-house strategy teams

Case interviews

A case interview gives you a business problem, such as why a client's profits fell, and asks you to work through it. Interviewers look for a clear structure, comfort with quick maths, and a recommendation at the end. Practise with a partner, out loud, at least a few times a week in the months before interviews.

Personal experience questions

Firms also ask about times you led, had an impact, or handled disagreement. Prepare three or four stories with specific results, and practise telling each in under two minutes.

Apply wider than the top three

  • Big 4 consulting and advisory practices.
  • Boutique firms in healthcare, technology, economics and operations.
  • Strategy and business operations teams inside large companies.

Where to look on Useno

Browse the 66 consulting internships and the business operations and strategy internships, or search the board for consulting roles.

Sources

Employer dates come from each employer's own pages where they publish them. A date that only a third party reports is marked Third party. Useno counts are Useno's own data, read on November 9, 2026.