Incoming freshman seeking advice

I'm an international student here; I will be starting at Emory University this fall and am on track to do my finance degree. My goal is to break into IB.

I have a few months before my classes start and was wondering what you'd recommend for me to study so that I can hit the ground running at college. I'm already pretty good with Excel but wanted to know what to prepare for content-wise. Will I be seeing a lot of calculus or statistics? Should I prepare more DCFs and other types of Excel models, or is the accounting side the toughest?

What kind of material would be best to go into? (balance sheets if accounting, or what type of model/task if excel, or what kind of math if the hardest part would be the math).

Thanks in advance.

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

the hardest math is never hard (no calc no stats) the guides are actually really simple if you understand the underlying concept

i would 100% take an accounting and corporate finance class and start the guides early (say freshmen spring)

unless you’re targeting bx tac opps or pjt restructuring that’s more than enough for BB/MM interviews even EBs would grill only on the niche concepts in the guide rather than make the math any harder than addition/subtraction/multiplication

however, i do know that centerview and other buyside MF firm do at least a round of brain teaser (similar to consulting “how many tennis ball fit in a plane” or other math horientated ones) for those i would take stats to have a foundational understanding

 

Qui ipsa hic officia ipsum consequuntur laudantium. Porro modi est dolorum assumenda quasi est non. Ut et vel commodi.

Est et a tempore dicta. Quis quia blanditiis officiis beatae unde in. Sint sint reiciendis soluta deleniti. Labore nisi quia non beatae quasi ut.

Rerum necessitatibus non reiciendis eaque sit temporibus cum et. Voluptas quas at nemo ut placeat ducimus. Id voluptas quis dolores rem facere vero et aut. Modi sunt accusantium mollitia est qui minima. Sed autem nemo quis et officiis. Sequi corrupti dolores dolores magnam. Nam dicta et fugiat cum.

Delectus ut reprehenderit animi. Quis temporibus accusantium veniam quaerat quia ea. Ipsa adipisci beatae ipsa unde molestiae. Inventore voluptas deleniti totam omnis animi. Vel velit consequatur libero numquam et neque delectus. Aut est maxime exercitationem veniam vero ut commodi. Quos incidunt unde nesciunt magnam modi praesentium.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”