Financial modeling online programs

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sternwolf

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Dealmaven, trainingthe street, or Wallstreetprep?

How long do they take to complete (I know WSP is 90 hours) and which is the most valuable one?
 
I was looking at the prices between Deal Maven and Wall St. Prep and it looks as if the entire WSPrep program was about $200-$300 cheaper than the entire Deal Maven program and I've heard a whole lot more about WSprep. Plus, it looks as if WSP is a CD-rom program while Deal Maven is an internet-based program, which is fine except that Deal Maven times out after 3 months or 6 months (depending on what you buy), or you can put a whole bunch of $ up for lifetime.

So this summer I'm throwing my money behind WSP because it's permanent, cheaper, and I've heard more about it.
 
hmmph, I've heard most about Deal Maven and TTS. Both are programs adopted by BB banks. TTS is supposed to be excellent, but I don't know how long it is or if it is comprehensive enough.
 
nm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, May 11, 2007 at 01:03PM by Punisher007.
 
I took Wall St. Training's video courses and as a graduating senior it was extremely helpful in getting my investment banking job. The modeling exercises were very clear and easy to follow - plus they have a lot of other stuff that helps you learn in addition to the videos. When I was researching the different training options, I spoke with all three firms (WST, DM, WSP) and Wall St. Training's content was a lot more detailed - some of my friends in college had done Deal Maven and Wall Stret Prep and their feedback was that DM and WSP's courses weren't detailed enough and didn't go into enough details. I wanted to master my content and knowledge before starting and I"m really glad I did Wall St. Training's program.
 
(bump)

I have been doing some research on WSP, WST, and deal maven respective website's and using the search function on AF and think I may go with WSP.

I did find out that the CFAI very recently (two weeks ago) named WSP as an approved provider for prof development;
http://www.@#$%&.com/news_and_press/detail.php?wsp_news_id=10
(not sure if this approval is worth the paper/html space it is printed on)

What do you think of someone mentioning they completed the WSP program on the bottom of their resume? I could see some saying it's hackish and others saying it shows commitment/self development beyond the CFA... Also would someone reading resumes actually know what WSP is?

I'm not looking for a job in the near future but I do realize "CFA Level X Candidate" can only take so far (e.g. getting interviews - maybe) and having some skills to offer (when i can't offer actual research/IM experience) might improve my chances of getting into a research/inv mgmt role. FYI I'm still young (22) and don't want to bail on my first gig after just hitting the one year mark here. I just sat for L1 and i hope to make a job move after getting L2 next summer. I wanted to start preparing myself for that before getting bogged down in L2 or dreadfully retaking L1 in dec.

Thoughts on the programs themselves and the resume namecheck?
 
I am actually planning to take one of these courses since I am trying to seek interviews with boutique firms.
I took my L1 this June and am hoping to pass.
Do you guys recommend taking such courses and then interviewing or do you think the firm's already going to give you enough training as a junior analyst and they might send you to the same training classes?

Thanks,
A
 
i didn't study finance or accounting in school, but did take deal maven soon after graduation. my knowledge of how to use excel was good, but i really didn't know anything about what function a model should perform prior to taking the course. anyway, i felt like the course was decent, but it assumed a base level knowledge of accounting, so the descriptions of various IS and BS line items were pretty skimpy and more confusing than helpful. if you already know your way around financial statements, the program will be an effective tool to learn the what and the how of modeling. to be more specific, expect to learn a lot of formulas, how to plug and chug through a model, and basic formatting / excel tips. do not expect to get a good sense of "what it all means," unless maybe you're a lot smarter than i am or have that all important background. the program is overkill for sell-side research, so i don't thin i would do it again. see if you can get a dummy EPS model from somewhere (i think you can find them online) and play around with that for a while--it will save you some cash.
 
heh, this has got to be a candidate for the post of the year, asdffdsa. So, you took the course, didn't understand a thing, still don't understand a thing, but here's a recommendation: google for it and remain ignorant. But, IT WILL SAVE YOU SOME CASH!!!
 
no, that wasn't the message at all. I 1) took it and understood the micro aspects about modeling, but not the macro aspects (at least not very well); 2) understand more about modeling now than i care to from on the job experience; 3) generally think people get their panties in a twist about modeling when it's not that big of a deal on the sell-side; and 4) think people could probably save themselves some cash by playing around with a model that they can find for free on the internet by just working through the formulas and trying to reproduce another model from scratch with publically available information.

im not really sure where you go "don't understand a thing" from because i did learn a lot. i don't think it was several hundred dollars worth of learning, though. anyway, if you have something useful to post, please, by all means, help us out.
 
JPM CDSW Example Calculation model

attached at the bottom,

http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=31468
 
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