What should I do the summer after freshman year?

Hi everyone I wanted to know what to do the summer after freshman year. Every time I look at internships, they are typically only for sophomores or juniors. I want to get experience early so I am well prepared by junior year. What did you guys do the summer after freshman year ?

 
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Honestly if your not at working at Goldman by now your fucked

(Dude just chill and start grinding when you get back sophomore year)

"one for the money two for the better green 3 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine" - M.F. Doom
 

HAHAHA I'm only an incoming college freshman but I want to get a relevant internship next summer so I can hopefully get an internship at a competitive bank junior year. That is why I am trying to start early.

 

I would personally say to enjoy your summer - travel somewhere unique if you have the opportunity. If you are dead-set on getting experience, find anything related to finance (there are usually decent internships at PE shops if you dig hard enough). If the finance internship thing doesn't work out, just get a 'regular' summer job. The worst thing you can do is to sit around and not do anything all summer. As long as you do something, you'll be good.

 

just do something you are interested / will get paid in. can be made sound good on resume if you can talk about it passionately. also, study technical guides and do lots of introspection for behavioral questions as the timeline is shifting forward so much.

 

I did a CS/Data related internship following my freshman year, and honestly it wasn't worth it looking back. No longer on the resume a year later with more recent/relevant experience and I was away from home & friends. Have fun, relax, and drink with your friends while you can.

Not saying don't work, just get a basic job you enjoy and save the intern stress for next year.

 

Start grinding and try to find something finance related. Boutique IB near your college/hometown, PMW, etc. With recruiting getting bumped up its more important then ever to have relevant internships as soon as possible. Grind as hard as you can freshman & sophomore year - you will be at a serious advantage compared to everyone else if you can get some experience.

 
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Go work at a summer camp. Now, you have to be someone who enjoys physical activity, being around kids, and is willing to be exhausted at the end of day. If so, it's an awesome experience. I did it, and it's worth it.

  1. You get paid to drive a boat, send kids down water slides, play sports, etc. For me, that sounds like a decent way to spend a summer. It's low stress, and you probably won't ever get a chance to do something like it again.
  2. You'll go back to school with a sweet tan and in better shape. Yeah, it sounds dumb, but it's hard not to get tan when you're on a lake, and being outside all day helps get you in shape. Plus, most guys will probably work out in the morning.
  3. A lot of attractive people work at summer camps. This needs very little explanation beyond the fact that you are with a lot of athletic, college aged guys and girls all summer. Also, beyond physical attractiveness, everyone is normally laid back and great to get to know. It's always nice to be able to go to another school or another city and know someone who's couch you can crash on.
  4. You get a lot of life experience. Have you ever tried being in charge of middle school boys for a week? You learn a lot about yourself. You have to find ways to take charge, motivate, adapt, and not lose your mind. You'll get pushed outside your comfort zone, which is guaranteed to make you grow as a person.
  5. It's an interesting story to tell in interviews. "It says here you worked as a camp counselor last summer?" "Yeah, I decided rather than travel or get an internship where I wouldn't learn much, I would take the chance to serve others. I was able to teach kids how to sail, play a sport, etc. and to be a positive influence in their lives for a week. I had a great experience while I was able to grow my leadership abilities and meet a lot of great people from different walks of life."

It's not for everyone, but I would encourage anyone to work at summer camp after their freshman year.

 

Enjoy your last summer, you'll never get anything like it again. Hangout with your old high school friends, spend time with your family, travel somewhere, workout, etc. I worked as a part-time cashier to make some extra money (which was actually a pretty good life experience).

I'm a few years out of school now working as a trader at a BB and very happy I didn't do some random finance internship that summer, it wouldn't have made any difference. Ended up getting a paid sales & trading internship my sophomore summer for what it's worth. Just make sure you're back on it when you get back to school.

 

I would try to leverage family relationships. Obviously after freshman year you have no experience or course work, so you'll basically have to find someone who is willing to bring you on just to teach you/share their experience. Typically these people will be family friends or relatives.

After my freshman year I interned at a small wealth management shop doing equity and fund research. The guy who started the company was a family friend. Try to find something like this.

 

Not sure about your background experience or where you go to school but if I were you I would start networking and try to get an internship during the school year at a local shop. Recruitment for banking has gotten so ridiculous and has been pushed earlier and earlier each year that it seems like you need to have relevant sophomore experience in order to be competitive for interviews.

Make a list of all firms that are in your school area and start reaching out to people to try to get a semester internship.

 

Here are a list of a few things to do. If you can accomplish all of these then you will have a great college experience and set yourself up for the future: - read the news (WSJ, FT, Economist) and books (both finance and non-finance related) - get any type of job early on that has somewhat transferrable skills to finance - get a hot girlfriend and meet new people - join a frat and get FOF'd (Front-office faded) on a weekly basis - network with family connections, and then as you become more comfrotable/knowledgable reach out to people you don't know in the industry (try alumni base)

 

Here are a list of a few things to do. If you can accomplish all of these then you will have a great college experience and set yourself up for the future: - read the news (WSJ, FT, Economist) and books (both finance and non-finance related) - get any type of job early on that has somewhat transferrable skills to finance - get a hot girlfriend and meet new people - join a frat and get FOF'd (Front-office faded) on a weekly basis - network with family connections, and then as you become more comfrotable/knowledgable reach out to people you don't know in the industry (try alumni base)

 

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Hey TL0228, I'm here because nobody responded to this thread after a few days...maybe one of these resources will help you:

No promises, but thought I'd mention a few relevant users that work in the industry: lucyrenyi mgp16 nick410433

Hope that helps.

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

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