<p>Hey guys. I'd post this on the business/i-bank forum but they are sometimes mean to me and call me names =[.</p>
<p>To people who have experience in junior/senior year recruiting: how hard is it to find an internship/full-time offer without sophomore summer internship?</p>
<p>I had originally wanted to double major in statistics because I couldn't find an internship at the time and wanted to expand my post-grad possibilities (i.e. actuary, grad. school, masters in finance, etc...). Then the more I thought about a double major, the more I liked the security of having broader post-grad prospects.</p>
<p>But, this past week I just had an interview with Morgan Stanley PWM and a small M&A boutique firm in LA. Now I'm rethinking the merits of a double major vs. an internship. Let's assume I had the opportunity to do the internships, would a double major or a summer internship be more beneficial for me in the long run?</p>
<p>Edit: I forgot to mention that I MUST take summer school at Berkeley in order to do a double major, so double majoring and internship are mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>I don’t have enough experience with internships and whatnot, but I always read that actual experience looks far better to hiring managers than having another major. </p>
<p>Of course, I also hear that many internships consist of a lot of grunt work without any really useful experience. However, the letters of rec. might be worth it. </p>
<p>tl;dr internships sound like your best bet. If you can’t find one can you still do the double major? I’d hate for you to waste your summer.</p>
<p>I’m double-majoring in Haas + Psych so I know exactly what you are feeling.
I think it is most important to take the internship. I feel like everyone our year is getting summer internships, even though we are sophomores.
If you are willing, perhaps you can just take 5 classes/a really heavy course load in Fall of junior year and then an easier course load in Spring so that you can concentrate on recruiting. </p>
<p>I faced the same problem when I was trying to decide on taking 3 summer classes vs. taking an internship in SF. I ended up negotiating with the firm - they are letting me take 1 summer class during Session A and working less hours for those couple of weeks, as long as I work full time the rest of the summer.</p>
<p>I just found out I got the internship offer today at the boutique M&A firm… so… I got to make up my mind quick!</p>
<p>The guy told me that I will be doing a lot of industry research on public and private companies. For public, I’ll be pulling up financial statements and general public information and for private I’d be calling them to try and find out more information. The purpose of this is to look for potential buy-outs and mergers.</p>
<p>Does this experience seem substantial? Is it worth giving up a double major for?</p>
<p>Even if you don’t complete the second major, grad schools will see the additional coursework in your transcripts with only a few courses short of a double major. Also, there are ways on your resume to market yourself if you haven’t done the double major. Plenty of students who don’t major in Econ/Accounting/Business/Finance, etc do this on their resume. When they apply for jobs, on their resume or in cover letters, they state relevant coursework for a job. </p>
<p>Considering the field you’re interested in for employment, experience is important. There will be other applicants who will have high gpas and no work experience, and they most likely than not will be put on the back burner before other applicants who interned/have relevant work experience, with a lower gpa. The same could be said about a double major. So what if someone majored in X and Y, if they don’t have work experience, when other people will have majored in X or Y and has work/internship experience. It’s not like both of your majors are two different career fields, ie Engineering and Accounting. </p>
<p>Lastly, given all this, if you still have doubt, go visit your school’s career center to ask them for their opinion/thoughts.</p>
<p>So, the general consensus I’m getting here is that the internship should be my priority and I should just pick up a minor/additional coursework along the way as secondary?</p>
<p>I admit that there are some internships that are not worth the time, but sometimes it’s not about what you do, what matters for some is that you did something. If I were you, I’d seriously consider speaking with a career adviser at your school, and/or department adviser. If anything, the fact that you’re speaking to a career adviser at your school will put you on their radar, so that come graduation, or later in the future, you will already have made a connection with someone who may notify you of opportunities.</p>