Wall Street Prep Review

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Contributor, Benzinga
September 8, 2022
Wall Street Prep
Overall Rating:
securely through Wall Street Prep's website

Wall Street Prep was established in 2004 by investment bankers to provide customized training programs for the financial services industry, as well as individuals hoping to break into these competitive roles.

Currently, Wall Street Prep conducts new analyst and associate training programs at more than 200 institutional firms and works with over 125 universities to bridge the gap between academia and the real world by teaching the practical skills required to succeed on the job.

Notably, Wall Street Prep’s client list includes eight of the top ten global investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs, Evercore, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

WSP’s training material is also used by four of the top five private equity firms, including KKR, Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group.

Best For
  • Undergraduate students pursuing a career in investment banking, private equity, equity research or corporate finance
  • MBA students and working professionals that recently graduated and are now seeking to pivot to a different role
  • Incoming analysts and associates wanting to prepare in advance before their full-time start date
Pros
  • Used by the Top Financial Institutional Firms (IB / PE)
  • Comprehensive Course Offering
  • Flexible, Self-Paced Courses
  • Straight-to-the-Point, “Bite-Sized” Lessons
  • Modern, Easy-to-Navigate Course Platform
  • Great Customer Support
  • Lifetime Access
Cons
  • Relatively High Pricing
  • Private Lessons are Offered Separately (Additional Costs)

Wall Street Prep Ratings at a Glance

Customer Service
Pricing
Benefits
User Experience
Overall

Wall Street Prep Premium Package Course Offerings

Wall Street Prep offers a wide variety of self-study courses, with its flagship course being the Premium Package.

The Premium Package consists of seven core courses:

  • 1) Financial Statement Modeling
  • 2) DCF Modeling
  • 3) M&A Modeling (Accretion/Dilution)
  • 4) Trading Comps
  • 5) Transaction Comps
  • 6) LBO Modeling
  • 7) Building Buyers Lists

Each course utilizes real-life case studies starting from scratch, making the product ideal for customers ranging from complete beginners to experienced, working professionals constrained on time.

By enrolling in the Premium Package – priced at $499 – you’ll also receive access to 39 mini-courses as a bonus, which covers a broad range of niche topics such as long/short investing, buy-side stock analysis, and the private equity deal process.

For those wanting to learn more advanced industry-specific modeling, separate courses are offered based on the career path, including the Private Equity Masterclass, Real Estate Financial Modeling, Project Finance Modeling, Corporate Restructuring and Financial Planning & Analysis Modeling Certification.

The pricing on the industry-specific course ranges from $200 to $500, however, at the other end of the spectrum, the Excel Crash Course, Analyzing Financial Reports and Accounting Crash Course can cost as low as $39.

Let's take a look at where the company excels.

Wall Street Prep Customer Service

Wall Street Prep’s customer service is very responsive and helpful, as their support team can easily be reached by phone or email.

Furthermore, each lesson in the courses contains an active comment section, where questions can be asked to WSP’s team of dedicated instructors – all former investment bankers – that monitor and respond to each question to help students in real-time.

If you’re looking for private lessons for specific training, such as preparing for an upcoming interview via a mock interview or a timed modeling test, one-to-one coaching is an option. These 1:1 coaching sessions are designed to provide personalized technical training and career guidance.

Wall Street Prep Pricing

The cost of Wall Street Prep’s courses is certainly not cheap, but the course quality and reputation of the provider support the pricing, especially considering its courses have helped thousands of graduates receive job offers.

As a result, their courses can be justified to be well worth the price if viewed as a long-term investment for your career.

Wall Street Prep’s most popular course offering, the Premium Package, costs $499 before the Benzinga discount.

Suppose the price is a dealbreaker, or you’re slightly unsure about purchasing a course, WSP offers a substantial amount of free content online to get you started.

Wall Street Prep Benefits

The practical skills that Wall Street Prep focuses on teaching are one of the company’s most distinct selling points.

