Wall Street Prep vs Breaking into Wallstreet?
Wall Street Prep = WSP
Breaking into Wallstreet = BiW
Hello all, I've seen all the material in BiW through a friend, and while explained well, seems too basic to me. For WSP, I saw their demo videos and everything there looks very professional (formatting / instructors / presentation of material etc). I was wondering which one would you recommend from your experience?
A little background on me. I am from the UK and have done a long term internship (9 months) at a VC and a summer internship at a boutique M&A house. Although these places have been very good in-terms of developing interpersonal skills etc, but as I have been involved with small companies, I haven't been able to experience hardcore modelling / understanding balance sheets etc in any of these roles. I am taking up an offer in Audit with a Big4 this year but will keep applying alongside and I am afraid that given my background, the questions will be very technical. So which package would you guys recommend?
Cheers!





Which VC firm was it? PM if
Which VC firm was it? PM if necessary
WSP takes some pretty
WSP takes some pretty serious effort to get through, at least I think. It teaches more thorough formatting but that's the only advantage, and I don't think it's a huge deal unless you need to create professional-ready models.
Don't like any of them
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
Could anyone enlighten me on
Could anyone enlighten me on the basics required to do the BiW course? Also, how long did it take you guys to complete it?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Anyone?
lui wrote: I don't like any
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
I don't know if this was before the advanced module, but I'm curios anyways. What exactly do you find too basic about it? I've only done the Excel course there, but I found that to be pretty helpful already and even though it's not part of the actual financial modeling course, I learnt a lot about when to use different functions in Excel. As for the very advanced stuff, I don't think you really need a video course to demonstrate it, as it becomes more about theory and understanding the thought behind things and how they work. No need for a practical demonstration, compared to something like basic accounting.
I don't know what Wall St. Training is like, but I've been very happy with the Excel course and Brian seems to respond to all comments on the site. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a video course anyways, but if it's just a guy talking about advanced financial theory to a still screenshot of Excel, I'd much rather read a book. Although I do think it would be appropriate to recommend books and other learning materials on financial theory.
pistacie wrote: lui wrote: I
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
I don't know if this was before the advanced module, but I'm curios anyways. What exactly do you find too basic about it? I've only done the Excel course there, but I found that to be pretty helpful already and even though it's not part of the actual financial modeling course, I learnt a lot about when to use different functions in Excel. As for the very advanced stuff, I don't think you really need a video course to demonstrate it, as it becomes more about theory and understanding the thought behind things and how they work. No need for a practical demonstration, compared to something like basic accounting.
I don't know what Wall St. Training is like, but I've been very happy with the Excel course and Brian seems to respond to all comments on the site. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a video course anyways, but if it's just a guy talking about advanced financial theory to a still screenshot of Excel, I'd much rather read a book. Although I do think it would be appropriate to recommend books and other learning materials on financial theory.
So, there is a basic Excel course that comes along with it?
^Yes.
^Yes.
walkio wrote: pistacie
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
I don't know if this was before the advanced module, but I'm curios anyways. What exactly do you find too basic about it? I've only done the Excel course there, but I found that to be pretty helpful already and even though it's not part of the actual financial modeling course, I learnt a lot about when to use different functions in Excel. As for the very advanced stuff, I don't think you really need a video course to demonstrate it, as it becomes more about theory and understanding the thought behind things and how they work. No need for a practical demonstration, compared to something like basic accounting.
I don't know what Wall St. Training is like, but I've been very happy with the Excel course and Brian seems to respond to all comments on the site. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a video course anyways, but if it's just a guy talking about advanced financial theory to a still screenshot of Excel, I'd much rather read a book. Although I do think it would be appropriate to recommend books and other learning materials on financial theory.
So, there is a basic Excel course that comes along with it?
