Way too pre-professional.

I think it is awesome. You can do an internship and still have fun, be approachable, nice, ect.

Attitude matters more than what your resume says. If you do a PE internship as a pre-frosh and come in to college as a d-bag who thinks his shit doesn't stink, you're going to have a problem. If you do it because you're interested in finance, and would like to get experience (and also learn if you really like it) early, that's perfectly reasonable.

If you're working 100/hrs a week though, I might question it.

Do you enjoy finance? If so, then what possible better use of time could you come up with?

If not, stay the fuck away from all of this.

You can still enjoy your summer. Hopefully you'd do something productive rather than smoke weed and play Madden anyway, but just because you work doesn't mean your social life goes away. Granted, that is not necessarily true in finance but I highly doubt they'd have you pulling all-nighters.

On another note, I know some banks that extend internships to some sophomores as well as juniors limit the amount of hours sophomores can work to 40/week. I was pretty surprised to hear this, and assume its simply firm policy rather than a legal issue, but interesting nonetheless.

Do it for 8-10 weeks and get some decent experience. Summers are long in college. You will still have a good month or so to travel and hangout with your friends.

Sorry for the long post:

Thanks for the replies. I am a relationship hire, my dad knows the guy who founded this commercial bank that has a private equity division. The founder's son (who is CEO now) has known me since I was a baby and felt it would be a good idea to prepare me for my school. They have never had a high school intern before, so I assume they will work me like a college intern. I don't mind though, I have had experience working long hours (upwards of 60 hours some weeks for no pay, which is a trifle compared to what you go through, but it felt pretty intense to me at the time. I insisted on the full experience during my previous summer internship, it was not in America or Europe either, obviously. That internship had nothing to do with finance. But I realize that this is probably the last summer I will have to be absolutely free to do jack shit, so I want to make sure it is worth it. I was just worried that bankers here would think that I had my eyes set on banking way too early and would assume I was a tool, and so this internship could hurt me instead of help me as a result. But it seems like I was mistaken. I know that I would not have gotten this job without connections, but if I did well and got a recommendation letter from the CEO, would that help me get a similar internship in America my freshman year?

I love finance, the idea of studying under Allen, Souleles, and Siegel next year excites me. I've been reading their work for some time now and I find it as interesting as Chelsea's game today. It is just that the way people have been talking down 'tools' on this site who are focused on finance from a young age has made me think twice about what I am doing. It seems like I fit that profile to the bill and that is discomforting. I have interests other than finance, such as philosophy; in fact, I plan to minor in Philosophy at Penn's college so I have not drunk the kool-aid just yet. I think that I have a great social life, but I was just worried that this internship, on top of my existing pre-professional attitude and interests, would just reinforce the 'Wharton finance douche-bag' stereotype that I am trying to avoid as that will turn people off. I will, of course, not be mentioning this when I get to school at all. That would make me a tool and a show off.

What turns people off is when you act like you are better than them.

You can go to Wharton and have PE experience without being a douchebag. As soon as you flaunt your school/internship or start believing that those experiences raise you above other people is when you will start experiencing resentment. No matter what you achieve, be humble.

Thanks for the advice. I understand that. I will not be mentioning this in real life for precisely the reasons you mentioned. I realize that my posts may have come across as flaunting, but that was not my intention at all. I just wanted to put all the facts on the table so you guys could comment with full knowledge of my situation.

I also realize that I did relatively little to get the position that I got, that helps keep things in perspective. I have nothing to be arrogant about because I have achieved nothing on my own.

yeah seriously what's with the spam lately

sorry about that guys, my watchmaking alter ego seems to come out whenever I'm in a drunken haze.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. If you do this internship then it would help you get a good internship for the summer after your freshman year, which helps you get your next one etc... But you can always take this summer off your resume later and just list the later internships you were able to get as a result.

2. If you're going to a good school next year and remain as driven as you seem to be then it sounds like you'd be able to get a pretty good finance job with or without this internship.

Thanks for the feedback! I've decided to pursue this opportunity. I will be having an interview with the CEO in like 3 weeks; I need to make sure that I know my shit.

Are there any books or websites that will help me prepare for my PE stint?

I've used google already, but I thought you guys may have some better links and books since you've been in the industry.

Thanks.

I liked an academic paper "Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity" by Steven Kaplan & Per Strömberg (2008) Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Casebook http://www.amazon.com/Venture-Capital-Private-Equity-Casebook/dp/047022… Remember, it's a casebook