Investment Banking Internship vs Studying Abroad

I am a sophomore in college trying to get a career in investment banking. I recently received an offer at a small investment bank near my college for a year-long ib internship program running from January 2021 - December 2021, but I have always wanted to study abroad during my time in college. I am struggling to weigh the lifelong memories and experiences that I may have while studying abroad against the potential career-building benefits of being able to participate in this internship program, as I don't think that I will have any other opportunities for just a sophomore summer IB internship. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or advice for making this decision?

 

if OP wants to study abroad that much then he doesn't want banking bad enough

 
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Okay prospect, lets chill out for a second. You sure sound like a blast to be around.

Very feasible to do both here, and I would absolutely recommend going abroad. At the end of the day, banking is a job, and guess what? Most people want to be around tolerable, interesting individuals, not finance robots who sexually identify as a BIWS 400 question quide.  

 

Okay prospect, lets chill out for a second. You sure sound like a blast to be around.

Very feasible to do both here, and I would absolutely recommend going abroad. At the end of the day, banking is a job, and guess what? Most people want to be around tolerable, interesting individuals, not finance robots who sexually identify as a BIWS 400 question quide.  

Yeah those 6 weeks of getting fucked up every night at LSE was a real transformative experience 

 

2nd prospect here (not the OG comment).

I understand your point in the sense that in banking, people want to be around interesting and personable individuals. However, you should also consider the potential outcomes if OP chose studying abroad instead of taking the year-long internship. 

OP said that there is a potential that he/she will not have any other opportunities for just a sophomore summer IB internship. Going into junior SA recruiting, target or not, how do you think OP can compete when he/she doesn't have any sophomore summer internship? Not to mention we are uncertain about SA class size next year - just taking the downside case here. 

Would "being a personable individual that people want to work with" matter if OP can't make it into banking? Of course there can be assumptions such as 1) OP has additional time and money for a MSF/MBA later or 2) OP is very well connected so he/she can get into banking later anyway, target or nontarget or 3) OP doesn't feel the need to start in IB out of undergrad and can wait a few years before lateraling into BB/MM/EB IB.

If assumption 1) or 2) or 3) is true, then yes I think OP should have fun and study abroad. Since I don't know the context, I'm just starting with conservative assumptions, that assumptions 1), 2), and 3) aren't true.

Open to any discussion.

 

Dude, study abroad seems fun but I would rather do the IB internship. Career > study-abroad IMO. You could always go on a trip during the winter or spring break or in the 20 days before your junior summer internship. the 1 year IB internship will give you a big edge over others. You are likely to learn a lot more in 1 year than someone else's 2-month summer internship.

 
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Don’t be a dumbass. I went abroad my sophomore summer and secured a TOP offer my next junior summer with just finance related ECs (nothing major leadership wise there) and sufficed by saying I self studied a few finance courses while abroad. IMO it made me a much more interesting candidate Bc it shows you’re not just some dime a dozen finance drone with no personality or real world experiences. Very easy to fit abroad answers into the cookie cutter fit questions.

How are you supposed to separate yourself from the pack if you just do what everyone else does? Not everyone has the opportunity to study abroad - you do, don’t waste it.

 

I mean are you willing to take the risk? An internship will definitely help you out later on but study abroad is fun. I dont think you can argue that studying abroad makes you unique when you and hundreds of other kids go to coppenhagen or Australia, but its undoubtedly a good time. You have to make the personal choice though.

 

Study abroad would likely make you a more interesting person in the long term - you’ll get to experience more of the world and grow as a person. A year long internship? Sure you may learn something but if you get asked why did you / did you not study abroad down the road, are you really going to want to say you passed that up to work in boutique ib near college? 

 

Isn't it going to be virtual anyway if it's during the school year? If it is (which I'm not sure), then I don't see why you can't just do both.

 

Don’t listen to these hardasses saying that you should prioritize “cArEeR > sTuDy AbRoAd BrOoO hOw BaD dO yOu wAnT iT”. I had sophomore year internship, studied abroad, and had a junior year internship which led to a FT offer. It can be done.

Looking back on all of it, going abroad was some of the best months my life hands down. Granted I never traveled much outside the country growing up, but it was such an awesome experience that I would always recommend to anyone interested. Fuck, I wish I did two semesters abroad.

Listen you have your whole life to work, but only one chance to go live in another country in college while you’re young. Just my advice.

 

Surprised no one has mentioned for you to just do study abroad your junior year spring semester (spring 2022). You can do study abroad without a problem this way (and truly enjoy it) and you can still get the internship on your resume. Have several friends either at BBs/EBs/Going directly to a MF who did this. Even several people at my EB did this. When you think about it, it’s the best time to do it because you don’t have to worry about recruiting anymore (unless you don’t get a FT offer your junior summer) and it’s a nice time to relax right before you have to truly grind your junior summer.

 

How about your junior spring? I think that might be the most common time now for finance students to go abroad with IB recruiting going from sophomore spring into junior fall. Also, take into consideration if taking classes + IB internship through the entire year would affect your ability to go all-in on junior summer recruiting. Maybe this is just a grass is greener situation, but I do regret not studying abroad though I did end up with an IB offer and now a return offer in my senior year. I really wanted to travel, but I wanted to set myself up career-wise and make some money before doing something I saw as a luxury. I put it off and thought id maybe use some of the internship money to travel later on or after graduation but COVID is wrecking chances of that happening. Of course I'd probably regret going abroad if career stuff didn't work out after either, but balance is important. There's probably some way for you to do a combination of both like wait till junior spring or maybe an accelerated program early in junior summer. 

 

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