Which is guide is the BEST bang for buck?
-BIWS (M&I) or WSO
I'm looking to understand what I'm reading rather than memorizing the best way to answer a question. Also, will these guys basically teach me all I need to know at an Undergrad level (besides my accounting/finance classes) for interview/networking purposes.
If you guys recommend any other reading or guides then please give your input.
This is for Banking!
Thanks!
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Both are really solid - you can't go wrong for interview prep with either guide. That being said, I don't think a guide is the best approach to really understand the fundamentals of investment banking. The two best resources to be fully prepared for IB interviews are:
-Investment Banking by Rosenbaum and Pearl - really clear book and practical how-to guide for any aspiring banker. Learn the basics of valuations, private equity, and the M&A process.
-BIWS fundamentals modeling course - this will allow you to see and walk through all the financial concepts in excel, effectively as a banker would. That will give you much more clarity when learning the concepts, and allow you to answer interview questions much more confidently.
Once you've gone through both those resources, then polish and refine your knowledge by using the guides. If you are seriously interested in IB, then you're better off doing a deep dive from the beginning.
Good luck!
WSO does a good job of spelling it out for you and offering examples of exactly how you would answer during an interview, but BIWS goes into more depth regarding the fundamentals and logic behind how things work. As esbanker mentioned, Rosenbaum and Pearl's Investment Banking book is the best way to get the best grasp of almost everything you need to know without buying the somewhat pricey BIWS modeling courses.
hey guys, thanks for the honest feedback.
Clearly I'm a bit biased, but we recently released an Investment Banking Prep Pack that includes the Tech Interview guide with Flashcards, the Behavioral Interview Guide (both with sample answers which is super helpful when formulating your own) and the WSO Networking Guide. all 3 of these guides is only $79.99, less than the BIWS $97 guide alone. http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide-to-finance-interviews
As far as the financial modeling is concerned, we have an awesome deal with Wall Street Prep that gives WSO visitors 15% off for any of their self-study packages -- and these include physical manuals that are sent to you (as well as online video tutorials) which are good for referencing once you're on the job. Additionally, if you prefer live training and you are a student, you can get 35% off ($500 off) their IB Bootcamps as a WSO visitor if you register with a .edu address. All these discounts & other deals are listed in our WSO Discounts page here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/wall-street-oasis-discounts
If you have any questions about the guides or WSP, I am happy to give you detailed responses before making your decision.
Good luck with your interview prep! Patrick
Hi Patrick—I purchased the WSO Interview guide (5th edition) last year. Really loved it. I'm currently going through IB recruiting again, but noticed there's the new 6th edition. Is there an upgrade policy or do you need to repurchase full price for the new guide?
Nope, you get it for free. Just e-mail WallStreetOasis.com>[email protected] - she'll also get you another month of the video library since that is where a lot of the additions are coming from now (new IB cases with template files getting added every month). ivyliga
...also, as I recently mentioned in another thread comparing BIWS with WSO:
Reading this post made me unclear about which of the two to buy. I'm seriously confused now :(
both are solid...obviously, I'm biased, but we have the database of ACTUAL interview questions by firm that we are including in a massive appendix (see here: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/big-change-new-wso-technical-and-behavio…)...the IB Prep package is $99 and includes both the Tech, Fit AND networking guide whereas biws charges $97 for the guide and $97 for the networking....in other words, we are only 50% of the price and have the company database growing every day to make the guides better and better every year (and yes, you get free updates).
Thanks for considering! Patrick
Thanks, Patrick! I was not clear: I'm definitely going to buy the IB prep pack from WSO.
My doubt is regarding the modeling course as I was considering BIWS for that.
Could you advise a great reference for accounting? I want to master accounting.
I purchased BIWS and found it to be solid think it was just for 247 $.Since i brought this i can now buy their guide for just 47$ , dont know how much the guide of WSO is for.I dont know how WSP is since i started reading M&I before i got on here. Is there a guide where all the industry specific questions are asked , forgive me i havent had the time to browse through all the WSO products
BIWS vs WSO Guides (Originally Posted: 02/09/2011)
I have the BIWS tech guide already but I'm wondering how much I'm missing out on by not buying the WSO tech/behavioral guide? The M&I guide is nice but I've seen a lot of good things being said about the WSO guide in the last few days.
