Investment Banking Summer Internship Offers: How to Decide

This article is a 2026 update to a much older article about what to do when you get multiple investment banking summer internship offers.

Yes, recruiting is competitive and hyper-accelerated, and most students are lucky to get even one offer.

But some students do get multiple offers and need a way to decide.

Most of the advice in the original article stands, but the desirability of different banks has changed over time.

Also, the even earlier recruiting process means you have less time to decide, with a longer time lag between your decision and the start of your internship:

The Key Points When Deciding on Investment Banking Summer Internships

These factors are always important, regardless of the macro environment and overall hiring:

• People – Did you like everyone you met? Do you have a strong connection with a senior banker there? Are there alumni, friends, or family pulling for your success?
• Location – It’s better to start in a major financial center (NY or London, and, for some candidates, Hong Kong) because they have more jobs and networking opportunities.
• Bank Reputation Inside Finance – Is it a bulge bracket, elite boutique, middle market, or regional boutique? Within each group, is it in the upper or lower tier? For example, a GS or JPM offer is quite different from a UBS offer, even though they’re all, technically, “bulge brackets.”
• Bank Reputation Outside Finance – If you want to work at a Fortune 100 company or do something outside of finance in the future, you’ll have a better chance with a brand-name bank on your resume.
• Group Reputation and Deal Flow – You have the best chance of winning private equity offers in the future if you work in a strong industry team, M&A group, or Leveraged Finance group. ECM and DCM limit your eventual exit options, and deals tend to be less interesting.
• Generalist vs. Specialist – If you work in a group like healthcare, consumer retail, or TMT, you’ll be able to apply for a wider variety of roles than you would from a specialized team, like FIG, Oil & Gas, or Real Estate.

There are a few other points worth considering, but they’re more difficult to evaluate:

• Full-Time Offer Conversion Rates – It’s better to work in a group in which 90% of the interns receive full-time offers vs. one where the conversion rate is only 50%. However, this is difficult to evaluate reliably, especially 1 – 2 years in advance (group dynamics often change significantly in short periods).
• Long-Term Compensation Potential – Traditionally, elite boutiques paid the most, bulge brackets paid the next most, middle markets paid less, and regional boutiques paid the least. This is still kind of true, but with more nuance. For example, specific EBs, such as PWP and Centerview, now pay substantially more than the others, but mostly at the Associate level and beyond.

The long-term compensation potential of the firm matters a lot more if you plan to stay in banking for at least 5 – 10 years.

If not, earning different amounts as an Analyst or Associate won’t make a huge long-term difference.

Investment Banking Summer Internship Offers: What’s New in the 2020s

You should think about these points as “Factors that are subject to change over time”:

• Bank Rankings and Overall Appeal – In many cases, individual banks matter more than their overall categories. For example, most people still consider Jefferies a “middle-market bank,” but it advises on larger deals than any other MM bank and now earns higher fees than firms like UBS and DB.
• Optionality is More Important – Midway through the 2020s, we’ve already seen massive disruptions from COVID, Ukraine, AI, interest rates, and more. Traditional “exit opportunities,” such as direct private equity, have become less appealing, while others, like private credit and secondaries, have moved up the ladder. Therefore, it’s not a great idea to commit to a specific career path or industry at an early stage.
• Not All “Financial Centers” Are Equal – Since Brexit and the full Chinese takeover of Hong Kong, London and HK have become less appealing relative to New York, assuming you have the option of working in either place. HK is much less accessible to non-Chinese candidates, while London-based roles pay less, offer unclear exit opportunities, and have less deal flow than NY.

Investment Banking Summer Internship Offer Decisions, Round 1: Civil War

To illustrate the process, I will cover a few examples of what to do when you receive multiple offers.

The decisions in this first section are mostly about offers from banks within the same tier.

For example, does Bulge Bracket 1 beat Bulge Bracket 2?

How much do location and group factor into that decision?

If you have multiple offers for the same industry group in the same location, which one is best?

Goldman Sachs Industrials (Chicago) vs. UBS Leveraged Finance (NY)

Leveraged Finance is arguably the strongest group at UBS, and NY is a better location than Chicago in terms of recruiting, networking, and exit opportunities.

But I would still pick GS without hesitation because it has always been substantially better than UBS across all metrics, and a slightly better location cannot make up for this difference.

Jefferies Healthcare (SF) vs. Deutsche Bank ECM (NY)

Deutsche Bank is still, technically, a bulge bracket, but it consistently earns lower IB fees than Jefferies and often advises on deals in the same size range (or smaller).

Plus, ECM is not an ideal group for skill development and exits, while Healthcare is one of the top groups at Jefferies, making Jefferies the clear winner here.

And yes, it’s better to start in NY than SF, but it doesn’t make up for the other factors here.

Wells Fargo Industrials (Charlotte) vs. BMO M&A (NY)

Wells Fargo is much stronger if you go by the league tables and fees, and Industrials is a solid group there.

However, I think NY vs. Charlotte is a much bigger difference than NY vs. Chicago or NY vs. SF, so I would recommend BMO in this case.

Also, many recruiters might still view WF and BMO as being “on par” with each other, based on older information/sentiment that hasn’t quite caught up to the current landscape.

Rothschild Restructuring (London) vs. Evercore M&A (NY)

This one depends on where you want to be in the long term.

Rothschild is viewed as an elite boutique in Europe, while Evercore is an EB in both North America and Europe.

