Their final round question, also from McKinsey, asked the team to identify key issues that should be considered by the CEO of an entertainment company considering a multimillion-dollar investment to increase the capacity of its video game production.

The teams had 40 minutes to prepare for the first two rounds and only 35 minutes in the last round, with a 15-minute time limit for presentations. The 25 teams were winnowed to 15 in the second round and five in the third.

Pasquariello said the experience of competing against 24 other teams of Harvard students was great preparation for the real world.

"I learned about how to work with a team in a fast-paced environment," Pasquariello said. "It was good practice for any case studies that I'll do in any interviews."

The winners said they appreciated the chance to work with new people.

"I think I learned a lot from working with other people," Reddy wrote. "Normally, when preparing for case interviews, you work through cases by yourself, so you don't really get a sense of other perspectives on the problem."

"During the competition, I learned a lot from the way my teammates approached the cases. It also gave me a good sense of my own strengths and weaknesses in solving these types of problems," she continued.