PNC SA - Capital Markets - Sales and Trading Desk

First of all, congrats on the offer! It is clear you are hardworking and dedicated based on your summary, and those are the traits that are going to help you succeed in your internship and the start of your career. PNC is a very solid place to work, and if you decide it is not the right place for you, it carries a strong enough brand name to help you get your foot in the door at other places, especially given the group you will  be joining. Anyways, on to your questions:

• How to maximize your experience/helpful tips: Honestly, keep doing what you're already doing. Network and talk with everyone in your immediate group and the broader group to get a better sense of the role and the advancement opportunities at the company. Do your best to complete every task assigned to you to the best of your ability and make yourself available to take on additional tasks to show initiative. If you do something wrong or make some small mistakes, talk to the juniors in the group to learn from your mistakes (this shows maturity and drive). Also, make sure to jump on all training/shadowing opportunities that are available to you. Internships are all about showing initiative/drive and proving that you are willing and able to learn the role. You will not be tasked with doing anything overly difficult (they know you are only a student, they want to help you learn, not throw you to the fire. You also only have 10ish weeks in the internship, so they realize they need to maximize your time in the group)
• Is this considered Investment Banking: No. Sales & Trading is separate from Investment Banking. I do not know much about S&T, but there is a whole forum dedicated to it on this site that no doubt contains a lot of useful information. I'm assuming you are part of the Capital Markets track in the Capital Markets internship. PNC also has an IB track in that rotational program, but it is not your typical "Advisory" IB. That track consists of Debt Capital Markets, Asset Backed Finance, and Public Finance (so all debt related groups). M&A advisory at PNC is handle by Harris Williams, which is a completely separate recruitment process and timeline. There is also PNC FIG Advisory, which does a lot of capital raises and M&A advisory for community banks/smaller depositories. I know there is a FIG rotation in the Full-Time Capital Markets track, but I am not sure if it is different than FIG Advisory. The FT Capital Markets track also has a rotation in Structured Products (which some consider IB and I believe is one of the stronger groups at PNC). That is something to keep in mind if you end up liking your summer experience and are given the opportunity to return FT in the track. I believe someone left a detailed comment about the FT program in one of the PNC SA threads
• If you are still set on Advisory focused IB: Get the most out of your experience this summer, but also continue to network with other IBs (has anyone from your non-target made it to IB? If not, that is fine, just keep sending cold emails until you get a response). You can possibly target regional MM like Citizens M&A Advisory, KeyBanc, Fifth Third, Truist, etc. It is also important to network so you get a clear understanding of the expectations and responsibilities of IB Analysts. There are a lot of threads on here discussing people quitting less than a year in (I am one of those people), but also people that make a longer career in the industry. Do not just go into IB for the pay. As appealing as it is, there is a reason IB pays a lot, because you will be worked for it. PNC pays surprisingly well. Yes, base salaries and bonus are lower than IB, but it is still far more than most people out of college will make. It seems like you are very smart, so keep putting yourself out there and learn more about the industry to ensure it is a good fit for you. You just have to strike the right balance this summer. Keep an open mind regarding the role you have in hand and maximize the value you can draw from it, but also explore the other options that exists out there to confirm whether you would prefer to pursue them or not.

Best of luck and congrats again!