TAS Intern at non-Big 4 vs. Audit Intern at Big 4

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

After 1 year in FP&A at a Fortune 100 doing glorified accounting, I have started a MSA at a top 10 program and am located in the Midwest middle market. I have received 2 offers for this coming spring: TAS at a regional accounting firm and a busy season audit intern at a Big 4. The TAS internship is focused on buy/sell-side due diligence and quality of earnings reports within the middle market industrials space and the audit internship is well... audit. My question is about which one to accept.

If I want to move into TAS/IB/Corp Dev down the road, would it make sense to decline the Big 4 offer for this much smaller firm to get TAS experience and cross my fingers that they give me a return offer? The Big 4 offer would allow me start full-time as a second year and then I could exit after another year into TAS or send some prayers to small MM IB's. Would this Big 4 experience be better to start from since I have seen a lot of TAS roles ask for Big 4 experience as a requirement? I know students fall into the trap of "I'll just transfer within the Big 4", since it can be very hard to move into the different arms of the Big 4. But I have talked to people within Deal Advisory and that is a big interest of mine as well.

I am using my MSA to rebrand my useless Economics degree and figured the risk/reward and cost of an MSF isn't worth it if I can't secure an IB offer. So, I am looking for some pros and cons of each offer and what I might be giving up by accepting one over the other as far as exit opportunities would be. 

Sorry for the ramble but I'm just struggling (albeit, not the worst problem to have) with which one to accept and trying to weigh which offer would set me up better for the future (I do not want to go back to private industry). Anyways, let me know your thoughts and what you've seen from people in similar situations.

2 Comments
 

Id similique molestiae magnam cupiditate asperiores. Animi omnis reprehenderit voluptatem quia veritatis fuga. Dolore sequi sit placeat et laborum. Totam enim eos illo. Reprehenderit neque in quos ad possimus expedita.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
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...”