The key to scoring a top internship on Wall Street
They come from Ivy Leagues and state schools alike. Some have more finance experience than others. But they all worked hard to get stellar grades and ace their interviews.
So how did they land their offers - and how did they ultimately choose which banks to go with?
It starts with leverage.
One incoming summer analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, described how she managed to turn a consulting offer into an internship with a competitive team at bulge bracket bank.
In her sophomore year summer, the analyst managed to score a Deloitte internship for the follow summer. But she knew she really wanted to get into banking, so she used that offer, which had a November deadline, to get an accelerated offer with a small investment bank in her hometown.
Then, she said, "I was like, 'Oh wait, I was raised in [her hometown] and I've been here forever. I kind of want to try going to New York.'"
So she started networking with all the alumni she knew at bulge bracket banks.
One offered her a "super day" - an important step in the application process that usually follows a first-round interview. During a "super day" students are invited to a bank's headquarters for a full day of back-to-back interviews with different vice presidents and managing directors.
The summer analyst got an offer following that super day with only two weeks to respond - one of which was a holiday.
She used the offer to score interviews and super days at a handful of other firms in that time, but in the end, she wound up taking the original offer.
It's all about that first offer.
That summer analyst's story is not uncommon.
For many Wall Street interns, getting an offer fast from a top firm is key, regardless of which bank it's with.
Here's how one Deutsche Bank intern put it:
"There's the upper echelon ... the bulge bracket banks, but outside of those, they're all very similar," he said. "Deutsche was just kind of one of the ones I got into early."
He said the bank "hooked" him in with an early interview and offer, and only gave him one week to decide.
The first intern described the leveraging thing like a snowball effect that allows you to land one interview after another. But ultimately, she said, there's only one end goal for young Wall Street hopefuls:
"They want that offer as soon as possible."
Did you land a Wall Street internship this summer? How did you decide which bank to go with? Send us an email at pcrowe@businessinsider.com. We can keep you anonymous.