How is Bulge Bracket S&T these days? Is it on the downswing? And how does it compare to prop trading?

(Posted this in the S&T forum but need some quick responses so post here as well)

Hi all. I'm currently a junior applying to internships for next summer.

I have an offer from a T2 (not a JS/Optiver, but still pretty decent in my mind) prop trading firm in Chicago. The pay is good (free housing+food+transport, 7.5k/month + ~2k bonus/month), there's no dress code, there's a very structured educational program, super flat structure with minimal bureaucracy, and a non-client-facing, meritocratic environment. It also seems like I'll be learning a lot, working on a concrete project, and also doing mock trading towards the end of the internship.

That being said, I've just received a superday invite for Goldman Sachs S&T. Would I be stupid to pass up on that opportunity should I receive it to take an offer from a prop firm that's not JS/Optiver tier? How interesting is the trading at banks, how technical is it, and is there an intellectually interesting component to it or is it more politics/networking/bureaucracy with clients? Would I be doing actual work as a summer intern or would it just be grunt excel stuff and asking questions to traders I'm shadowing? Should I maybe consider the role just for the name on my resume alone? I'll probably definitely end up interviewing, but I'm confused about how exactly I should be viewing the opportunity should I receive an offer.

Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

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