Coding questions
Bain Online Assessment
Overview
Here is how public prep guides and student write-ups describe the Bain online assessment. This is not an official company brochure.
SOVA-style psychometric gate before heavy case load.
Usual selection rounds
Rounds students usually mention: Application screen → SOVA / psychometric aptitude (guides) → Case interview rounds → Final interviews
| Item | From student reports |
|---|---|
| Platform | SOVA or TestGorilla-style assessment (guides) |
| Online test summary | Bain pre-round psychometric/aptitude assessment before case loops per recruiting guides. |
| Eligibility notes | Selective target-school screens |
| Branches (reported) | MBA/undergrad target list |
Online test sections
| Section | Questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychometric / aptitude | - | - | Confirm current India process |
Extra notes from sources
- Check your college placement email for the platform, section order, and timing.
Sample practice question styles
These are practice questions for speed - not claimed to be from a real Bain live paper.
Coding Q1: Reverse a string in place
Problem: Given a mutable character array representing a string, reverse it in place without allocating another array of the same size.
Approach: Use two pointers at the start and end. Swap characters, then move inward until the pointers meet. Watch empty and single-character inputs.
Complexity: O(n) time, O(1) extra space
Bain tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q2: Check prime
Problem: Write a function that returns true if n is prime and false otherwise. Handle n < 2 correctly.
Approach: Return false for n < 2. Trial-divide from 2 to floor(sqrt(n)). If any divisor divides n evenly, it is composite; otherwise prime.
Complexity: O(√n) time
Bain tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q3: Valid parentheses
Problem: Given a string containing only ‘()[]’, decide whether the brackets are balanced and correctly nested.
Approach: Scan left to right with a stack. Push opening brackets. On a closing bracket, the stack top must be the matching opener. At the end the stack must be empty.
Complexity: O(n) time, O(n) space
Bain tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Coding Q4: Two Sum
Problem: Given an array of integers and a target, return indices of two numbers that add up to the target. Assume exactly one solution and you may not use the same element twice.
Approach: Walk the array once. For each value x, check whether target − x was seen earlier in a hash map of value → index. If yes, return both indices; else store x.
Complexity: O(n) time, O(n) space
Bain tip: Restate the problem, sketch a brute-force idea, then tighten it. Call out edge cases (empty input, single element, overflow) before you write code.
Prep tips from those student reports
- Case volume
- Fit stories
- Aptitude/psychometric warm-up
Sources
- Consulting Recruiting in India 2026 - Hacking the Case Interview (other)
- How MBB Recruiting Works - Case Interview Hub (other)
These notes come from public reports and can differ by campus, year, and role. If your college placement email or the official careers/notification PDF says something different, follow that.
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