Am i competitive for a HF internship next Summer?

Hi,

I'm a sophomore at a top 30(but not target) university in America studying Mathematical Economics and Computer Science. I have done 3 internships before, two in software engineering and one as a quantitative trading analyst. None of these internships were at big-name companies/firms, so i'm not sure how much they will help me. In addition to my work experience, i've been involved in research in computational biology and have published a paper with my supervisor in a reputable academic journal. I have no idea if that will mean anything to people in the finance world, but I'm hoping it will at least show people that i'm capable of doing analytical research/thinking. I have a 3.4 GPA(at a school known for grade deflation).

With these credentials, would it be possible to land an internship(paid or unpaid) at a small fund next Summer? If so, how should I go about making contact with funds?

Thanks. Sorry if I sound like a total noob. I am.

 

Some people seem to be unaware there are HFs that invest in assets other than stocks.

You'd have something to talk about in intern interviews for many HFs. For example, D.E. Shaw's David Shaw is doing research in computational biology. Everybody at that shop is interested in the field, because the big boss is doing it.

But if a HF screens its intern applicants for GPA, with a 3.4 you wouldn't get an interview.

I see 100+ resumes or LinkedIn profiles of top Wharton undergrads each year, juniors & seniors. Most of them had interned in IBD, quite a number got PE internships, only a few have done HFs. I have to say from experience, most interns are pretty useless in terms of doing any really valuable work, at a HF; and most HFs don't hire people out of undergrad, To be sure, there are notable exceptions.

 
Best Response

You're competitive for a sell side analytics/strats role, especially if you can inch that GPA up to a 3.5.

Buyside will be a tougher sell, but my suspicion is that you'll get there with a few years on the sellside and an MFE or MSCF or MS Stats.

To be sure, a finance or econ major from Wharton or Harvard is not going to beat out a CS major from a top 30 school for a quant role. You're going to get beaten out, but it's going to be by a CS PhD from MIT with two publications under revise/resubmit in the IEEE or a Princeton Finance PhD/ Berkeley Computer Engineering undergrad who is finalizing a paper in the Journal of Financial Economics. We're going to pass on the Wharton undergrad and he will most likely going to wind up in a traditional non-quantitative role. And it's because he's demonstrated through his major (assuming it does not include CS) that he doesn't want QR. He wants traditional finance. Your major seems to demonstrate that you want QR. And I think you can get it over time.

My suggestion for a workable strategy: CS/econ math -> (ideally) sellside QR or strats/ analytics 2-3 years -> MFE -> buyside

Remember, your first job is not your last job. And QRs have a better culture. It's worth working for.

 
Dig Bumb Idiot:
Just curious, what makes the QR culture superior to traditional HFs?
There's a lot less stress.

If you have a dumb idea that isn't working, you don't fire the employee, you fire the idea.

It's a geek culture, not an athlete culture. There's pros and cons to both, but for smart people who are more interested in solving problems than fighting about them and the associated drama, this is the place to be.

Some of this is relative. If OP told me he was a football player at a D1 college and studying marketing or management and in a fraternity, I wouldn't be saying that we have a better culture quite as loudly. In fact I'd be trying to steer Andy Bernard over to sell-side trading the same way they'd be trying to steer Dwight Schrute over to stat arb.

That said, our culture is still better.

 

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