Advice for a freshman interested in RX

I am currently a freshman at a target school (Harvard, Wharton, Yale) looking for some guidance. I will likely finish the first semester with a GPA in the 3.9-4.0 range depending on a few outstanding final exams and projects but my CV does not have any other finance experience on it. I have been reading a lot about restructuring and it sounds very interesting as a possible career path. As such, I am trying to learn as much about it as I possibly can.

Could I feasibly network my way into an internship this summer at a local boutique in restructuring? If so, would that be preferable to an internship in something like PWM or AM if I plan to recruit for a 2027 RX SA position next fall? Any other advice about the industry, restructuring, or school would be greatly appreciated as well!

8 Comments
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

Do normal investment banking - study hard for Rx. The quality of candidates we interview now is absurd. You have to seriously know your stuff.

 
Most Helpful

Yea echo above. The quality of candidates interested in Rx is absurd. Couple that with the fact it is a relatively small field (maybe ~10/12 reputable Rx banks averaging maybe ~6-8 per intern / analyst class). Keep grades up, join student orgs on campus focused on RX, study hard (you really can't get your technicals wrong for RX recruitment) and try and get the most relevant freshman and soph summer internships you can. Not going to say what I did for anonymity, but have seen people succeed with BB sophomore internships --> EB RX junior summer, or distressed credit soph summer or MF PE soph summer. Try and get something relevant for freshman summer as that will help for soph summer. Good luck

 

honestly i think thats more self-selection, the ppl who get those internships know about IB in freshman year and are likely the ones prepped well. Ppl who can answer the techs didnt learn them in their upcoming soph summer

 

Don't think it matter if you do something super relevant to restructuring / distress for freshman or sophomore summer. Most important thing is you have some sort of finance internship freshman summer and can say "incoming xyz" at some name brand institution for sophomore summer. The best restructuring groups are basically prestige whores who care way more about the signaling of some shiny brand name vs real demonstrated interest in credit (the median exit from the best rx groups isn't even credit related anymore and those banks know people come to their group just because its a good program and they just want the smartest kids) so landing an internship at sequioa is worth more on your resume than some LMM credit fund or rx advisory shop. 

Source: I worked at PJT / EVR RX and most analysts we hired had some sort of BB / Tiger cub / name brand hedge fund / MF PE / MBB sophomore summer internship. None of those were nepo seats either, kids were just absolute sweats. 

 

Qui voluptas ut nostrum ea aut nobis. Vel dolorem at atque non est et voluptate. Quia ipsam mollitia suscipit officia animi. Eum porro quae voluptatibus sunt quaerat qui. Dolores corrupti dolores sit soluta fugiat.

Sit itaque consectetur repudiandae dolor possimus ut dolore. Dolorum voluptas necessitatibus qui dolor.

Sit vero voluptatem occaecati corporis rerum. Iste autem minus aut cumque cupiditate. Itaque voluptatibus ut cumque suscipit.

Dicta quaerat recusandae incidunt natus enim. Ab minima voluptatum corrupti recusandae assumenda voluptas et. Dolorem velit aut quasi non et culpa eveniet laborum.

 

Aut sequi totam reiciendis labore totam cum. Ut omnis est quia cum. Dolores ipsam tenetur vitae molestiae illo.

Voluptatibus ratione esse quisquam. Neque id debitis sapiente dolores et dolor cumque. Ad quae quia dignissimos earum. Rerum accusantium dolorem expedita.

Facere laudantium enim asperiores rerum dolor. Modi nostrum modi sit porro. Beatae necessitatibus aut facilis repudiandae qui totam quasi. Porro quo ratione sapiente vero.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
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
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”