Yes, but be aware that it doesn't cover any financial theory, only shortcuts and functions. I doubt you'd even be interested in investment banking in the first place if you didn't know most of what he talks about. If not, there's always books and I think the financial modeling tutorials cover the theory as well, but I'm not sure. You really don't need to understand a lot of finance to do the Excel course and still benefit from it, it's mostly shortcuts and functions.
pistacie wrote: walkio
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
I don't know if this was before the advanced module, but I'm curios anyways. What exactly do you find too basic about it? I've only done the Excel course there, but I found that to be pretty helpful already and even though it's not part of the actual financial modeling course, I learnt a lot about when to use different functions in Excel. As for the very advanced stuff, I don't think you really need a video course to demonstrate it, as it becomes more about theory and understanding the thought behind things and how they work. No need for a practical demonstration, compared to something like basic accounting.
I don't know what Wall St. Training is like, but I've been very happy with the Excel course and Brian seems to respond to all comments on the site. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a video course anyways, but if it's just a guy talking about advanced financial theory to a still screenshot of Excel, I'd much rather read a book. Although I do think it would be appropriate to recommend books and other learning materials on financial theory.
So, there is a basic Excel course that comes along with it?
Yes, but be aware that it doesn't cover any financial theory, only shortcuts and functions. I doubt you'd even be interested in investment banking in the first place if you didn't know most of what he talks about. If not, there's always books and I think the financial modeling tutorials cover the theory as well, but I'm not sure. You really don't need to understand a lot of finance to do the Excel course and still benefit from it, it's mostly shortcuts and functions.
My issue isn't really the Accounting aspect as I've already done courses in it, covering most of the Financial Accounting required in IB. I'm looking for a course that is extensive and will really help me with understand the concept of Financial modelling. I've never done any of it before, but have a basic understanding of Excel (e.g. how to do tables, etc...).
Any input will be appreciated.
Thanks.
Walkio: pistacie: walkio:
I don't like any of them to be honest....
WSP: They do not explain users why they are doing this or that. They have a bunch of screenshots just telling you to put this formula in or link this cell to that cell, but don't explain the concepts behind it. However, they've got some decent models and with some advanced topics on it. But I would just recommend it to someone that already has the technical knowledge and just lacks some modeling practice.
BIW: Way too basic in my opinion. Despite Brian's comments on adding new content, it is still well under its competitors. And he has said that for months, by the way. Yes, it does have more interaction than WSP's program, but for that I would recommend Wall St. Training - they also teach using videos and with a strong focus on explaining the "Why's", which is great!
To sum up, I personally like Wall St. Training. It is a bit pricey, but it is worth it!
I don't know if this was before the advanced module, but I'm curios anyways. What exactly do you find too basic about it? I've only done the Excel course there, but I found that to be pretty helpful already and even though it's not part of the actual financial modeling course, I learnt a lot about when to use different functions in Excel. As for the very advanced stuff, I don't think you really need a video course to demonstrate it, as it becomes more about theory and understanding the thought behind things and how they work. No need for a practical demonstration, compared to something like basic accounting.
I don't know what Wall St. Training is like, but I've been very happy with the Excel course and Brian seems to respond to all comments on the site. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a video course anyways, but if it's just a guy talking about advanced financial theory to a still screenshot of Excel, I'd much rather read a book. Although I do think it would be appropriate to recommend books and other learning materials on financial theory.
So, there is a basic Excel course that comes along with it?
Yes, but be aware that it doesn't cover any financial theory, only shortcuts and functions. I doubt you'd even be interested in investment banking in the first place if you didn't know most of what he talks about. If not, there's always books and I think the financial modeling tutorials cover the theory as well, but I'm not sure. You really don't need to understand a lot of finance to do the Excel course and still benefit from it, it's mostly shortcuts and functions.
My issue isn't really the Accounting aspect as I've already done courses in it, covering most of the Financial Accounting required in IB. I'm looking for a course that is extensive and will really help me with understand the concept of Financial modelling. I've never done any of it before, but have a basic understanding of Excel (e.g. how to do tables, etc...).
Any input will be appreciated.
Thanks.
I'm in the exact same boat. BUMP!