Which one do you think is better for IB ??

Hi everyone,
I have kind of a dilemma here and I was hoping some of you that have enough experience and foresight to help me chose the best alternative.
I'm an engineering student in a target in France, a generalist school which means I study litterally everything, and a consulting apprentice in a Top 2 consulting firm in FRance, I'm very interested in IB, and M&A to be more specific.
In order to graduate, I must spend at least 6 months abroad doing either an internship or an academic exchange.
I've been selected to do an exchange program in one of Europe's best business schools (a target too), I'd be having courses in International Management.

With that being said, idk if the best choice would be to do the academix exchange (which would be great because
- I'll be studying management which will give me knowledge in another field
- the business school is a target school, and It's a business school, which means I'll have both an engineering and a business background
- I can't quit my apprenticeship so it will make it easier for everyone if I stayed in my current firm

OR

if I apply for an off-cycle in an Investment Bank to have an M&A internship during those 6 months

knowing that I will also be applying for summer internships in parallel.

I'm guessing it's useless to apply for an off-cycle if I already get an offer for a summer, and an off-cycle isn't necessary since I already have a 1 year experience in consulting ...

Please let me know what yo uthink, thanks in advance.

7 Comments
 

Thank you for sharing your point of view ... I think so too, sounds pretty logical to me ... But don't you think that if I quit (if I manage to quit), interviewers and recruiters in M&A might not like it ?? I mean I would obviously have done it for the M&A internship, but I'm afraid it might lead them to think I have no ethics or something like that, quitting from a job I'm supposed to do for 3 years after only 1 year and a half ...

 

I'm not sure what to do in your case, I don't know what recruiting or the culture is like where you are so I can't say whether quitting will look bad in your case or whether it will be fine.

However, if you want to do IB, you'll have to quit, right?

 

Yes I'll definetly have to quit if I want to do an off-cycle internship or a summer internship in IB, of course if I do it, I'll be able to justify it, I'm not doing it for kicks I'm doing it because of my professional career, I'm just afraid recruiters won't like it knowing some of them look for "loyalty" in a candidate, someone that is there for the long run and won't quit in a few years to change banks or go in a PE fund for instance ...

 

Dolor quisquam et voluptas aut itaque qui dicta. Quia molestiae corrupti quisquam voluptas.

Aliquid autem fuga sit architecto velit officia. Quia aspernatur non ab necessitatibus est. Laborum aspernatur nisi sapiente deserunt cum. Non unde vitae atque earum quasi fuga. Delectus quae nam commodi sapiente earum rem animi culpa. Laborum natus deserunt magni qui earum quis.

Voluptatem aperiam accusantium iusto eveniet distinctio. Repudiandae id molestias optio inventore. Natus sit quas debitis quasi exercitationem aut neque. Ea nemo aut autem quia consequuntur sit quo. Et quo ex magnam dolorem aperiam.

Ut molestias qui quo corporis. Quas aut amet eum quas non voluptas. Expedita autem necessitatibus non praesentium impedit dolor in. Soluta ex doloribus possimus aut dicta.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 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

November 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 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 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

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”