I.

November 1 – 11: BIWS 1 & 2; Core Concepts and Accounting

II. November 12 – 18: BIWS 3; Projecting Financial Statements
III. November 12 – 18: BIWS 4; Valuation (Enterprise Value, equity value, multiples)
a. Attend CDP Cover Letter/Application session
IV. November 19 – 27: Cover letters and submit applications
V. November 26 – December 2: BIWS 5; Valuation (DCF)
a. Attend CDP Final Check-in session on 12/3
VI. December 3 – 9: BIWS 6; M&A
a. Attend training the street session on 12/9
VII. December 10 – 14: BIWS 7; LBO
VIII. December 14 – 20: Finals
IX. December 21 – 31: Break: Review BIWS and start mapping out behavioral questions
X. January 1 – 6: Interview prep week:
a. Mock interviews
b. Advanced / specialized technicals
i. Optional supplement: Investment Banking by Rosembaum and Pearl
ii. Industry-specific BIWS guides
iii. Goal: be able to answer every question in BIWS
XI. January 7 – 11: Interview Week

Key concepts to understand during first pass:

I. Core Concepts / Accounting

a. Core Concepts
i. BIWS Reading: IB Interview Guide, Module 1: Core Concepts
ii. Focus Questions:
1. Why is a dollar worth more today than tomorrow? How is this
concept used in finance?
2. What is net present value?
3. What is a discount rate?
4. A company makes $10 per year, what other information do you
need to value the company?
5. You’re earning 15% IRR on an investment, what does that mean?
b. Accounting
i. BIWS Reading: IB Interview Guide, Module 2: Accounting and the 3
Financial Statements
ii. Secondary Sources:
1. Stern Accounting Class Materials
2. TTS Accounting Seminar
iii. Focus Topics:
1. What are the three statements and how do they link?
2. Depreciation goes up by $10M, walk me through what happens?
3. $10M of inventory burns in a fire, what happens?
II. Valuation
a. BIWS Reading:
i. Module 4: Equity Value, Enterprise Value, and Valuation Metrics and
Multiples; Module 5: Valuation-DCF-Analysis
b. Secondary Sources:
i. Rosenbaum and Pearl: Investment Banking
ii. TTS Valuation Session
c. Focus Topics:
i. What is enterprise value?
ii. How do you value a company?
iii. How do you get from Enterprise value to equity value (and vice versa)?
iv. What is the difference between debt and equity?
v. Book value of equity and market cap?
vi. How do you get to Free Cash Flow from Net Income?
III. M&A & LBO
a. BIWS Reading:
i. Module 6: M&A Deals, Merger Models; Module 7, LBO Models
b. Secondary Sources:
i. Rosenbaum and Pearl: Investment Banking
ii. TTS Valuation Session
c. Focus Topics:
i. Why do mergers/acquisitions take place?
ii. What is a merger model? What is its purpose?
iii. Walk me through the steps to building a merger model
iv. Why do leveraged buyouts take place?
v. What makes for a good LBO target?
vi. Understand how LBOs are analyzed (IRRs and MoMs)
vii. Walk me through the steps of building an LBO model