The job-oriented course curriculum and the team of instructors are all experienced former practitioners, making them the top choice to learn about the world of finance and develop the skills needed to succeed on the job.

The real-life cases and hands-on exercises used throughout the courses further enhance the learning process and make understanding complex concepts more intuitive.

For example, the screenshot below shows the financial statement model of Apple, where the entire 3-statement model is built starting from a blank spreadsheet.

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Source: Wall Street Prep

Wall Street Prep User Experience

The course platform provides excellent usability and is easy to navigate through.

The step-by-step, concise lessons make each course easier to complete, and the use of real-world case studies goes far beyond memorization of concepts.

Wall Street Prep’s comprehensive training and “learning by doing” approach enables the user to not only obtain a conceptual understanding of the topics but add a practical, hands-on element to the overall learning experience. 

While the site is easy to navigate and simple to use, Wall Street Prep, is currently in the process of improving its UX, making these courses even more informative and user-friendly.

Wall Street Prep vs. CFI FMVA Certification

Wall Street Prep has numerous competitors in the financial modeling and valuation training industry. But not all financial modeling courses are created equal, so it is important to research the course provider you choose before handing over your money.

One of Wall Street Prep’s competitors is Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), a less established provider of online financial courses and certification programs.

CFI offers the Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA) certification, a designation that does not appear to be a highly regarded designation in the U.S. from our research.

For instance, unlike the internationally recognized Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation offered by the CFA Institute, the FMVA is not a globally recognized certification that employers view in high regard to the best of our knowledge.

Similar to Wall Street Prep, CFI’s courses are comprehensive, with a significant amount of free content and courses offered.

But while WSP offers lifetime access and discounted pricing for more advanced, industry-specific courses, CFI’s courses are sold on a subscription basis, with an annual billing cycle.

CFI’s self-study plan costs $497 per year, while its full-immersion subscription is priced at $847 per year.

The primary distinction between WSP and CFI is that our team could only confirm that Wall Street Prep formally delivers training to the top financial institutions, whereas CFI’s list of official corporate clients is not published online. The fact that WSP is an established B2B provider – not just B2C – is a clear competitive edge that differentiates itself from other B2C only providers such as CFI, Breaking into Wall Street (BIWS) and Wall Street Oasis (WSO).

Wall Street Prep Overall

Overall, Wall Street Prep receives a score of 4.5 out of 5.0. The rating signifies WSP’s exceptional course platform, quality of instruction, and industry recognition.

The training material and strength of the Wall Street Prep brand make their self-study course offerings our team’s recommendation as the best financial modeling course available in the market.

If you want to develop your knowledge and experience in the banking industry before even beginning your first job, Wall Street Prep is an ideal place to start. After all, the company’s goal is to help its students be ahead of the curve to exceed expectations.

Wall Street Prep Promo Code

Benzinga readers can benefit even more from Wall Street Prep with 15% off Wall Street Prep Self-Study Courses and Boot Camps when using the coupon code ‘BENZINGA’ during checkout.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q

How Long Does It Take to Complete Wall Street Prep?

A

Wall Street Prep courses are self-paced and can be completed at the discretion of the customer. However, the typical time spent by users is approximately 70 to 90 hours to complete the course. Compared to other course offerings in the market, WSP’s content is far more time-efficient while still managing to cover all the necessary topics, including the nuances in finance.

Q

Does Wall Street Prep Come with Lifetime Access?

A

All of Wall Street Prep’s courses come with lifetime access and support. The course platform also undergoes routine updates to continuously improve the user experience and ensure the training material is kept as up-to-date as possible.

Q

Is Wall Street Prep worth it?

A

Wall Street Prep’s courses can be very useful to your career given the depth of its training material, teaching style and overall support to customers. Wall Street Prep is a pioneer in the online financial training industry and was founded with the intent to offer everyone, from undergraduate students to experienced working professionals, the same quality of training. 

User Reviews

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Ari Delman

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About Sam Boughedda, Stock Market Analyst

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