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Best Excel Preparation Courses for Consulting

Excel MBB preparation software
New answer on Jun 08, 2020
4 Answers
6.9 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Sep 28, 2019

Hey everyone,

in about a month, I will start working for MBB. Since I have some spare time now and do not have a traditional business background, I am looking for good excel courses that are not too expensive and add the most value with regard to typical entry level tasks. Otherwise, I'd also appreciate an overview of topics that you consider most important, so I can take a look at those on my own as well (I am thinking of Pivot tables, VBA, macros etc.) or even other softwares that are used frequently. I just want to avoid having to spend too much time in the first few weeks acquainting myself with rather basic concepts.

Thanks in advance!

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Best answer
Nirmit
Expert
replied on Sep 29, 2019
I will get you an offer|McKinsey Senior EM|Offers from MBB|100+ interviews at McKinsey|Recruiting Lead|Experienced hire

See if you can get your hands on matrial for Train the Street. Pretty impactful

Cheers,

Nirmit

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Anonymous B on Apr 04, 2022

Do you mean the in-person course or the online course? Is there a difference between the materials for the 2?

Anonymous replied on Jun 08, 2020

Dear A,

Congratulations to your offer!

It would be helpful for you to learn the business-focused Excel features.

In business, about 80% of your work will come from 20% of the functionality of the Microsoft Excel.

The core skills of a competent business Excel user are something like:

  • Formatting & basic formulas
  • Mouse-free Excel navigation
  • Vlookups & conditional statements
  • Data analysis - filtering, sorting, and analyzing data
  • Data visualization - tables, charts, and dual axis charts
  • What-if-analysis
  • Pivot tables

If you can do these things, you’ll outperform 95% of people in the workplace.

To learn these concepts, you could:

  • Learn the concepts online for free
  • Take an online course

If you’re looking for something free, I’d recommend Googling & Youtube-ing those topics on my list. Tons of free material online. On Udemy you can also find some courses.

If you’re short on time, take a short business-focused online course.

I’d recommend the following business-focused course focused on mastering the 20% of functions that make up 80% of Excel work.

Best,

André

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1
Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Dec 26, 2019
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Super recommendable, it´s gonna make the difference between a good and a bad lifestyle.

Train the streets p.e.

Cheers!

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Anonymous on Apr 04, 2022

Thank you for the information. Are you referring to the online course or the in-person course? In case you're referring to the online courses can you suggest which one to go with: "Applied Excel: Working with Data Sets and Scenario Analysis" or "Excel Best Practices for PC: Become an Excel Expert"?

Udayan
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 02, 2019
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /6 years McKinsey recruiting experience

Train the street hands down

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RUSDI on Nov 09, 2021

I am going to start job for corporate strategy. Which courses in tts to you recommend? There are 6 courses: - Excel best practice - Financial statement analysis - Corporate valuation - Financial modelling - Merger modelling - LBO modelling

Udayan on Nov 09, 2021

If your role involves making DCF models then do the financial modeling or merger modeling one other wise just do the excel best practices

(edited)

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