Did I shoot myself in the foot???

I am a rising junior who did not receive any IBD or S&T internship offers for this summer. I was accepted to a math research fellowship program for the summer that would eventually lead to a senior thesis and graduation with distinction. I am also planning on taking a financial markets class at LSE this summer. Did I shoot myself in the foot by passing up an interview for a F500 corp fin. internship and by not actively pursuing PWM internships? My eventual goal is to work in S&T, but given the state of the economy I'll take anything I can get.

I knew that getting an internship anywhere this summer as a sophomore would be tough, and I thought I would seem unfocused and unprofessional if I applied for S&T and PWM with the same firm, so rather than go for the better bet I shot for the stars. Did my ambition and lack of foresight hurt me? Will my decision to pursue research and take a class set me back for next year's recruitment season? If so, how can I overcome this and get past resume screens next year? A mathematics senior thesis is my personal goal, but I am afraid that doing this program will hurt my chances for a good internship and thus full-time employment.

A penny for your thoughts?

Background:

Target School, Math major, 3.4 gpa
Research project deals with probability and game theory but not directly finance related.

 

You should be able to get a PWM internship with a local branch fairly easily, and slap Merrill Lynch or such on your resume. Your summer plan sounds solid, so I'd suggest you shoot for a school year internship, assuming your school isn't in the middle of nowhere, in which case you might consider doing it at the end of the summer. Call up a few PWM guys in your alumni directory, if there is anything those guys love doing it is networking

 

Why'd you pass up on the F500 Corp Finance internship? Which company was it?

Set your priorities straight. You're at a point where you need to make some decisions regarding your future. If you want academia, go for academia internships. But to be honest it doesn't really matter since it is your sophomore summer. I'm sure S&T peeps would be impressed by the mathematics stuff on your resume. If that research fellowship isn't time intensive try to get something more finance oriented like a PWM internship part time or something. Good luck.

 

Seeming unfocused is fine if you can spin it - I've seen people pull it off fine, just for your future reference. As far as now, your current thing sounds solid. Besides, don't beat yourself up too much, it's not like you gave up the offer in the bag - was just an interview.

 
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