Can anyone who has both BIWS and WSO tell me if it would help by getting both?
get both...
Don't use BIWS! Didn't you hear? YOU'll LOSE $26!!!!!
Raj would likely recommend that you not even look at the BIWS as he is a man of the people. I have heard positive things about the BIWS guides and have reviewed the WSO guides (technical and fit) and believe they are certainly a great value. I am sure some of the information would be duplicative but it cant hurt to have both.
Having both wouldn't hurt. There is some overlap, but I think the WSO tech guide definitely does a better job of breaking things down better.
You already spent a lot on the BIWS guide, question is whether you are wiling to spend $40 to get both of the WSO guides. IMHO, owning all the guides, the behavioral WSO guide didn't help me that much and was extremely similar to the questions asked in the BIWS early section. (I assume you're talking about the 400 Investment Banking Questions guide), on the other hand the WSO technical guide broke down the answers further and with more detai. All are great guides, but I would recommend buying the WSO technical guide at least.
Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I couldn't find a direct answer to my question. Does WSO ship the guides to you or are they just PDFs that you have to print out yourself?
PDF
BIWS or WSO guides?? (Originally Posted: 02/22/2014)
Hey everyone,
I'm attending a top 15 program this fall (still debating on school, but choice right now between chicago/kellogg and darden/cornell/duke with $$) and trying to land an IB BB associate internship the first summer of bschool.
non finance - engineering undergrad, big 4 consulting background.
Which guide will get the job done but not overkill it? The WSO is much cheaper but at the same time I believe the cost differential is minimal if the BIWS guides give me much more security in landing the gig.
Thanks!
I went to a semi-target with a non-finance background, so my interaction with both systems may vary from yours. I really appreciated BIWS, and the bar it set for both the fit and technical portions of the interviews. Technically, I felt that the guide did a fantastic job of relaying information conceptually. On the fit side, I was, at first, intimidated by the standard and expectations it set--there were no umms, ifs, and buts and the instructor would criticize what I initially felt was minutia regarding reasons to join investment banking. However, after going through this side of the program as well, I felt that I understood the fit portion on a conceptual level as well. I did feel that the WSO guide answered more of the questions that were initially on my mind. That being said, it would be easy to argue that you could make use of both guides, given that it doesn't really take long to get through and practice both of them. The cost, relative to the significance as well as the salary amount of your career, I would say is well worth it for both, given their directness and pragmatism, and is a fraction of the amount you'd pay for a single class' tuition anyway.
neither of these will be overkill. BIWS is pretty good from my own experience.
ib interview & Networking Guides: BIWS or WSO? (Originally Posted: 08/21/2013)
I'm going to get either the BIWS or WSO networking and interview guides, and I'm torn between which is superior.
I'd greatly appreciate any insight on which you prefer and any other info/experiences you've encountered! .
@Kingslayer - Both are very solid, but we will soon be updating our technical interview guide to have a massive appendix which will include actual interview questions at actual investment banks in the past year (along with many other cool company specific metrics). In other words, it will be the most comprehensive, the most insightful interview guide ever in the market. None of our competitors have the wealth of information we have built up in the WSO Company Database, so now we are mining that data to make our interview guides even more valuable.
If you buy these now, when we release our new version (we are hard at work!), there will be no need to pay extra. you will just have to request the new verison when it hits (~5 weeks). Given that I already see the WSO guides as the best out there, this improvement will only make that even more obvious. Did I mention the IB Prep Pack is also cheaper? :-)
Also, we have a money back gurantee, so if you do get the WSO guides and for whatever reason it doesn't meet your expectations (with tens of thousands of copies sold, this almost never happens), we will be happy to send you a refund asap.
So obviously I'm biased, but we do take pride in our interview guides!
