I interned at BCG, so this page is partly from experience. BCG is one of the three MBB firms, and it screens CVs against criteria very close to McKinsey's: leadership, problem-solving and drive. The difference is mostly in timing and in what you say about why BCG.
Start earlier than you think
When I was at university, BCG's London insight programme ran in September of second year, and you applied for it in January of first year. Most first-years haven't even started thinking about applications in January. That's precisely why it's worth knowing.
If you want BCG, put a reminder in your calendar for the start of first year and check the careers page then.
What BCG looks for on the CV
- Leadership with scale. A committee role is a start; a committee role with members, budget and a result is what gets read.
- Problems you solved. Not tasks you did. A bullet should have a problem, what you did, and what changed.
- Drive to make an impact. That's language BCG has used in role descriptions. If you're writing a cover letter or answering a question, you can signpost it directly ("I have the drive to make an impact") and then back it up immediately with an example and a number.
Before: Member of the charities committee
After: Vice Events Coordinator, Charities Committee; set up a volunteer pool and a certificate scheme for 50+ hours, adding 93 volunteers in a year
Case interviews
A BCG consultant once told me that all of her friends who used PrepLounge got MBB offers, and the rest didn't. That's anecdote, not data, but it matches what I've seen: people who do 15 to 20 live cases with strangers over a few months do much better than people who only read books.
BCG has also used an online case or test before the interviews in some years.
If you're applying from outside the UK
BCG has offices in Lagos, Mumbai, Hong Kong and across mainland China, as well as London. Apply to the office you'd genuinely want to work in, and if it isn't your home country, be ready to explain why.