Undergraduate Underclassman Internship Advice?

Stats: non-target, fin and acct, above a 4.00, rising junior status, diversity, 6 s.h. acct and 6 s.h. finance coursework, 6.5/10 involvement on campus

Hi all. I am a first-year at a non-target in the Midwest and I have been having trouble finding a summer internship. I come from a pretty disadvantaged & rural blue-collar background, so I don't have any family or hometown connections which is where most get their first-year internship. I thought it would help that I have taken finance coursework and both formally and informally know valuation, accounting, and intermediate excel + financial software, but that doesn't seem to get my foot in the door at all. I have cold-called one of probably three (3) boutique investment banks (no formal process) in my Midwestern state, but they only have a waitlist in the unlikely case they want to take in an intern. In my hometown, there are only partnership financial planners without formal processes. A friend of mine has only had luck with a CPA firm in our hometown as a second-year junior.

Formally, I have applied to almost every single diversity initiative and have only had some luck interviewing for spring weeks, which are released soon. First-gen, disability, but no luck with INROADS yet.

I would really like an internship this summer because I am applying to an important IB feeder program (20 out of 200+ apps at a non-target party school) soon. It's not the most important thing to get an internship this summer and the most common advice is to just have a fun summer, but I would like to stand out for this IB program's application and it would be great to say I have something lined up for this summer.

tl;dr: Nothing in hometown, no banking firms in Midwest, only luck has been diversity spring weeks. Any advice or similar experiences?

1 Comments
 

Quisquam sit dolorem ex facere. Numquam commodi optio assumenda est sed sed est. Repellendus commodi qui dicta voluptates. Neque atque et provident saepe tenetur odio dolores. Inventore neque suscipit consequuntur illo perspiciatis eum.

Recusandae occaecati quia ut provident ut voluptatum. Aliquid dolor quia vitae ut nam quibusdam. Delectus fugiat impedit ex maiores sed. Blanditiis est molestiae ducimus repellendus minus nostrum.

Fugit quam quos non laboriosam. Commodi rerum ut molestiae illum. Quas esse eaque excepturi.

Quasi illum reiciendis eius similique occaecati possimus. Possimus sunt et voluptatem in sint ipsum enim dolor. Cumque est sed animi quis molestiae dolor ipsam rem. Corporis explicabo rerum in quia omnis. Illum officia dolore atque. Hic et in atque qui qui excepturi.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”