Am I ready for final rounds?

Am I ready for final rounds? A checklist with thresholds

• Live cases: at least 20 to 30 full cases spoken out loud with another person, in Partner mode with a friend or through the Practice Exchange, where you book practice with other candidates. Many candidates who feel ready have done more.
• Strong scores: at least 5 of those cases scored 21 or more out of 25 on the Partner mode rubric, ideally from more than one partner. Saved scorecards appear in the partner history on your profile page (/account).
• Math accuracy: at least 90 percent correct on your last 20 graded math items. The progress page shows your mastery level per skill, and Mastered in math requires 90 percent on the last 20.
• Mastery levels: Proficient or Mastered on the progress page for math, structuring, exhibits, and synthesis. Proficient needs at least 30 graded answers with 75 percent of your last 20 correct.
• Daily review: cleared every day for a week, so the checks and drills you once missed now stay correct.
• Story bank: 6 to 8 STAR stories in the story workshop (/stories), tagged so that leadership, drive, connection, and growth are each covered at least once.
• Time: at least one full case, from prompt to recommendation, in under 35 minutes on the Partner mode timer.
• Synthesis: you can give a recommendation (answer, three reasons, risk, next steps) in under 60 seconds, every time.
• Pushback: you have run at least three partner-style cases where your partner pushed back, and you held or updated your view for the right reason.

Where to find the evidence on the site

• Interview readiness on the dashboard: a single number that stays capped at 30 until you complete 3 practice sessions or drills, at 60 until you record one live case, and at 79 until you have recorded 3. For this number, a live case is a Partner mode case saved to your progress, and each different case counts once. A capped number means you need more applied practice, not more reading.
• The progress page: mastery levels per skill, moved only by graded answers. Familiar needs 10 graded answers with 60 percent of your last 20 correct; Proficient needs 30 at 75 percent; Mastered needs 60 at 90 percent.
• Partner mode: run any worked case in the library (/cases) with a friend, with an interviewer script, a candidate view, a timer, and the five-part scoring rubric.
• The gyms: the Mental Math Gym, the Market Sizing Gym, the Exhibit Gym, and the Structure Builder for targeted practice on your weakest criterion.
• The diagnostic and your prep plan: retake the diagnostic (the Skills check, /diagnostic) to see how your skills have moved, and let your prep plan (/plan) point you to what is left.
• The Practice Exchange (/practice-exchange), where you book practice with other candidates: useful when you want to be interviewed by someone you do not know. An AI mock interview may come later; it is not available today.

Close the biggest gap first

• Too few live cases: run three Partner mode cases this week, even short ones. Live cases are the evidence the other items cannot replace.
• Scores below 21: look at your lowest criterion across your last five cases and practice only that for a week (see the Thinking like the interviewer module).
• Math below 90 percent: 15 minutes a day in the Mental Math Gym and the timed drills in Speed and precision, then clear daily review.
• Weak synthesis: after every case, record a 60-second recommendation and listen back. Answer first, every time.
• Thin story bank: write two new STAR stories a week in the story workshop until each dimension has at least one strong story.
• Too slow: run cases with the timer and a hard stop at 35 minutes. Cut structure time first, then long calculations.
• Nervous under pushback: ask your partner to use the pushback lines in the partner cases, and practice the four moves until they are automatic.
• If the interview date is close: stop adding new material. Spend the last days on live cases, daily review, and your stories.