Investment Banking Recruiting and Feeling Hopeless

I’m an international student and I’m about to become a senior at NYU and I’m studying math and economics and I have a 3.4 GPA.

This summer (before my senior year) I interned at VC in NY and have gained good experience but nothing on the technical side.

I’m trying to get into investment banking but it just seems like everything is going against me. I feel like I’m late. Being an F-1 Visa international student doesn’t help either. Not having real IB or CorpFin or finance internships doesn’t help either. I feel so stuck and it’s weighing heavily on my mental health and I don’t know what to do other than keep sending emails to people in IB and never getting replied back. Do I still have a shot at getting a full-time position? Should I keep pushing? Should I refocus my time and energy to something else?

I want this so badly. Please help.

16 Comments
 
Most Helpful

KeepRunning I can relate - I had no internship experience at all after college (I majored in Biology at Imperial College in london) and none of the banks here in asia would take me. I went as far as to offer one of the boutiques to be an intern (i was already a full time at PWC then) because I really wanted to get in

It took me 5 years before I landed a stint at CS's FIG team and did that for 2.5 years before moving to growth equity

Keep going because the moment you stop trying, that's when its really over

Best of luck

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (68) $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

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...”