Apply for Summer Internship or nah?

If I were you, I would focus on applying for 1st year spring weeks. They are less competitive than summers but can lead to summer offers. You can also do multiple Spring weeks which will allow you to shop around per say. Considering you have a great background for a 1st year, you should expect interviews and then it's only how you present yourself.

If you are desperate for the summer, I would suggest using your University career service and contact boutiques as they don't have such a formal recruiting process.

as above, focus on applying to spring week internships as a first yaer, which could get you fast-tracked to a penultimate year final round interview.

that being said, you can apply to first year internships at smaller investment firms which will look good on your CV regardless, or contact people informally to see if you could arrange something.

by smaller investment firms, are there any that you personally recommend? I was looking towards greenhill but I think that's pretty competitive too. for the latter, haha, backdoor is always the best

Hey there! Before I start, thank you in advance for your advice.

I will be matriculating later in the year, and will be reading PPE @ Oxford. I previously interned for 3 months at UBS, performing risk management functions.

Given that I will be a first-year when applying, do I stand a chance to get a place?

It appears that most banks/consultancies state that they only take in second-year students, but I'm hoping my prior experience at UBS mitigates that.

I will gladly welcome any advice / personal experiences as a first-year applying for a summer internship.

Thank you!

The reason they want you to be in your penultimate year (so third year if you're on a four year course) is because they want you to be able to start working for them the year after if they offer you a graduate job as a result of the internship.