The Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview is stage 5 of 7 in the Marshall Wace interview process, after the Technical Project Presentation. Format: ~50 min - in person, two brainteasers. Assessment day in person.
Preparing for this round? Practice the 3 questions mapped to the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview, with worked solutions. A free account saves your progress.
What the Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview tests
Brainteaser interview: two mathematical puzzles (50 minutes, internship guide), judged on approach, not only the answer. Past example: turn-based dice, crossing out newly rolled numbers; go first or second? Associate days: ~9am start, four interviews, may end after the first two.
QuantVault maps 3 practice problems to this round. By topic, the biggest groups are probability (3); by difficulty, 2 easy, 1 medium and 0 hard. 3 of them were reported by candidates who interviewed at Marshall Wace, most recently in Jun 2026.
- About 50 minutes, in person, usually two puzzles. Reported types include a dice cross-out game and painted-cube counting.
How to prepare for the Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview
- Think out loud - MW grades the process, so state assumptions and simplify first.
- Treat the morning as cumulative - the associate day can be cut short after two interviews.
Further reading: How quant superdays work · Behavioral questions at trading firms · Market-making game interview guide.
Question types in this round
The 1 largest question types in the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview practice set; across them the most common sub-topics are combinatorics, discrete probability, independence, number theory. The questions themselves, with worked solutions, are in the round practice.
Probability3 in this round
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Frequently asked questions
What is the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview?
It is stage 5 of 7 in the Marshall Wace interview process, after the Technical Project Presentation. Format: ~50 min - in person, two brainteasers. Assessment day in person. Brainteaser interview: two mathematical puzzles (50 minutes, internship guide), judged on approach, not only the answer.
How long is the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview?
Candidates report: ~50 min - in person, two brainteasers.
What questions come up in the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview?
The practice set QuantVault maps to this round centers on probability.
How should I prepare for the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview?
Think out loud - MW grades the process, so state assumptions and simplify first. Treat the morning as cumulative - the associate day can be cut short after two interviews.
What comes after the Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview?
The Assessment Day Case Study + Programming (stage 6 of 7). Format: 2 interviews - in person; the case differs by track.
Practice the Marshall Wace Assessment Day Brainteaser Interview round
Work the 3 mapped practice problems with progress tracking, then move to the next stage of the Marshall Wace funnel.