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Undergrad IB Prep Timeline: Freshman Year, Sophomore Recruiting, and Late-Start Triage

A month-by-month undergrad IB prep timeline on the Summer Analyst calendar: freshman proof, sophomore outreach, live recruiting, and late-start triage.

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OFFERGOBLIN·14 min read·updated August 2026
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The undergrad IB timeline is not "start whenever and apply junior year."

For many U.S. candidates, the junior-summer internship process is already active during sophomore year. Applications may open before winter break, expand in January, produce HireVues and first rounds in winter or early spring, and continue in waves through spring and summer. Some banks are earlier. Some are later. Some offices move quietly. Some middle-market and boutique processes happen after the bulge-bracket rush.

The exact dates change. The operating principle does not: by January of sophomore year, you should not be starting from zero.

This article gives you two things:

  1. the clean month-by-month plan; and
  2. the late-start triage plan if you are already past the clean plan.

Use the month you are actually in. Do not waste time feeling bad about the month you missed.

Freshman year

August-September: protect the base

Your first job is not to become a banker. Your first job is to avoid creating problems that are hard to fix later.

Focus on:

  • GPA;
  • joining business, finance, investing, consulting, accounting, entrepreneurship, or professional clubs;
  • learning what investment banking actually is;
  • building a basic resume, starting from the Investment Banking Resume Guide so you are on the right format from the beginning;
  • meeting older students who recruited for finance;
  • understanding which banks, if any, come to your school.

Do not panic if you are not technical yet. A freshman who protects GPA, joins the right rooms, and starts learning the language is on track.

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