Investment Banking Technicals

Hi everyone,

I'm a rising sophomore at UNC - Chapel Hill looking to break into a BB next year. I'm trying to prepare for the technicals currently and was wondering what approach I should take. I have minimal prior finance knowledge but have been able to learn accounting, EV/Equity Value, and valuation topics to a good degree through reading and going over the IB guide. I am having a bit of trouble truly understanding some of the later concepts, such as DCFs, Merger Models, and LBOs. Do you have any suggestions on how to approach those topics so I can best position myself?

Also, if anyone knows, what is the difficulty of technicals usually like for sophomore summer analyst positions or internships after sophomore year in PE or IB? Thanks!