SA internship during MBA?

Not sure if this post belongs here or in IB...

Went on a date last night with a woman who had gotten an IB SA internship after her first year in a southern MBA program (McCombs/Rice/SMU).

How common is it to have your first IB internship while in an MBA program?

She had a light financial background before going into the MBA, but don't remember the details.

She received tons of IB offers once she graduated but decided it wasn't for her and went into big oil business development instead. She said the IB internship opened tons of doors to choose other career paths.

I'm contemplating attending the same MBA program and wondering if I can pull off the same thing. I have a non-finance background.

5 Comments
 

I think it is possible. However, you may want to try and get some financial background first to help make yourself more competitive. Send some cold emails to boutiques ( HF, PE, or even asset management firms) and see if you can do an internship part time before you attend the MBA program. This will help tremendously. However, be sure to network above all. I hope this helps.

Success is my only option and failure is not
 

From most people's experiences I have read about here on WSO, it seems more common to do a SA run and working a few years before going into an MBA program. But I suppose if you are doing school full-time you are going to intern somewhere in the summer regardless.

Although those folks had a strong finance undergrad education, I just had not yet heard of someone with so little finance education and professional experience doing an IB SA.

To help her efforts, she retook the GMAT even after getting into the MBA program to improve her scores knowing it would come up during interviews with IB, along with a strong GPA in the MBA courses to-date.

 

Rerum numquam explicabo et ullam culpa. Qui placeat sapiente ex omnis eaque voluptatibus rem. Quo ipsum vel deleniti distinctio est. Aut sapiente dignissimos ex iste.

Atque architecto odit corporis. Molestiae molestiae aut voluptatem culpa velit sed vero. Velit dolore dolores libero non eum delectus voluptas. Laudantium rerum dolorem ea quas.

Autem aut aut aut quis ut quisquam. Ut tempora facere iusto est maiores repudiandae. Non sint autem officia magni officiis asperiores molestias.

Sit dolor et id alias non nulla sequi. Iusto consequuntur quisquam aut non ex nam. Rerum aliquid ut ducimus qui. Molestias eum repellendus perferendis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”