Hi I am a sophomore at University of Maryland's Smith School of Business which isn’t really a target school for investment banks in general. I major in Finance and Accounting. As a sophomore I have been given a spring internship opportunity to help with a small accounting firm in MD with tax returns for the tax season. I was considering doing this internship on my Fridays but Gaithersburg, MD is far from my campus in College Park MD so it would probably kill most of the time on my Fridays. My friend told me to NOT do it and focus on my course work since I currently have a 3.57. She feels that if I am to look stelar for those Ibanks I needa focus on my course work and ramp up my GPA to at least a 3.75 from a non target school. Due to this I am asking if anyone can give me any advice on how to approach this. I know that as a sophomore it is rare to get a spring semester internship and that it’s probably impressive to get one at this grade. I also know that it will be good to get some professional work experience under my belt. But I also know that it is true that I need to focus on my studies to grab that 3.75 as I am from a non target school. If anyone can help me with some words of advice on my situation I would be seriously grateful. Thank you so much for the help.
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If you can't focus on your studies while doing a 1-day-per-week internship, I don't know how you'll survive the work style of banking...
That said, from a non-target, if you can get in with a 3.75, you can get in with a 3.57. Does that mean you should slack on your classes? No.
I agree with B, in that you should force yourself handle both your school work and the internship (1 day per week). You are right that work experience of any kind is very valuable, but I can tell you that tax work (at the staff level) is completely irrelevant to a career in banking.
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