2017 Sophomore Summer Programs

Hey Guys,

I'm a rising sophomore and just started browsing BB's for their Sophomore Summer Analyst programs. So far, I've applied to a couple of Morgan Stanley's Sophomore programs, but I was wondering if you guys knew of any other good Sophomore summer programs that would be good to check out for students interested in IB. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, another rising sophomore here! Although Goldman Sachs does not have a special program for sophomores, it accepts sophomores for all of its summer analyst programs so you could apply to that. And understand that you're interested in IB, but JPM has a program in AM for sophomores if you would like to give that a shot.

 

Big 4 accounting internship should be guaranteed given your gpa and extracurriculars as long as you know how to interview. However, keep in mind that big 4 accounting firms interview very early on and you don't want to have to face the possibility of having to renege on that offer if you get a better one.

 

The best opportunity would be something transaction-related (IB, PE, VC) or something markets-related (HF, AM, etc.). The former is a lot closer to what you'll be doing in investment banking, while the latter will give you some good groundwork in valuation and experience in capital markets.

But getting experience in investment banking, no matter how small the firm, is a good experience, especially as a sophomore. The ability to speak to specific transactions that you worked on as part of a deal team is an incredible competitive edge when it comes time for junior year recruiting.

 

If you haven't already, email all your local firms and boutiques to see if there any open opportunities. Also you could look into interning for a search fund, they are usually still open to taking on new people. If all else fails, could you possibly reach out to the startup you interned with and see if they have anything new for you?

 

Go on your school's alumni association website and search for "Finance" in New York, Chicago,your home town, etc. Go through all these and find people who work at boutique IBs or other places you would have a legitimate shot with a sophomore. Contact them and go from there. When doing this, collect names of alumni at bigger banks that you would be interested in your junior year, eventually you will have a list of potential contacts for a boutique IB internship next summer as well as people at larger banks to network with during that summer.

 

Definitely keep looking for an internship, as anything finance related is good as a sophomore. And don't just rely on your school's career page (if that's what you've been doing) to find something; start cold-calling and cold-e-mailing anyone and everyone you can... these opportunities aren't just going to fall in your lap, you have to go out and be aggressive in getting them. However if nothing at all works out, you may want to consider getting involved in some research with a professor... could be a good experience, and will at least give you something to talk about in interviews next year.

Best of luck.

 

Network your ass of this summer (i.e., ask for "advice" from finance professionals - and keep up with them - as opposed to continuing job hunting since it will be too late for a summer internship come summer time), and keep GPA up as you get ahead in credits. Perhaps take the summer to do breaking into wall street or wall street prep as well. You probably already knew this stuff but that's what I'd suggest. I also suggest the wealth management option. I landed a summer gig in MAY when I was in your position in college by cold contacting a WM shop in my hometown.

 

Learn how to spell "losing".

Surely Marshall has a decent recruiting system? At my university, we have an on-campus recruiting system, another smaller recruiting service only for Business School students, and a third recruiting service for all university students. The two latter ones typically have internship/full-time opportunities from smaller, lesser known firms, mostly within the city.

I was discouraged when I didn't get a top internship in NY through our on-campus recruiting system, but I ended up interning at an unknown boutique bank near my university using one of our smaller recruiting services. Not as glamorous as working at a BB, but the experience primed me for full-time recruiting, and with some extra effort (I feel like I prepped a lot more for interviews than my peers did), I ended up getting some great opportunities. I'll be starting full-time in July at a well-known advisory shop in NY.

My biggest piece of advice is to not worry about the name that will be on your resume but focus more on the experience you'll be getting. As a sophomore, you won't be expected to have some huge BB name on your resume. As long as you have some relevant experience that shows you are genuinely interested in financial services, you should be good to go come interview season next spring.

 

Sorry for the spelling mistake. It was late at night and I didn't catch that error.

As for your personal questions about Marshall. They do have a pretty good recruiting system, however, investment banks don't recruit as heavily here. For the companies that do, though, they generally are looking for juniors. I did apply for some, but did not have any luck with them.

But thanks for the advice on not worrying about the name. I'll continue searching more for the experience and hopefully be more successful in my endeavors.

 

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I guess I will have to start cold calling/emailing individuals. I'll look into our alumni database and start contacting people. Would these probably be the only people I should email or would it be worthwhile to also email a few HR departments and just tell them I'm looking to intern for some exposure and am not looking to receive any sort of compensation?

As for the actual cold call/email, what should I actually be saying? Just something along the lines of... "Hi, my name is _____, I go to USC and am majoring in finance. I'm interested in learning more about investment banking and was wondering if you needed an intern for this summer." Or would something like that be too blunt?

