Should I Extend Undergrad by a Sem for SA 2020?

Long story short - I'm a junior at a West Coast target who got into the game pretty late. While most of SA 2019 recruiting was done by sophomore summer (I was in the first cohort when recruiting **really ** became out of hand), I only had my first 'proper' finance internship at the start of junior year and only figured out the industry then.

As a rising Senior, I'm considering extending my undergrad by a semester just so I can recruit for SA 2020 and get a shot into a BB. It's a little bit late, but not too late right now.

Should I do so? I have heard people say that SA recruiting mainly focuses on sophomores and juniors aren't given much attention. Does anyone have insights on this? The alternative is to do FT recruiting straight after the summer, and I could possibly even graduate by 3.5 years. I'm out of state so any additional semester costs a bomb.

I'd appreciate any insight or advice!

7 Comments
 

What about taking a leave this upcoming semester and trying to find some sort of fall 2019 internship just to cut down on the costs of having to pay for 9 semesters?

 

How competitive are you for SA recruiting right now? Extending graduation is common, but if it'll cost a lot of money it should only be for a strong SA spot. If your GPA and extracurriculars are competitive and you have an internship set up for this summer, the extra semester would be well worth it. FT recruiting is hard if you're already not doing IB this summer.

My advice is to not say right off the bat that you're a junior though. Change your resume to "Class of 2021". If the application asks for exact dates or if someone asks if you're a junior, be honest, but don't advertise it. By graduation year you're technically a sophomore

Array
 

Thanks for the advice on positioning my resume - I think it makes a lot of sense.

I wouldn't say I'm the most competitive, but I think I'm considered competitive enough - does that make sense? I expect being able to put 3.7 as my GPA, and i'll have a summer experience at an REPE shop by next semester.

 

Laudantium aliquid sunt dolorem sed. Voluptas vel cum facere sint et. Quis consequatur eos nemo. Ut nemo qui excepturi ipsa nesciunt quia dolores aliquam. Tenetur dolore eligendi exercitationem corrupti voluptates et voluptas error. Qui dignissimos quam et omnis iusto perferendis corrupti.

Qui repellendus laborum sapiente doloribus. Magnam in ipsam hic quaerat. Nesciunt itaque dignissimos quasi ea.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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

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...”