Recruiting for IB FT as junior in college

Lateraling into a different FT IB position, especially into a larger platform with an established program is relatively difficult. Space in certain FT classes are heavily dependent on the number of Summer Analysts that decide to sign their return offers as well as the number of spots left on reserve that banks need to fill.

There are several things you can do to maximize your odds of lateraling to a different spot FT:

• Networking: Start reaching out to bankers at potential groups you might be interested in during the 1-2 months you have left leading up to your summer internship. Express your interest to them that you are looking to join a bigger platform (perfectly understandable given reasons such as "exposure to larger transaction sizes, exposure to more banking products, industry switch, etc...") post your summer internship and would love to be considered for a spot if one opens up. After you've had those initial conversations, keep your core group of contacts updated throughout your internship by sending quick emails saying "hey, just started my internship, learning a lot and thanks for the advice you gave... blah blah... will be sure to put it to good use..."). Then when you get a return offer, email them and say that you've secured a return and that you wanted to follow-up on the initial conversation regarding potential openings.
• I would recommend actually holding back on networking heavily during your internship until the end of your summer internship (last 2 weeks or so) before actually going back out on coffee chats / phone calls again. The reason for this is that you need to be lasered focused on securing a return offer to maximize your chances of lateraling. It's already hard enough to lateral without one from a BB, and not getting one from an LMM would make the battle a lot harder. I've witnessed kids networking heavily for bigger platforms through the summer and making it known they don't want to come back; personally I don't care as much but the attitude might rub people the wrong way during your summer which could impact your ability to get a return. 
• Secure a return offer: This is pretty self-explanatory. Work as hard as you can during your internship (take initiative, be a nice person, take responsibility and ownership of every deliverable) -- you would be surprised how willing some of your team members (analysts / associates) are to help you lateral if you do an amazing job
• Apply to Every App: Again, networking will maximize your chances of getting an interview but as you mentioned above, apps usually open in the summer so just make sure to stay on top of those. Generally, some banks will automatically know they have additional spots to offer and will start interviewing off the bat (JPM historically does this); most banks will wait 1-2 months before starting interviews (early fall during your school semester) -- because they need to count their heads and some SAs take a bit longer to sign (trying to lateral just like you)
• Apply to Analyst Openings: Might sound untraditional, but if you are unable to secure something by December or January, this probably means that the SA classes are full. However, program needs change based on market conditions and people are reneging all the time. If you see Analyst openings (even if experienced), it doesn't hurt to drop an application as I've witnessed some of my friends (non-target and semi-target) YOLO drop resumes and get interviews in like the April before graduating -- one of my friends actually landed an EB offer from doing that because the team had the ability to take on an additional analyst and saw some positive qualities in him.