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?

 

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