Bocconi master’s admission test course

Mind map of the test

The whole test on one page: open an area to see its lessons, then go straight to one.

Course contents

1. Unit 1

   Getting started

   How the Online Bocconi Test for master’s applicants is built and scored: 50 mixed questions in 75 minutes, three per screen with no return, no calculator, the −0.25 and −0.33 penalties and the 15-point floor, and what they mean for guessing and pacing.

   1. 1.How the Bocconi master’s test worksThe Online Bocconi Test for MSc and MA applicants: 50 mixed questions in 75 minutes, three areas, three questions per screen, the penalties and the floor.15 min
   2. 2.Scoring, pacing and guessingWhat a guess is worth under the −0.25 and −0.33 penalties, how elimination changes it, and how to pace a test where you can never go back.20 min

2. Unit 2

   Verbal reasoning

   The largest area of the test, 24 of 50 questions. Bocconi describes three item types: reading comprehension on passages, data and statements to judge true or false, and verbal critical reasoning on short arguments. These lessons cover reading for structure, main idea, detail and inference, data and statements, then argument structure, quantifiers and conditionals, assumptions, strengthening and weakening, flaws, and the statistical flaws that arguments built on numbers often hide.

   1. 3.Reading passages for structureRead a passage for the job each paragraph does, separate the author’s view from the views reported, and answer structure questions from a quick map.18 min
   2. 4.Main idea, author’s purpose and toneFind the claim a whole passage serves, name the author’s purpose with the right verb, and judge tone without overstating it.18 min
   3. 5.Detail and inference questionsFind what a passage states by meaning, not by matching words, and infer only what must be true when the passage is true.18 min
   4. 6.Data and statements: what must be trueSort statements about a set of data into necessarily true, necessarily false and undetermined, using counterexamples, overlaps and orderings.20 min
   5. 7.Argument structure: conclusion, premises and the gapFind the conclusion of a short argument, sort premises from background and opposing views, and name the gap every critical reasoning question turns on.18 min
   6. 8.Quantifiers, conditionals and contrapositivesTurn only if, unless, none but and not all into plain arrows, use the contrapositive, match argument patterns and test a rule by hunting for counterexamples.22 min
   7. 9.Assumptions: the unstated link and the negation testPredict the unstated premise an argument needs, confirm it with the negation test, and reject options that are merely helpful or too strong.20 min
   8. 10.Strengthen and weaken: supporting or undermining a thesisPick the option that best supports or most undermines a thesis by working on the gap: rule out or raise alternatives, and ignore options off the point.20 min
   9. 11.Flaws and evaluation: naming what is wrong and what would settle itRecognise the common reasoning flaws, describe them in the abstract wording options use, and find the fact that would best test an argument.22 min
   10. 12.Statistical flaws: base rates, self-selection and the conjunction trapSpot shares read as rates, self-selected volunteers and over-detailed stories in short arguments, and know which facts weaken or strengthen each.22 min

3. Unit 3

   Data insight

   Data insight is 16 of the test’s 50 questions. Bocconi describes two kinds of item: questions on tables, histograms, graphs or short passages, and data sufficiency. Calculators are not allowed, so this unit teaches reading each kind of display, computing shares, growth over one year and several, and weighted averages by hand, spotting when subgroup and overall rates disagree, combining sources, and the logic of deciding which statements are enough.

   1. 13.Reading tables: the frame first, then the figuresRead a data table’s title, units, rows and totals before any figure, then answer each question from exactly the cells it needs, without a calculator.18 min
   2. 14.Bar charts, line charts and histogramsRead values, changes and trends off bar charts, line charts and histograms, and avoid the slips that steep lines and cut-off axes invite.20 min
   3. 15.Pie charts and shares of a wholeConvert pie-chart shares into amounts and angles, compare two pies with different totals, and take shares of shares without slipping.18 min
   4. 16.Percentages and growth in tables and chartsCompute growth from the right base, chain yearly changes, read index numbers and tell points from percent, all by hand from tables and charts.22 min
   5. 17.Growth over several years: compounding and average annual ratesTurn several years of growth into one multiplier, find the average annual rate from first and last values, and estimate powers and doubling times by hand.22 min
   6. 18.Averages and weighted dataCombine group averages with their sizes, work from totals, read means and medians from frequency tables, and spot when an overall rate reverses.20 min
   7. 19.Subgroups and totals: Simpson’s paradoxWhy a rate can be lower in every subgroup yet higher overall: recompute totals from counts, compare like for like, and judge what a split table shows.20 min
   8. 20.Combining tables, charts and short passagesLink two displays through a shared key, turn shares into counts with the right totals, and use only the sources a question really needs.22 min
   9. 21.Data sufficiency: the methodDecide whether statement (1), statement (2), both or neither give enough to answer a question, without solving more than you must.22 min
   10. 22.Data sufficiency: the pitfallsCatch the data sufficiency errors that cost marks: hidden whole-number limits, signs and squares, ratios versus counts, and counting equations.22 min

