Excel / Modeling Classes at Uni.....?

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Hey all. After reading lots of posts about what people had wished they done in undergrad, one topic stands out. Programming or Excel (?) skills seem to be in demand. What recommendations do people have about that? I have to register for the last semester and debating taking a class but having trouble picking one of these. I know zipp about computer programs so. What is the main program used in the business world? Any help appreciated. Thanks
 
verbats Wrote:
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> Hey all. After reading lots of posts about what
> people had wished they done in undergrad, one
> topic stands out. Programming or Excel (?)
> skills seem to be in demand. What
> recommendations do people have about that? I
> have to register for the last semester and
> debating taking a class but having trouble picking
> one of these. I know zipp about computer programs
> so. What is the main program used in the
> business world? Any help appreciated.
> Thanks
If you’re trying to chose between taking a programming or excel class, definitely take the excel. Excel is a MUST in the business world but especially finance…. programming is a plus and only pertinent to some aspects of finance.
 
The stuff you learn in Uni excel class will just teach you the basics only. To build models effectively, you need to know how financial statements inter-connects, and have ltos of practice.
Download free models from the web, and try building models yourself for companies with simple operations.
Aim to build models that are flexible, that allows you to toggle assumptions easily, and has easily readible formating.
 
I’ll go against the grain and say you should take a programming class, if you are interested in working for a semi-decent bank. When I was hired by an investment bank out of college, I spent the first 8 weeks in NYC learning how to model financials in Excel. Any advantage I might have had out of college would have been eliminated over that period (it was surprisingly intense for your first 8 weeks of working life!!). As a rule, the best things to learn are those things that others can’t do. It won’t make you part of an elite group, but programming beats Excel.
 
I’ll go against the grain as well and say take a math or philosophy class.
You can learn excel and programming by reading a book or googling stuff for about an hour. It really isn’t that difficult.
 
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