 

Use LinkedIn. Get names of Marshall alumni in consulting/IB and start emailing. It saves more time than calling, and you can knock out 30 in a day. Then call people who respond to you, because you know they already have some sort of an interest or willingness to help.

I've done this with success in the past. Also, try to reach out to alumni of on campus organizations (esp if you're Greek). Don't limit that search to USC either, because fraternity brothers from other schools have helped me a lot.

 
tryharder:
Have you applied to boutique/MM IBD?

I have been looking, but have not had much luck since most boutiques and MM banks don't provide a lot of info on non-junior level internships. Would reaching out to my LinkedIn network and asking about that be the best option? Also, there seems to be hundreds of boutiques and MM both in NYC and Atlanta. Are any of them particularly better than others?

 
tryharder:
Have you applied to boutique/MM IBD?

I have been looking, but have not had much luck since most boutiques and MM banks don't provide a lot of info on non-junior level internships. Would reaching out to my LinkedIn network and asking about that be the best option? Also, there seems to be hundreds of boutiques and MM both in NYC and Atlanta. Are any of them particularly better than others?

 

UBS has the President's Internship, their summer program for sophomores (~25 kids). Morgan Stanley has a sophomore rotational IBD program (10 kids). Goldman takes probably the most sophomores of any bank.

The rest of the bulge bracket has only diversity programs for sophomores. You can do it though. Reach out to your network, you have perfect grades and relevant extracurriculars, if ever there were a kid to make it it ought to be you.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
A Posse Ad Esse:
UBS has the President's Internship, their summer program for sophomores (~25 kids). Morgan Stanley has a sophomore rotational IBD program (10 kids). Goldman takes probably the most sophomores of any bank.

The rest of the bulge bracket has only diversity programs for sophomores. You can do it though. Reach out to your network, you have perfect grades and relevant extracurriculars, if ever there were a kid to make it it ought to be you.

Thanks for your reply. I sent you a PM to discuss further.

 

The IB workshop at Kelley has awesome placement so do whatever it takes to get into that. You're early on in the game so reach out to upperclassmen/alumni and develop a close relationship before everyone else does at your school does. Try becoming just a "guy from my college" to someone they want to see succeed.

 

You absolutely must get into the IB club/workshop. It will greatly improve your chances of getting into IB in NYC. Also, reach out to alumni through your school's alumni database and through LinkedIn. Alumni can be incredibly helpful when trying to land a job or full time position, and they are frequently willing to help you out.

 

hey studentbanker159. you have a few options. first of all, congrats on the 4.0.

option 1: transfer to target school **highly consider this option 2: get tons of internships and network your way into a SA role->FT

with option 2: reach out to older people at your school who are on the IB track, they'll have great advice. Personally, I was able to get internships out of this alone. Secondarily, If you're near a major metropolitan area that's a plus. I would reach out to firms in the area (ideally botique IB, but maybe a small PE shop could do).

At the end of the day with option II you're going to differentiate yourself from target school kids with internship experiences and demonstrating your crazy work ethic.

that's just my two cents (i'm a rising junior at a non-target who is dreaming of a SA role). Hope this helps

 
Best Response
BSDsuspenders:
I am a current sophomore at a non target top 25 school. I want to do IB after graduation. This past summer I did a PE internship (summer analyst) in new york and got invited back to work again next summer.

Since I'll only be a rising junior, would it make sense to go back and work again at the PE firm, then try to get the IBD SA position as a rising senior? Or should I try and get an internship in IB as a rising junior? (Is this even possible coming from a non-target?)

Also, how do BB firms look at SA applicants who have done buyside internships? Would it make me more competitive than the typical non target applicant?

any advice would be greatly appreciated

So you ultimately actually want to do IBD? It seems as if PE is where everyone wants to end up, so I'd imagine, PE on your resume will definitely help, plus, it doesn't hurt to apply.

 
BSDsuspenders:
I think I ultimately want to do PE, but everybody has to do the 2 year analyst stint first, so I need to do the IB internship at some point.

honestly, if you really like the firm, just ask someone above you what they would recommend for you, and of course, if they do require fulltime hires to go through the programs. I know some people go straight to PE after undergrad.

Check your PM

 

I think both recognition and technical proficiency are important (the second one probably more IMO).

As for the options, I don't see how going to NYC stops you from learning skills that will be useful once you reach the BB IBD position you want. Besides, going to NYC will surely be more profitable in terms of networking and meeting professionals that can help you (not saying there won't be any in the small town, its just that NYC is NYC).

Regardless, evaluate where you're going to get more networking, experience -and even money- before making your decision. Nonetheless, I'd go for the NYC option.

"Suffer today and live the rest of your life as a champion!"
 

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