Internships to prep for MFE applications

[loopster]

Hi all,

I'm a rising junior majoring in Math, currently exploring junior summer internship opportunities. While I don't yet have investment-specific internships, my background includes experience in finance/strategy and a role in data science. I recently received an offer from a medium-sized proprietary trading firm for a trading internship. The firm does not employ quantitative strategies and focuses primarily on equities and derivatives.

In the long run, I'm interested in pursuing a master's at schools like MIT, Yale, UChicago, or Columbia, and I hope to build a career in asset management/investments—likely not in quant roles. Given that this trading internship is not very technical, is this a worthwhile internship to accept, or would it not aid me on my application as its very nontechnical?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's nothing to sneeze at if this is your first foray into the quant space. If anything, it broadens your interest and give you a better idea of what you like to do long term. If you have other internship options to choose from, this is a good one to have on your resume as a junior.
I think long term, you may have to be more technical (learning Python, SQL, etc) than not.