Wall Street Prep

What it is

Wall Street Prep teaches the practical skills of investment banking, private equity and corporate finance: financial modeling, valuation, accounting, Excel and interview preparation. The about page says it "was established in 2004 by investment bankers to train the financial services industry," and that its programs "bridge the gap between academia and the real world by teaching the practical skills needed to succeed on the job." Founder and CEO Matan Feldman started it, the same page says, "To accelerate the learning curve for professionals entering the most competitive careers in finance through engaging training content."

The company says it trains over 50,000 professionals annually, and the homepage counts 300+ corporate clients, 150+ university clients and 500k+ total learners. The about page names Goldman Sachs, KKR, Evercore, HSBC and Barclays among the firms that partner with it to train employees, and describes the faculty as "a group of 90+ highly specialized investment bankers, private equity and investment professionals."

There are five ways to learn: self-study online courses, 8-week online certificate programs run with business schools, instructor-led public boot camps, private coaching, and training for companies and universities. The homepage says the online courses and boot camps are "direct adaptations of our corporate training."

Self-study courses

The self-study catalog is the core of the offer for individual learners. The programs page promises "The Same Online Training Used at the World's Top Investment Banks" and courses that teach skills "you can use immediately in interviews and on the job." Each course lists its running time and lesson or course count, which makes comparing them easy.

The flagship is the Premium Package, the complete financial and valuation modeling program covering DCF, comps, M&A, LBO and financial statement modeling: 45h 59m across 7 courses for $499. The Basic Package covers financial statement modeling and best practices and is listed at $199 after discount. Other popular programs on the homepage include:

• Real Estate Financial Modeling Course, 20h 1m across 9 courses, $499
• Fixed Income Markets Certification (FIMC), 24h 36m across 11 courses, $399
• Equities Markets Certification (EMC), 9h 52m across 7 courses, $299
• The Ultimate Project Finance Modeling Package, 18h 21m across 6 courses, $499
• Sell-Side Equity Research Certification (ERC), 25h 31m across 9 courses, $499
• Accounting Crash Course, 6h 58m in 54 lessons, $39
• Excel Crash Course, 8h 39m in 91 lessons, $39
• Analyzing Financial Reports, 2h 25m in 23 lessons, $39
• The Ultimate Excel VBA Course, 12h 12m in 198 lessons, $99

Beyond these, the catalog covers the Private Equity Masterclass (an LBO model and the PE deal process, $399 after discount), a Venture Capital Masterclass, buy-side financial modeling, REIT modeling, FP&A modeling with the CFPAM certification, bank and FIG, oil and gas, biotech sum-of-the-parts valuation, tax reform's impact on models, corporate restructuring and the 13-week cash flow model, advanced accounting, non-GAAP reports, bonds, ESG investing and a PowerPoint crash course. Interview prep includes the 1000 Investment Banking Interview Questions guide (The Red Book), a networking and behavioral interview course (The Blue Book), and an IB soft skills course for junior bankers. The VBA course ends with the WSP Visual Basic in Excel Certification.

The homepage also offers a code for 15% off at checkout, and the programs page shows several prices as "After Discount."

How the courses work

The programs page lists what makes up the format. Learners "learn by doing" through practical exercises and by building financial models from scratch using real case studies. The courses teach Excel mechanics and shortcuts along the way. For help, learners can "Communicate directly with instructors by asking questions throughout each course." Enrollment in select courses includes lifetime access to a monthly webinar series on industry-specific and advanced topics. The company says these are the same courses its corporate clients use to prepare and assess their analysts and associates.

Certificate programs with Wharton and Columbia

Wall Street Prep "partners with top business schools to offer 8-week online certificate programs." The menu pairs most of them with Wharton: Private Equity, Applied Value Investing, Real Estate Investing, FP&A, and Restructuring & Distressed Investing. The AI for Business & Finance certificate is run with Columbia Business School Exec Ed. The homepage lists AI for Business & Finance at $4,800 and each of the other five at $5000. These are the longer, structured option for someone who wants a school-branded certificate on top of modeling skills.

Boot camps, coaching, corporate and university training

Instructor-led public boot camps teach "practical job-ready skills" from instructor-practitioners while letting attendees network with industry professionals and others trying to break into banking. Private coaching is offered as a separate service.

For employers, Wall Street Prep "provides customized training programs for investment banking analysts and associates as well as corporate finance, private equity, financial planning & analysis and business development teams." Its workflow-specific AI training builds AI coaching, tool-specific training and workflow-native prompting into corporate programs across investment banking, markets, private equity and investment management. For universities, on-campus boot camps and the online Student Passport program aim to prepare students "for life on the desk."

Free content

The free library is large. The free resources page offers courses, templates, guides and cheat sheets across investment banking, private equity, financial modeling, Excel, accounting, valuation and venture capital: an M&A guide, merger model and LBO tutorials, basic, standard and advanced LBO modeling tests, private equity interview questions, three-statement modeling, an Excel shortcuts cheat sheet, and a free Excel VBA course for beginners. The Quicklesson Series gives 7 free financial modeling lessons on financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, comps and Excel shortcuts. The venture capital knowledge base explains SaaS metrics such as ARR, CAC and LTV/CAC, VC due diligence and the VC valuation method.

What learners say

The programs page shows 265 self-study course reviews. One Excel Crash Course reviewer, 1.5 years out of college, wrote that "this course taught me more than anything I learned in school." Another wrote: "I have not even finished the course, but have already received compliments on my Excel skills at work." A Premium Package reviewer said they "started my internship well-equipped with technical skills," and another reviewer summed it up as "Perfect for all levels, especially beginners."

Who it suits

Wall Street Prep suits students and early-career analysts preparing for investment banking, private equity, equity research or corporate finance interviews and jobs, career changers who need modeling from scratch, and working professionals filling a specific gap such as restructuring, project finance or VBA. The low-priced crash courses make an easy start, the Premium Package covers the full modeling toolkit, and the Wharton and Columbia certificates add a structured program for those who want one. Firms and universities can buy the same material as custom training.

The certificate programs are a larger commitment at $4,800 to $5000, so it makes sense to try the free lessons and a crash course first. Phone support is listed at 617-314-7685.