No internship

I’m currently a rising sophomore at Bentley university majoring in Finance and minoring in Computer Information systems. My gpa is a 3.53 (I’m not sure if that’s bad or good). I currently do not have an internship or a retail job. It was my stupid mistake to not apply for anything earlier. I was too late into applying. Now I have learned my lesson to apply as early as possible for next year. But do you guys have any advice as to what should I do for the time being until school starts?

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I tried to get an internship the summer after my freshman year. Got a few final rounds, but nothing panned out. Didn't do anything that summer. Secured a boutique IB sophomore summer internship. Coming from a non target, this has been a critical talking piece. I have a 3.6. It's above the 3.5 cutoff but It's not good. I'd say 3.7 is neutral. 3.8+ is good. And 3.5-3.6 is the bare minimum, and you'll have to network. If you manage to get an interview it doesn't matter, but I've had people (while networking) tell me that they are hesitant because of the 3.6.

Ultimately, with a 3.6, my boutique internship, and (most importantly) a ton of networking, I have an offer for SA 2020. This is all assuming you want to do IB. Also a retail job is as good as no job on your resume.

 

I don't think I will do IB right out of undergrad. I plan on getting my Masters in FInance at a target school then probably go into IB. BUt I am afraid that my GPA is a tad bit on the lower side.

 

Why not try to see if you can make it right now? You only just finished freshman year. If you network and put in enough effort you can definitely land a position and you won't have to sacrifice an extra year, lose out on a year's wages, and have to pay for another year of school. It's really early for you just to dismiss that.

 

You definitely have time to still do major damage, especially if you go straight to MSF. I'll say that for summer in an MSF, the process is really weird. MSF could make a huge difference in your first job if you use the time wisely.

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that you aren't networking nearly as much as you should. This is because most aren't. Hell, I did a lot but could have still done more, especially when I first chose this path. I didn't know what I didn't know, and you probably are in that boat now. Seriously, reach out to someone every day.

JUST DO IT. Don't let your memes be dreams.
 

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Focus on learning more this summer, both reading or keeping up with the markets. I'm also a rising sophomore and have been fortunate enough to have a finance internship, but its definitely not one of the ones I would have preferred to get.

 

Second this. Also some other options could be LinkedIn articles and YouTube. All three have some different pros and cons. I was biased towards LinkedIn due to exposure until I got hired FT. I'll prob do a little of both now. Also, you may be surprised by the YouTube potential. I know someone still in undergrad that got 500 subs doing pretty basic markets/finance theory stuff for a few months. Articles would definitely help more for traction though.

JUST DO IT. Don't let your memes be dreams.
 

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