So, if you want to be in Europe long-term or prefer credit/restructuring deals, pick Rothschild; otherwise, pick Evercore.

Nomura Generalist (London) vs. Jefferies Generalist (London)

I would give Jefferies the edge here because it advises on far more IB deals globally and has a much stronger presence in both Europe and the U.S.

If the Nomura offer were in Asia, and certainly if it were in Japan, this would be a much closer call.

JP Morgan Off-Cycle Generalist IB Internship (London) vs. HSBC Full-Time DCM Analyst (London)

Clearly, JPM has a much better reputation and exit opportunities, but I would pick HSBC in this case because it’s a real full-time offer.

EMEA off-cycle internship conversion rates are often quite low, so you’re taking quite a chance by turning down a full-time offer to accept an internship.

I am not a fan of DCM, but in my view, having a true full-time offer beats almost everything.

Guggenheim Generalist (NY) vs. Solomon Generalist (NY)

I’m listing this because people seem confused about these firms’ categories.

There is some debate over whether Guggenheim qualifies as an “elite boutique,” but it tends to advise on larger deals than Solomon Partners (formerly PJ Solomon).

Solomon Partners is a good firm, but it is more of a middle-market bank and not an elite boutique.

Guggenheim is a step down from Lazard, Evercore, etc., but all else being equal, I would still pick the Guggenheim offer here.

Deutsche Bank Generalist (NY) vs. Rothschild Tech (Boston)

I would pick Deutsche Bank because of the location (U.S. vs. Europe and NY vs. Boston) and because, as a generalist, you can keep your options open and aim for one of its top groups.

RBC Tech (SF) vs. William Blair Tech (SF) vs. FT Partners (SF)

None of these firms is a bulge bracket or elite boutique. RBC is more of an “In-Between-a-Bank,” William Blair is a middle-market firm, and FT Partners is an industry-specific boutique.

So, based on that alone, I would pick RBC for its name, size, and reputation.

Also, both WB and FTP are quite specialized in specific deal types or industries, which would concern me vs. a more “generalist” bank.

RBC Public Finance (NY) vs TPH Energy (Houston)

Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) is an energy-focused investment bank based in Houston, and it’s now owned by Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP).

In this case, I would pick TPH because public finance is really not ideal for transferable skills, lateral moves, or exits.

Also, TPH’s ownership by PWP gives it a huge leg up and means you may be able to move to other regions and groups more easily.

Investment Banking Summer Internship Offer Decisions, Round 2: Bulge Brackets vs. Elite Boutiques

These decisions are tricky because there isn’t necessarily a “better” firm, as the top BB and EB banks are on par with each other.

Goldman Sachs FIG (NY) vs. Bank of America M&A (NY) vs. Lazard Generalist (NY)

Even though FIG is quite specialized (and therefore limits your skills and exits), I would still recommend GS in this case because the GS FIG team is viewed differently and has a stronger track record for Analysts moving into generalist teams/firms.

You can still get pigeonholed, but it’s quite different from FIG at most other firms.

That said, you could still make a case for Lazard if your long-term goal is to stay in IB.

Citi M&A (NY) vs. PJT Restructuring (NY)

I would pick PJT here because it’s the top group at an elite boutique in an ideal location.

You could argue for Citi if you want to consider non-finance careers in the future.

Morgan Stanley Healthcare (SF) vs. Evercore Life Science (Menlo Park) vs. Perella Weinberg Partners Generalist (NY)

I would lean toward PWP here because of the location and the generalist nature.

If you’re interested specifically in healthcare PE or biotech VC roles, one of the others might win (MS vs. EVR is “coin flip” territory).

Perella Weinberg Partners Tech (SF) vs. Barclays Generalist (NY)

Most people would say PWP “outranks” Barclays, but I would pick the Barclays offer because of its location and generalist nature.

True, tech is not very specialized, but you’d still orient yourself more to tech and TMT roles.

But the location is the main issue: NY easily beats SF in terms of recruiting/networking/exits.

Evercore Tech (Menlo Park) vs. Morgan Stanley Tech (Menlo) vs. Goldman Sachs TMT (NY) vs. PJT M&A (NY)

GS TMT is commonly known as one of the top groups in IB, so it’s the obvious choice. The NY location also helps with recruiting and networking.

The more interesting question is the #2 pick in this case.

I would probably lean toward PJT mostly because of the location, but if you’re certain you want to stay in tech/TMT or on the West Coast, EVR vs. MS is a coin flip here.

MBA Summer Associate Offer: JP Morgan Tech (NY) vs Evercore Tech (NY)

This one is tricky because at the MBA level, you are unlikely to win traditional exit opportunities.

So… it depends on your long-term goals.

If you want to stay in banking, Evercore wins because of all the benefits the EBs offer these days.

If you want to exit to a corporate role or something else outside of pure finance, JPM wins because of its brand name and reputation in the wider world.

More About Investment Banking Summer Internship Offers

For more about this topic, including how to recruit for and succeed in IB internships, we recommend these articles:

• Investment Banking Internships: The Ultimate Guide
• How to Get an Investment Banking Internship
• The Off-Cycle Investment Banking Internship: The Best Side Door into the Industry?
• How to Prepare for Your Investment Banking Summer Internship in Less Than 8 Hours

Investment Banking Summer Internship Offers: More Questions?

And if you have questions about your own IB offer decisions, feel free to ask away in the comments.

No, I can’t tell you which bank has an 81.5% conversion rate and which one has a 72.3% conversion rate, but I will attempt to answer reasonable questions.