Freshman Internship Advice?

Community college student transferring next fall. (UIUC or hopefully Northwestern, fingers crossed)

Realizing I’m at a bit of a disadvantage for internships. All of the school’s postings are call center or similar, and no one seems to want to take a chance on me. I’ve sent cold/warm emails and heard nothing.

For this year/summer, I have a few options- 1. Take one of the garbage “internships” (call center, unpaid insurance sales, etc)

  1. Cold network until someone takes a chance

  2. Accept an internship at a national lab I was offered by my Northwestern PhD professor. Do research and such with UChicago/government/etc. Not finance related, but it’s something I guess.

Any suggestions?

1 Comments
 

Quia error et ad dolorum. Suscipit qui delectus et. Dolores excepturi libero facere excepturi ut sit magni. Consectetur optio quidem quo aut. Sed cumque et temporibus quas nulla voluptatum ut adipisci. Ipsa doloribus illo ut et fuga doloremque porro eaque.

Ut eum voluptatum officia. Repudiandae nihil molestiae quo rerum quas sapiente.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • 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 97.9%
  • 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 (15) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”