Over the past four years in college, I’ve consistently tried to build industry experience. I ended up with five solid internships/research roles and thought I was in a good position going into recruiting for my final year.

I started applying early (last June) and have sent out 1000+ applications so far. That has resulted in only two interviews—both at top-tier quant firms. On one hand, that suggests my background clears a certain bar. On the other hand, I reached final rounds at both, waited longer than typical rejection timelines, and was ultimately rejected. It feels like I’m close, but not competitive enough to convert.

What makes this more confusing is that my school is a target for quant finance. I know people here getting 10+ interviews across firms and still ending up with no offers. So even strong candidates are struggling, but I’m not even getting interview volume.

At this point, I’m questioning a few things:

• Is there something fundamentally wrong with my resume given the low response rate?
• Why are the only callbacks coming from top firms, but not mid-tier ones?

I don’t have an internship for my final year, and as an international student, I need a role after graduation that can realistically sponsor H1B. I noticed that the questions asked in my interviews are not on the difficult side. Full time will only be harder. What should I do then if I can’t even get one internship?

Not sure what the right next step is from here.