Thanks, Patrick
Thanks for the feedback Patrick. The new WSO version just made my decision much easier--looking forward to the release!
Pat, if we bought the WSO guides just a few months ago, do we get the updated versions free?
yup, any previous customers of the guides get updated versions for free. we just ask that you request it once it's released (we will give that info at that time).
BIWS, no offense Patrick
none taken - if you don't think getting a set of recent questions given by the actual interviewers at banks across intern, analyst & associate levels (among many other stats like offer %, difficulty vs other banks, etc) will give you a huge advantage over what BIWS offers, then I have no qualms with that :-)
I may not understand it, but you are entitled to your opinion.
With interview guides, both are great but I would give the edge to WSO. However, you're getting a solid product with both, and I've had interview questions that were pretty much verbatim as those on the guides. (I have one of these guides and a friend has the other)
As for networking guides, I don't really see the point of these. Most of the networking information you need (cold email formats, time of day, etc) are available through the search function. And to be honest, networking itself is just about being nice and interesting, and trying to make friends. I've flipped through the BIWS networking guide and it's really not something I'd drop money on given the information available on this site.
However, if it's only marginally more expensive for a packaged interview+networking guide, then it's really dependent on if you want to search or not.
At least, that's my opinion.
Hey patrick, looks like I'll go with your interview guide and BIWS technical guide. How can I find out when the new version is released?
Trying out the WSO and BIWS guides (Originally Posted: 05/10/2013)
I noticed that both the WSO and BIWS guides for Investment Banking have 100% money back guarantees.
Has anyone actually asked for their money back? I am planning to buy both of them, decide which one is better, and get my money back for the one I like less while keeping the other. Would I just email them to ask for a refund?
I know Patrick will definitely give your money back if you are not happy with the WSO ones. Pretty sure BIWS is the same but haven't tried to get a refund personally.
Hey guys, I'm not asking for opinions on which is better, I've found those already with the search function. Sorry I wasn't more clear, but I want to try them both out for myself to see which is better. However, I don't want to try them out and then not be able to return the one I don't like. Does anyone know for sure if BIWS and WSO honor their 100% money back guarantees? I don't want to end up paying $70-100 for a guide that I don't need.
I'd say ~0.5% of people ask for their money back, usually because they thought it covered something else or something else random. The people who read the description and purchase knowing what they are getting are very happy (as shown by our testimonials)...
Would love to hear specifics on why some people think the BIWS products are better. We offer the same level of detail, sample responses, etc for a fraction of the price that BIWS charges...so would be really interested to hear from someone that has looked at both to figure out where we can improve. I've heard that the BIWS is more thorough, but from what I've seen, the extra questions that are added are overkill.
We could easily expand our guide to include these questions and the thousands of others in our Interview Insights in our Company Database, but I think that actually detracts from the effectiveness of a study guide. Focusing on the questions that are given 99% of the time and building on a framework of Simple, Intermediate and Advanced we've found to be a very popular format....but if I'm missing something I'd love to hear it.
Doubling the size of the guide to include any/every esoteric question that has ever been asked I think is a waste of time...but if that is what you guys want/value, we can work to expand it.
We depend heavily on our guide sales to keep WSO running, so obviously we are incentivized to keep them the most cost effective out there, but also to deliver the most value. Would love your feedback.
Thanks guys! Patrick
I especially want to prepare for an internship position in the summer of 2014. How do you guys recommend me to do this? I was thinking about doing a financial modeling course. Maybe there are some other guides I really should read (like something interview preparation specific?). Really hope you can give me some advice :)
Would first sign up for our 6 free financial modeling lessons here: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/special-announcement-6-free-financial-mo… (if you're a new user no need to sign up there since you'll get those lessons automatically)....we have a special discount for people that make it through those lessons with our partner wall st. prep.
If you're looking for interview guides, obviously, I'm biased but you can read our testimonials here: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide-to-finance-interviews (and the interview guides are only going to get stronger and stronger as we collect more and more company specific data in the WSO Company Database which is growing fast every single day)....
