How do I understand vs. just memorizing?
I'm grinding through the BIWS 400 Questions right now, mostly just rewriting answers in my own words (with AI help on stuck points) to truly grasp concepts instead of just memorizing.
My Dilemma...
How do I actually instill valuation concepts (multiples, DCF, LBO, premiums) long-term? I know there's a ton of resources out there, but how do I know which ones are actually worth my time? Model-building now, or hyper-focus on 400Q-style prep until interviews, then grab Excel reps at when I land a job?
Any advice on specific study hacks/habits that helped your IB interviews (or roles)?
Definitely practice should be your #1 priority, but if you can answer questions in your own words you probably are better than you think. I never found model building to be particulary useful or necessary for studying technicals.
Current rising Junior here, landed EB during my cycle. I spent most of last summer building models for different companies through my target's investment club, giving me a pretty good understanding for my superdays. At this point, if you've already read through most of the BIWS and the 400Q, I’d just hyper-focus on filling gaps by building 1-2 3S and DCF models from scratch over the summer and make sure you can explain every concept to a middle schooler.
Then if you have time, go for questions on paribusprep.com to challenge yourself. Everybody’s gonna know the concepts in interviews but it’s the exception at EB/MF where the questions will be especially heinous (Be ready for super niche concepts ala Section 338(h)(10) elections, PIK toggles, really rough multi-steps, etc. This is from my experience past cycle + seniors who have successfully recruited in my club past years).
Nobody wants to use your scam prep tool.
Thanks for the advice! Was there any specific way you went about studying through the guides?
You're about to get a bunch of people spamming their shitty ai study tools in this thread, but try to practice your delivery of questions because thats half the battle. Also try doing it without a calculator and then eventually without paper and pen
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