This process was rather drawn out as McKinsey rapidly scaled back their hiring at non-core colleges during the Fall of 2008. As such, the interview dates were moved back from October to December and then until late January/early February. Although the number of available spots had shrunken greatly due to reduced hiring, McKinsey nonetheless interviewed a percentage of applicants comparable to other years. This made the interview process more frustrating and random as the eventual offers were distributed to a very small percentage of applicants amidst a very qualified pool. Generally, my impression of my interviewers was negative compared to other comparable firms (BCG, Bain, Monitor) -- they struck me as arrogant. In particular, one interviewer with an engineering background professed that he didn't understand why McKinsey would hire non-engineers as they didn't have the requisite "problem solving" skills. As a motivated liberal arts major with experience in management consulting, I found this statement disheartening, misguided, and improper.