Thanks, Patrick
WSO guides vs. BIWS guides (Originally Posted: 04/07/2012)
I'm thinking of purchasing investment banking interview guides. The WSO Investment Banking Interview prep pack is $80, the equivalent bundle from BIWS (by the guys at Mergers & Inquisitions) is $180.
Is whatever additional stuff that's in the BIWS worth the extra hundred bucks, or is the WSO pack better value-for-money? (I do realize I might get biased responses here, but I don't know where else to ask this)
How about Wall Street Prep, Wall Street Training, and Training the Street. How do these compare to the other two?
Just ask Patrick, he'll give you an unbiased answer.... ;)
to be fair, i've never read the BIWS guide/s, but here is what I've heard as the main differences. The BIWS advanced technical section is more extensive than the WSO technical guide but the WSO guide does a better job giving you examples of what to say (especially in the behavioral guides). So both are very solid overviews of what you will see in interviews and both will cover likely 95%+ of what you'll hear in an interview.
That being said, we are actually in the process of a major expansion / improvement of the WSO tech and behavioral guides which should be out in a few months. If you purchase now, you only have to pay the difference between the new version and the $79.99 now...but the likelihood of us raising the price is very small. We are going to bump the Behavioral Guide up to $29.99, but the IB Prep Pack will stay at $79.99 in this next iteration/ version.
Either way, we won't rest until the WSO guides are not only the best (which is why we are putting so much effort to keep improving and why HBS students, Wharton students and other top b schools license them), but we also aim to keep them at a price point that makes them available to all college and b school students.
Also, if you're not happy with the WSO guides, we always have a 100% money back guarantee.
Either way, good luck! Patrick
I am going to buy both
WSO is def. cheaper. If you have some self-discipline, you can pretty much learn everything online for free anyway. If you haven't learned your accounting already I'd do that before buying anything. If you've already learned your accounting http://macabacus.com/ will teach you how to model, its all free.
on the other hand, I think BIWS is great for people who don't have the discipline to sit and read through modeling examples for hours online.
If you are just looking for the typical cookie cutter tech questions to prep for a last minute interview, WSO does just that. there are several other sites that give me free Q&A's for free too for extra prep, i'd do a google search.
do we get access to future updates in the wso guide if we buy it now?
yes, always
Patrick, will there be a cheap upgrade price for those who have bought the older versions? :)
BIWS vs WSO guide? (Originally Posted: 05/06/2013)
I am preparing to interview for a Boutique summer analyst job, I have heard alot of good things about BIWS, but the WSO guides are much cheaper. This would be my first analyst experience and I need some basic knowledge on excel and modelling. Which one would you guys suggest to be more suitable for me?
If you need Excel/modeling knowledge get BIWS.
BIWS is probably overkill for SA
Interview Prep = WSO ib interview Course can't be beat (if you want to go through and try to memorize every possible question, you can look at the thousands of interview questions at specific companies, you can do that for free in the WSO Company Database)
Finanical Modeling = Wall St Prep...with WSO special discount you get 15% off = less than BIWS and you get both physical books and online video tutorials
Little time before interview! WSO technicals or BIWS? (Originally Posted: 03/08/2011)
Interview in 1 week, but with classes and other commitments do I memorize the WSO guide or am I going to need to know the BIWS 400 questions?
I've been through WSO once before and been through the valuation videos on BIWS but I've heard the boutique I'm interviewing at is serious on technicals.
I've only ever heard good things about the WSO guides
Hello, wanted to know if IB interview guide includes financial modelling? Thanks
I don't believe so. See the following link: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/finance-interview-courses-wall-street-o…
*Disclaimer: I have not used any WSO guides/courses, so I could be wrong.
Just read through the forum. My understanding is that an interviewer would never test you on your modeling skills for an SA role. Is that correct? If so, completing a modeling course won’t help candidates nearly as much as an interview guide. The purpose of modeling courses seems to be to make the transition into a job easier. Curious on your thoughts
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