Curriculum Outline, Built by [Anonymous Analyst]., Goldman Sachs
This curriculum highlights the most important questions and concepts to focus on for you to be set up for your banking interviews. We’ve worked with analysts from top firms to help you prioritize where to spend your time and what to study more deeply.
This curriculum will help you learn the core concepts in technical interviews. In the process, you’ll work closely with your industry mentor, you’ll refine your responses to challenging questions until they feel natural and conversational.
Over the next two months, you will cover the following concepts in the below table. After an introductory meeting, you will read one PDF per week from the Breaking into Wall Street guide.
This is our suggested structure, but if you and your mentor find a more effective approach — such as skipping a topic you’ve already mastered or completing the sessions on a faster timeline — feel free to adjust accordingly.
| Week | Topics Covered | Key Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Introductions | Getting to know each other, Overview of the next ~8 weeks |
| 1 | Core Valuation Concepts | Discount Rate, WACC, DCF Basics, IRR, NPV |
| 2 | Accounting: Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Balance Sheet | Financial statement line items and their interrelations |
| 2 (Continued) | Accounting: More Advanced Accounting | Relationships between IS, CFS, BS, and key accounting concepts |
| 3 | Introduction to Debt | Debt Fundamentals |
| 4 | Equity Value & Enterprise Value, Metrics, and Multiples | Differences between Equity Value and Enterprise Value, valuation multiples, calculations |
| 5 | Valuation and DCF Analysis | DCF walkthrough, terminal value, discount rates, public comps, and valuation methods |
| 6 | M&A Deals and Merger Models | Accretion/Dilution, Enterprise/Equity Value in M&A, deal modeling concepts |
| 7 | Leveraged Buyouts (LBO) and LBO Models | LBO concepts, IRR calculations, purchase price, debt projections, and exit strategies |
| 8 | Final Interview | Full interview covering key concepts from prior weeks |
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A note on curriculum We know everyone comes into technical interviews with different levels of background.
Some people have already done courses on finance, accounting, or have done trainings inside of clubs. Many have not. This curriculum is our suggestion for most students who want to start from the ground up. If you and your mentor feel like skipping weeks or focusing on certain topics will be more valuable, that’s fine. You and your mentor can adjust this to make it work for you.
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This technical program will follow a 1-1 structure with a dedicated WSG lead mentor who will serve as the core guide throughout the eight weeks. You will be required to complete pre-readings before each session. Each session will be divided into two key components: a review of the assigned materials to deepen understanding, and practice interviews to apply concepts and build technical proficiency. Each week, we expect you to put in at least 5 hours of work outside of the session.
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A note on timing
If you need to, you can compress this to whatever amount of time you’d like. For most people we suggest 8 weeks with at least five hours of practice per week, but you could also do this in 4 weeks with two sessions per week. You could also stretch it longer. If you don’t have a certain reason for changing it, we encourage you sticking to this structure.
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