Learning methods
How to take notes, learn each topic, and lock it in — the same loop every day, with recall built into the 90 minutes.
The note
One card per topic
the same five lines every time — if you can't fill them, you don't have the topic yet
- Definition — one plain sentence, no jargon.
- Formula — written out with units (skip for pure-concept topics).
- What moves it — one thing that pushes it up, one that pushes it down.
- The hook — what it behaves like in IB (cap rate ≈ inverse EBITDA multiple; FFO ≈ adjusted earnings).
- The trap — the one thing interviewers press on (NOI is before debt service and capex; cap rate is going-in vs. exit).
Calculation topics (the NOI build, levered IRR, the waterfall, later DCF and LBO) add a small worked example with round numbers you can redo from memory. Explainer topics (capital stack, REIT, the waterfall) get a diagram — boxes and arrows, seniority top to bottom — not paragraphs.