URGENT ADVICE - Soph MM IBD unpaid internship NYC vs. Paid F100 Internship Boston
WSO,
I'm at a pivotal point in my life where I need to make decisions in order to set myself up for BB IBD fall recruitment. I am interested in either a top BB (GS, JPM, MS), or an EB (Laz, HL, EC, Centerview).
I was at a non-target, but I have recently put down my deposit to transfer to a target school for next fall as a junior. My parents are still hesitant on co-signing a loan, but I am determined to make it work.
I have recently received a summer internship offer from a MM investment bank that specializes in digital marketing M&A located in midtown NYC. The internship is unpaid, and I do not know how I would afford to live in NYC. On the other hand, I have an offer within the financial department of a F100 company in Boston. If anyone has experience working unpaid in NYC please shed some light.
Assuming I take the unpaid internship in NYC, I would be broke going into junior year at my target school. The opportunity cost of taking this unpaid internship is about 10k - 15k. My parents are extremely stressed and don't think I can afford to take the NYC internship. I will be calling the MM IBD tomorrow to try and barter for pay. My parents are not willing to help me pay for rent.
What would you guys do in this situation, assuming you had to finance the summer yourself? Would this IBD internship set me up to potentially get into a top group at a top BB, or could it still be feasible with the F100 internship?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, as I need to call the MM IBD tomorrow and arrange the finances. I really want to make this work and live in NYC, but I don't know how. This group recently closed a $300M transactions, so I can't see how they won't be paying me.
Thanks for any help. Willing to PM / talk to anyone.
Never work for free
Could use a bit more advice, preferably from somebody in the field / out of undergrad.
What % of your summer is covered by the internship? I was able to get a room in queens for 600/ month. If you work your ass off at a regular job for the remainder of the summer, you should be able to cover that plus laundry, utilities, metro card. If your parents see how hard you are working, I've got to believe they would kick in a little to help with the food you don't get at work (ramen, tuna, etc). You should be able to make this work.
The problem is that 100% of the summer is covered. They expect me pack my shit and be in NYC by Thursday. Furthermore, they expect me to work right up until my school year begins. I just don't know if its worth it / if this is going to be a catalyst in terms of landing at a top shop. The benefits obviously include the ability to network everyday, as oppose to the F100 whereas I would have to take trips to NYC every weekend.
Setting aside financial constraints for a moment, it depends on what you'll be doing at the F100 vs. brand of the MM IB. It may be slightly different because you're sophomore, but I personally don't know any relatively well known IBs that offer unpaid internships. If you'll be doing things at the F100 that you can spin into a good story and the MM IB is more of a boutique, on top of the financial constraints, I would take the F100 given you're only a sophomore. If you have good experience at F100 and transferring to a target school, you should get decent looks for junior SA IB recruiting. If you can somehow make the finances work, then it may be a little different story (again really depends on the type of work you'll be doing at F100 vs. legitimacy of the IB). But it sounds like just due to the financial constraints you're almost forced to take the F100 by default.
considering you live in boston, try to commute a couple of days
bump
This is a tough one. If you were a junior I'd say do the MM internship for sure, but as a sophomore I feel like the F100 internship could be a good choice to set up something for your junior summer that actually pays, especially considering the financial constraints.
Unfortunately a lot of this hinges on which bank you're actually talking about. None of the well known MM firms that I know of at least offer unpaid internships, only smaller regional players.
bump
Do you have any idea what the hours would be like? If I were hiring you unpaid I wouldn't mind if you worked weekends or even a few nights. You be dead by the end of the summer, but it could be doable. Again, when your parents see how hard you are working I've got to believe the would help at least a little.
I would normally repeat the same "always take the IB internship" line, but in this case, I would 100% take the F100 internship, no doubt about it.
1). You're at a target. Assuming you have a high GPA, a finance internship at a F100 plus OCR will get you interviews at almost any IB that you apply to for junior SA
2). There's a reason the internship is unpaid. When evaluating how much to pay anyone, whether it's Tom Brady or the guy who shovels elephant crap at the circus, companies look at how much money that person brings in and how much that person's job is worth. This leads me to believe that this MM has deemed your internship worthless. In fact, to them, the work is so worthless that they expect you to go into debt to live in NYC. If this is anything like the unpaid internship that I had in undergrad or the countless stories I've read on WSO, this internship will be 100% grunt work with nothing to put on your resume.
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