Equity Research Internship... Credit Suisse or Barclays?

First of all, congratulations on the offers. We can't make that decision for you though--both are BB shops and on a fairly equal level (correct me if I'm wrong here, anyone) The most important thing is which one you like more, culturally, or otherwise. You'll be working long hours at one of these places for the next 2.5 years if you do B-school, so choose somewhere you like

Based off of Institutional Investor rankings, where buyside managers are asked to rank/rate sellside analysts, Barclays is a much better research shop than Credit Suisse.

I am not in ER though and cannot speak to the nuances. All I know is that Barclays was just behind JP this year.

You cannot go wrong with taking either offer, they are both solid places for Equity Research. As the poster above said, it depends on which one you like more, in terms of culture.

Personally, I would pick Credit Suisse. They have a pretty high intern->ft conversion rate in Equity Research and I know a few EQR Associate Analysts there and they absolutely love working at CS. Congrats on the offers!

In terms of prestige and quality, are the institutional investor rankings an accurate portrayal of how good the equity research divisions are at Barcap/CS? I see that Barcap has consistently ranked #2 after JP, but CS has ranked between 4th and 7th over the last few years (7th currently). Is this a significant difference?

Do you know which analyst (or industry group) you would be working for? Assuming you will be contributing to one team. You can view the firm's rankings as a good base but it's really about your analyst's team. If you happen to switch groups (within the same sector) down the road, your analyst's ranking will weigh significantly on your own skills and experience. If you happen to know the sector and/or industry, you can most likely pinpoint who it would be.