Applying Summer internship (associate level)

[snowcat]

Hi.
I'm a ph.d student and considering to apply for summer internships.
I found that many firms saying that ph.d. students should apply for associate level when they apply for internship. I'm just in the middle of my ph.d. degree although I'm titled as a 'candidate' and I'm good at math but knows just little programming and almost no knowledge in finance. So I know I'm not even close to a real job application in quantative finance but I want to know how well prepared should I be to try out summer internships.
Is it a good idea to try anyway and get some interview experiences, or would you recommend that I should wait until I have quite good skills on those(math. computer, finance)?
Are there some disadvantage for the next time applying if I try without being well-prepared?

Thanks.

 

[bigwx]

as I know, if you only have little programming experience, no knowledge or prior work experience in finance industry,
it's extremely hard to get an internship nowadays, unless you are a ph.d candidate from top universities, such as Harvard,
Princeton, etc.
I'm a phd candidate in physics, from a second tier university, I applied for several internships last year but all failed,
I think the HR may even threw my resume into trash bin after the initial review..
now I'm trying to apply for a MFE program, I think it may give me some help

if you still have several years to graduate, I suggest you learn more about programming and finance, try to study relative
courses or find a professor in your school to do a project in finance.

 

[zwt]

There is one sure way to see if you're prepared. While you work on your finance and programming, apply and see if you get interviews. This won't hurt and the knowledge you'll gain will help focus your efforts going forward even if an internship does not happen.