hours

minutes

seconds

Cyber Week Sale: Get the Platinum Package (All Our Courses) for $500 Off

View Details

What Is Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS)?

Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS) is the only financial modeling training platform that uses real-life modeling tests and interview case studies to give you an unfair advantage in investment banking and private equity interviews – and a leg up once you win your offer and start working.

As Featured In:

about US

Breaking Into Wall Street offers the most in-depth financial modeling courses and interview guides around. If you want detailed coverage and tutorials, they might be perfect for you – but if you just want a “2-hour prep plan,” they’re not a good fit.

This page describes the Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS) courses and guides, including advantages and disadvantages vs. other providers. Obviously, this page is biased because the company behind BIWS wrote it.

That said, we are not going to insult your intelligence by pretending that everything about our programs is great. We’ll present their strengths and weaknesses and describe who would benefit and who would not benefit from the training.

Key BIWS Advantages:

Check Icon

Comprehensive, practical training based on real deals.

We teach based on case studies of Walmart, EasyJet, Netflix, Monster Beverage, and other recognizable companies, so you can boast “real-world experience” in interviews – even if you’ve never set foot in a bank.

Check Icon

Built from the ground up for online, interactive learning.

Our platform allows you to track your progress, ask questions, interact with the community, test yourself with quizzes and exercises, and get better results.

Check Icon

An unrivaled record of proven client results.

Yes, you still have to do the work, but BIWS is designed to make the process easier, faster, and more certain. Just ask the ~60,000 students and professionals who have used it over the years to win interviews and job offers.

Check Icon

365-day-per-year expert support.

You can get your questions answered every day of the year – even if it’s Christmas Day or New Year’s, and no one else is responding to your emails.

Check Icon

Challenging certification quizzes.

The BIWS courses feature demanding tests that require full mastery of the course materials to pass. Students who score 90% or higher receive certificates to prove their understanding.

Check Icon

90-day money-back guarantee on all courses.

All our courses come with a money-back guarantee because we believe strongly in our offerings. If you’re not satisfied, simply let us know within 90 days, and you’ll get a prompt and courteous refund.

Who Benefits the MOST From the BIWS Courses?

Individuals who stand to gain the most from enrolling in the BIWS courses include:

Undergraduates and MBAs

aiming for “high finance” roles, such as investment banking (IB), private equity (PE), and hedge funds (HF).

Ambitious Career Changers

who are currently working in finance-adjacent fields and need to gain the technical skills required for IB, PE, and related roles.

IB Analysts and Associates

who wish to deepen their understanding of financial modeling and improve their ability to execute deals and advise clients.

Buy-Side Analysts and Associates

looking to sharpen their modeling skills and improve their ability to conduct due diligence and make investment recommendations.

The BIWS courses are designed for individuals targeting or currently employed in “high finance” sectors, including:

Who Does NOT Benefit from the BIWS Courses?

While BIWS offers comprehensive training for individuals seeking to excel in high finance roles, the courses and guides are not suited for everyone. Certain students may find the content less relevant for their specific career paths or learning objectives.

So, before signing up for anything we offer, please consider your career stage, industry, and professional goals.

The following individuals might not benefit as much from our courses:

Cross Icon

Senior-level finance professionals at investment banks

such as Vice Presidents (VPs) and Managing Directors (MDs), whose jobs demand skills and knowledge beyond the scope of our training. At this career stage, leadership, communication, and client relationship skills matter far more than Excel shortcuts.

Cross Icon

Professionals working in corporate finance roles at “normal companies”

might find the course content too specialized. BIWS courses focus on deal-making and investment recommendations, not the internal budgeting and planning processes used in roles such as FP&A.

Cross Icon

Individuals interested in non-deal or non-investing roles or non-traditional finance careers

might not see a direct application of the skills taught in BIWS courses to their chosen fields. For example, our courses do not cover extremely specialized areas such as Structured Finance, nor do we teach emerging fields such as cryptocurrencies.

Cross Icon

Casual learners or those with a sporadic interest in financial modeling and valuation

may benefit more from free resources rather than a comprehensive course. The BIWS training is designed for deep and intensive learning, which might not match the needs of someone who wants a few quick tips on how to analyze stocks.

Cross Icon

Learners who cannot finish substantial portions of the course(s) within a short time frame

will benefit less because the BIWS courses are less effective if they are spread out over an extended period. The students who get the best results tend to complete our material quickly, such as within 2-3 months of the relevant deadline (e.g., interviews or the start date of an internship or job).

Cross Icon

In summary, BIWS courses are specifically tailored for individuals committed to winning entry-level roles and advancing within the “high finance” sectors outlined above (IB, PE, HF, ER, etc.).

If you’re outside this group – you’re a VP or MD-level banker, you don’t work on deals or investments, or you’re a casual learner – the curriculum may not align with your professional development goals.

Why Choose BIWS Over Other Training Providers?

When comparing BIWS courses with competitors, several key differences set BIWS apart.

Check Icon

Based on Real-Life Case Studies

Everything in these courses is based on real case studies and interview questions that candidates have received. We get submissions from students all the time and then use them to create our own case studies for training purposes.

Check Icon

Global Focus

Unlike most competitors, which focus heavily on the U.S., the BIWS courses have case studies from all 6 inhabited continents. The “core” examples are based on a mix of North American, European, and Asian companies and deals.

Check Icon

Support and Response Times

BIWS offers more comprehensive support and faster responses to students’ queries (e.g., answers within a few hours, even on weekends and holidays). This helps students advance through the courses more efficiently and prepare for last-minute interviews.

Check Icon

The “Full Package”

Our courses include not just Excel files, written guides, videos, quizzes, and support, but also macro packages for both Excel and PowerPoint. These packages improve your efficiency and speed up your models and presentations – and unlike various competitors, we do not charge anything extra for these tools.

Common Criticisms

Over 60,000 students and professionals have found great success using our courses for interview and on-the-job prep. That said, we have received criticisms for the content and the delivery method, so we will address them briefly here.

Obviously, these are not ‘unbiased’ responses because they come from us, but we do want to be transparent about the perceived and actual shortcomings in the courses.

Common Criticisms of BIWS

Our Responses

“The BIWS Courses Are Too Long/Complicated”

Some of the courses are longer (~40 hours), but most are in the 15-20-hour range, and there are shorter study plans available for each course (ranging from 5 to 15 hours).

 

So, if you only have a weekend to learn Excel or PowerPoint, you can easily do that. There is no “requirement” to finish everything.

“The BIWS Videos Are Too Long And Should Be Shorter”

Some of the older courses have longer videos, but most of the newer content uses video lengths of 5-10 minutes. For example, the Project Finance and Venture Capital courses both use this streamlined format.

 

In the long term, we will be replacing/updating all the older content to use these shorter video lengths as well.

 

If you find the videos too long, you can also read the entire course via the written guides or use the notes in each Excel file to understand the formulas. Full transcripts and subtitles are available as well.

“The BIWS Courses Are Not Applicable to All Finance Roles”

Yes, this is true! You got us.

 

As stated above, we don’t aim to be “All things to all people” – these courses focus on deal and investment-based roles.

 

They are less relevant for running internal budgets at companies or managing a portfolio of ETFs (for example).

“It Is Too Difficult to Absorb Everything in the Videos, or the Videos Move Too Quickly”

You can play back every single video at different speeds (0.5x to 2.0x), and full written notes, captions, and guides are available for all the courses.

 

Some students who prefer to read complete the courses without watching any videos and simply use the guides, notes, and Before/After Excel files to learn everything.