Target MSc Finance Student | UK | Struggling to Get IB M&A Interviews

I have recently started my MSc in Finance (one-year programme) at the target university (Cambridge / LBS / LSE / Oxford) and I am currently struggling to get interviews for IB M&A summer/off-cycle internships. I do understand that the economic environment has been very tough in the UK. However, I had still expected my IB internship hunting efforts to be more successful given that I have been pursuing an MSc to strengthen my overall profile.

I would appreciate any piece of advice on how I can best position myself given that recruiting is almost over and I do not have any offers/ACs lined up.

My background:

• Eastern European.
• Attended a high school outside the UK.
• Did a BSc in Finance at a non-target university.
  
  • Had known nothing about IB and the importance of being at the target university when I was a final year student at the high school.
• Did a long-term M&A internship at a middle-market boutique in the UK.
• Being an undergraduate, I was playing mid-stakes NL Hold'em and was seriously considering becoming a full-time pro.
  
  • I never bring this up in interviews, though it was the most important / interesting part of my life in the past two years.
• Now doing an MSc in Finance (one-year programme) at the target university (Cambridge / LBS / LSE / Oxford).

My IB M&A internship search experience so far:

• Made c.80 applications in the last two months.
• Applied to BBs / EBs / MMs.
  
  • BBs - have not progressed through a video interview stage.
    • Very few rejections so far.
    • Anticipated c.95% of the questions in advance.
  • EBs - have not received a single interview invitation (including video interviews).
  • MMs - have had more success (four phone interviews).

Potential reasons for my weak performance:

• Have not done informational calls/networking.
  • From my readings of WSO I have formed the view that the benefits from networking are negligible in the UK.
    • I am about to change my approach as I do not have anything to lose and time is not in my favour.
• Being a final year student prevents me from applying to some firms.
  
  • I still apply for summer internships at those firms as not all of them have off-cycle internships and I cannot see any downside.
• Do not have the best work experience.
  
  • Being compared with other MSc students, I find it hard to stand out.

Let me know if any further information would be useful to you.

I will keep doing the best I can and keep grinding but I have started to lose self-confidence and feel demotivated because of the recruiting process. Certainly, not ending up in IB would not be the end of the world but that would defeat the purpose of doing an MSc at the target university. I have faced adversity multiple times in my life, but this is one of the few times when I do not have an action plan to overturn the situation.

Thanks,

Humble chimp