What to Do During Freshman Summer w/o Internship

It's not looking like I'm going to get an internship this summer, and I was wondering what I should do to make sure I don't fall behind even more. I was planning on taking a bunch of classes at my local community college to get even more ahead on credits. I guess I might be able to try to take some programming courses as well, but other than that I'm not sure what to do. I wasn't urgent at all in trying to get an internship for this summer, and now I'm facing the consequences.

7 Comments
 

Get any regular job or experience you can put on your resume. Couple of my friends spun jobs like being a bank teller or working customer service into valuable experiences needed for banking or any other finance roles.

 

Why can't you take the classes at your own university to boost your GPA?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

My GPA is already a 4.0, so I’m not in any rush to take summer classes at my Uni where it’s $700/credit versus at my community college where it’s about $200/credit. Only prob is that my community college doesn’t offer a ton of the classes that I would look into taking during the summer.

 
168hrweek

My GPA is already a 4.0, so I'm not in any rush to take summer classes at my Uni where it's $700/credit versus at my community college where it's about $200/credit. Only prob is that my community college doesn't offer a ton of the classes that I would look into taking during the summer.

Oh ok - you could think about adding a minor or double major to your studies. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Yeah right now I'm pursuing a dual degree in Finance + Applied Mathematical Sciences. I'm having 2nd thoughts about the math major and I might opt for data science instead, but both are kind of useless since I don't plan on going to grad school. CS would be my num 1 option, but it would be a big challenge to get it done in the normal time frame.

 
Most Helpful

Non molestiae voluptates rerum reiciendis consequatur repudiandae et. Voluptatem nesciunt molestias quis excepturi officiis. Numquam veritatis voluptate sunt fugiat incidunt quod rerum. Ut sunt iusto cumque qui qui aperiam.

Hic qui est delectus libero ut enim dolorem sint. Saepe aut vel velit labore illum impedit beatae. Neque et quaerat eos quis dolores. Culpa et doloribus neque quae laudantium quaerat. Nemo eos et dolor animi exercitationem rem.

Inventore voluptatem tenetur et fugiat. Accusantium ex cupiditate molestias et non accusamus dolores. Adipisci est aliquid in delectus odit ea. Voluptas est voluptatem delectus voluptate mollitia et. Consequuntur aut fugit consequatur cum neque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
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...”