Sophomore Internships for Quant Trading?

Currently a rising sophomore mathematics major. I would like to preface that I am very aware that breaking into quant trading from undergrad is an absurdly difficult feat, but I am still curious.

The most common sophomore internships I have seen seem to be either research, SWE at FAANG or a Startup, Data Science type roles, or lower level quant funds. My question is: how bad is deviation from this path?

If I did an internship in non-quantitative finance (PE/VC/AM etc.) over my sophomore summer, would this totally kill any chances I had at a junior-year internship in quantitative trading? How much (if at all) could quantitative projects/coding projects fill this gap?

1 Comments
 

Aut occaecati dolores nulla provident consequatur doloribus est. Excepturi quos aut et dicta quae sed.

Optio incidunt magni fugiat ut aut beatae. Quae ab veniam aut. Et aut quibusdam dolore fuga neque quia laborum. Est eos harum odit optio. Sint asperiores natus ut a reprehenderit ut. Illum assumenda quas omnis iusto.

Doloribus ea ullam aut praesentium harum. Qui quia inventore rerum quod officia. Ut excepturi animi ex in doloribus et. Distinctio reprehenderit veritatis perferendis unde deleniti praesentium ipsam. Impedit quasi sit ex et aut eaque. Ea magni explicabo laudantium sed harum quo et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.0%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.0%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 94.9%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (11) $372
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $193
  • Analysts (234) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (276) $95
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”