Tech prep with no finance background

I’m currently a freshman majoring in polisci, had a change of heart and want to go into IB. Hard to get into my schools bus/econ/accounting if you aren’t in the major…

how should i even start to prep? everyone says the 400 q guide but i don’t know what anything really means in it

please keep this kind and helpful, i’m aware i’m probably behind

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Firstly, you're not behind if you're a freshman. I started my technical prep fall of sophomore year - and I come from a fully STEM-related major. Recruiting will start for you in exactly one year, so you have time.

99% of the technical prep you'll ever need is found in the Breaking Into Wall Street Investment Banking guides online (no I'm not a plug for this site, genuinely the best source for technical prep out there). There's six readings you can go through that start from the bare bones of accounting and work up to complex topics like LBOs/M&A models. The guides you'll want to know are Accounting, Enterprise Value, and DCF. You'll also want to know M&A, and LBO if you're going out for boutiques. All these guides have interview questions on the bottom - if you go through all of them, you'll be ready for largely any banking interview.

I will say, though, you definitely need to have some discipline to sit down and truly read/understand these rather than memorize them. I took several weeks to tackle the readings one by one. Definitely recommend doing that over the summer.

 

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