4. Unit 4

   Quantitative reasoning

   Bocconi describes the 10 quantitative reasoning questions as numerical and logical problems using basic mathematics, and publishes no topic list. This unit reviews core areas of basic mathematics: number properties, fractions and ratios, percentages, interest and break-even, linear equations and systems, quadratics and inequalities, exponentials, logarithms and sequences, rates and mixtures, sets and overlaps, counting and probability, conditional probability and expected value, and averages. Calculators are not allowed, so every method here is worked by hand.

   1. 23.Numbers and divisibility: factors, multiples and remaindersTest divisibility at a glance, factorise into primes, find GCDs and LCMs, and work with remainders, all by hand and without a calculator.20 min
   2. 24.Fractions, ratios and proportionsHandle fractions by hand, split totals in a ratio, link two ratios through a shared term, and tell direct from inverse proportion.20 min
   3. 25.Percentages and successive changesWork out percentages in your head, treat every change as a multiplier, chain and reverse changes, and keep percent and percentage points apart.20 min
   4. 26.Interest, present value and break-evenGrow money with simple and compound interest, discount it to present value, value perpetuities, and find bond yields and break-even points by hand.25 min
   5. 27.Linear equations and systemsSolve linear equations cleanly, turn word problems into equations, and solve two-unknown systems by substitution, elimination or a shortcut.20 min
   6. 28.Quadratic equations and inequalitiesFactorise quadratics by hand, use the formula and the discriminant when factoring fails, and solve linear and quadratic inequalities safely.22 min
   7. 29.Exponentials, logarithms and sequencesSolve growth and half-life problems by matching powers, apply log rules with a domain check, and sum arithmetic and geometric sequences.25 min
   8. 30.Rates, work and mixturesUse one rate equation for speed, work and flow: find true average speeds, combine work rates, and solve mixtures as weighted averages.22 min
   9. 31.Sets, overlaps and worst casesCount overlapping groups with inclusion–exclusion and the exactly-two formula, fill Venn diagrams from the centre out, and find worst-case guarantees.22 min
   10. 32.Counting and probabilityCount arrangements and selections with the product rule, permutations and combinations, then turn counts into probabilities, using complements.24 min
   11. 33.Conditional probability, Bayes and expected valueRead conditional probabilities from tables, solve Bayes problems with 1,000 imagined cases, and compute expected values and binomial chances.25 min
   12. 34.Averages and basic statisticsWork with sums instead of means, combine groups with weighted averages, find medians and ranges, and see how changing the data moves each measure.20 min

5. Unit 5

   Beyond basic maths (optional)

   Optional extra preparation. Bocconi's current test page describes quantitative reasoning as problems using basic mathematics and publishes no topic list, so nothing in this unit is confirmed for the current test. A 2024 sample test on Bocconi's website, which the current page does not link to and which may not reflect the current form, included a few items beyond basic mathematics: the gradient of a function of two variables, a Type I error and null-hypothesis item, and expected values of random variables. These two lessons prepare you for that possibility: derivatives and optimisation, then the normal distribution and hypothesis tests. Work through the quantitative reasoning unit first; it covers the basic mathematics the test page describes.

   1. 35.Derivatives and optimisationOptional: derivative rules, maxima and minima, profit maximisation with MR = MC, and partial derivatives and gradients of two-variable functions.25 min
   2. 36.The normal distribution and hypothesis testsOptional: z-scores, the 68–95–99.7 rule, variance rules, standard errors, confidence intervals, and the logic of hypothesis tests and Type I errors.25 min