Bain SOVA Guide

    SOVA vs TestGorilla: Side-by-Side Comparison

    The two main Bain assessments, compared in one place.

    Short answer

    Bain uses TestGorilla for US and APAC offices and SOVA for most EMEA offices. TestGorilla is strictly timed (40–50 min) across four MCQ sections including business judgment and leadership. SOVA is soft-timed (~60–90 min) across verbal, numerical, logical reasoning, and a personality questionnaire. Numerical reasoning overlaps heavily; everything else is different.

    Which one will you get?

    Office matters more than role. As of 2026, Bain offices in the US, Canada, and most of APAC (Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo) use TestGorilla. Bain offices in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, and the Middle East use SOVA. DACH offices (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) sometimes use Pymetrics instead of either.

    The invitation email tells you which platform you'll be taken to. If the link says 'testgorilla.com' you have TestGorilla; if it says 'sovaassessment.com' you have SOVA.

    Format comparison

    The most useful side-by-side view:

    • Total time — TestGorilla 40–50 min hard cap; SOVA 60–90 min soft-timed.
    • Sections — TestGorilla: Numerical, Problem Solving, Business Judgment, Leadership & People. SOVA: Verbal, Numerical, Logical, Personality.
    • Format — TestGorilla: 4 MCQ sections, no backtracking. SOVA: 3 reasoning + 1 forced-choice questionnaire, no hard cut-off.
    • Calculator — TestGorilla: no. SOVA: yes for numerical.
    • Scoring — TestGorilla: composite benchmarked to applicants. SOVA: stanine 1–9 per section against a graduate normative group.
    • Personality — TestGorilla: no. SOVA: yes (80–100 forced-choice items).

    What prep transfers between them

    Numerical reasoning transfers almost entirely — both use chart-and-table multiple choice. Logical reasoning partially transfers (TestGorilla's Problem Solving uses logic puzzles; SOVA uses abstract shape sequences — different surface, similar core skill). Business Judgment, Leadership, verbal reasoning, and personality do not transfer.

    Put it into practice

    The fastest way to internalize the format is timed practice that mirrors the real test.

    Practice the format that transfers

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