Go to PE or Recruit for SA?

I am struggling internally about what direction to head in my career and wanted to see if you guys could offer me any insight. 

Some background: I'm a current nontarget, nondiversity sophomore. I wanted to intern in NYC after my freshman year so I cold emailed a bunch of firms, and an infra PE firm that I emailed turned into an internship for that post-freshman summer. They must have liked me because they had me come back for the fall and spring after that, so I worked part time going into school. I was just speaking to my boss about how difficult it was to balance school, work, networking, social life, etc, and he responded by offering to have me spend my summers and future college semesters at the firm and then work for them full time. He told me to give it 48 hours to think about it. Rn Im recruiting for SA 2025 but Idk if I should take this firm's offer or pursue working at a bank in IB. If you guys could shed some insight into which route would be more optimal that would be great. 

Pros of taking offer: 

  • Very competitive pay once I get FT 
  • Get to break straight into PE and sharpen my skillset 
  • Great Team 
  • Job Security

Cons: 

  • 80+ hour weeks during summer and 20+ during the school year for the rest of college (I was working 75 a week as a freshman summer intern, it sucked)
  • Less interesting work for me personally (I'm more of a markets and investing kind of guy) 
  • Might be forced to relocate internationally to assist in a different office 
  • Very hardo/intense, stressful culture at the firm

Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you.

1 Comments
 

Vitae nam quibusdam quam sequi libero. Et non fugit occaecati. Illo rem numquam vel doloribus. Iste assumenda illum voluptatem fuga veritatis minus earum illum.

Voluptatem autem voluptas quod amet velit rerum aperiam quo. Occaecati dolorem dolorem accusantium dolore. Ipsa veniam mollitia quo ipsa.

Ea ratione et velit ratione nulla consectetur non in. Quia ipsa autem commodi omnis. Reiciendis sed sed provident vitae culpa quia culpa. Quas ipsum nam dignissimos error ad et veritatis. Mollitia qui ea culpa similique omnis alias deserunt dolorum.

Iure quia ea sunt eum similique. Vel accusantium ex corrupti molestiae. Aut beatae eaque saepe consectetur. Sed sunt nihil voluptatem sit et.

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

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”