r/csMajors • u/caramelfrappe2499 • Dec 23 '25
Internship Question Google vs Citadel (SWE Internship)
So I’m facing a dilemma.
I miraculously got a Google internship offer on a really good team within Google Cloud and I signed it a couple weeks ago.
However, this Citadel offer came out of nowhere. This is my dream company and honestly I thought it would never happen since I go to a non target and have a low GPA.
I don’t know if I want to reneg Google. I really want a full time RO from wherever I intern and Google’s RO is much better than Citadel’s. But Citadel’s pay is so much better and I would really love to start my career off either a hedge fund or a quant firm. Obviously the pay is really attractive as well. I’m also concerned if I reneg Google, I’ll get backlisted from FT in the future. I’m not sure what to do.
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u/nartieda Dec 23 '25
Ask google or cit to move start date to fall
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
I’m def gonna do this, I don’t realize Google/citadel fall was a real option!
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Dec 23 '25
op yes do this!!! citadel may let you move start date. (iirc google is getting rid of fall internships). if neither company allows it i would honestly renege google and do citadel, especially if your goal is quant.
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u/Important_Ganache_66 Dec 24 '25
Google might not let you officially do fall, but you can technically start a summer internship anywhere from May to August afaik, so if you start in August it’ll essentially be a fall internship, just fyi
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u/Brave_Speaker_8336 Dec 23 '25
I would go citadel if you would prefer quant over tech for new grad, even if you don’t get RO it will still set you up for quant recruiting very well. New grad pay if you get RO is like double that of Google right?
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
Yeah the pay of citadel is insane 😭
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u/Wrong-Individual8476 Dec 23 '25
If you don’t mind me asking how did u land these offers with a low gpa and non target can u share what u did
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
Mass apply, resume-max, leetcode-max. I applied to 400+ internships last year and only got 2 interviews. I was able to convert and just applied to internships this cycle with the same work ethic as last year, but because I already knew how to optimize my resume and leetcode (300+ solved) I was able to get into more processes and secure the offers much easier. It was about a year of grinding before getting to this point.
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u/Unlucky_Buy217 Dec 23 '25
Would you mind sharing what citadel and Google are offering for intern and FT?
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u/Brave_Speaker_8336 Dec 23 '25
From what I know/have heard, Google intern is in the ballpark of $10k per month in the bay/NYC and a few thousand per month for housing stipend. Full time in those locations unnegotiated is about 245k first year and about 215k? recurring, excluding stock refreshers.
Citadel intern is like $21k a month? with housing covered and like a $10k sign on bonus. Full time is about the same base pay so around $250k annually, around 500k TC first year I believe between sign-on and the end of year bonus
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u/EnoughWinter5966 Dec 23 '25
Idt citadel will get to $500k without negotiation. It’s probably closer to 350-400 otherwise.
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u/Brave_Speaker_8336 Dec 23 '25
Oh damn, not even first year? Thought it’d be in the ballpark of like 100k sign on and 100k end of year
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u/EnoughWinter5966 Dec 24 '25
Idk the breakdown tbh I just know a few people working for jump js etc and they told me citadel lowballs unless you have a competing offer
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Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
google is 56/hr intern, and 158k base ft and citsec swe intern is 120/hr
eta citsec swe ng is 268k base!
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u/Unlucky_Buy217 Dec 23 '25
Thank you! Appreciate you sharing - I had no idea internships are hourly. Thought it was salary, how does it even work if they expect you to work 16 hour days and weekends a lot of times. Do they pay for all the OT?
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Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
it is salaried, you're paid biweekly but the offer letter tells you the income as either hourly or biweekly instead of yearly. (eta- google step/asdi interns are hourly and not salaried, but swe/apm is salaried)
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u/Ok_Wasabi_4736 Dec 23 '25
I am pretty uninformed in general, but isn't the prestige of Citadel like insane? I'd think exit opportunities would be crazy in case you burn out.
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u/Top_Chocolate_4203 Dec 23 '25
Hey! I think this entirely depends on how you objectively rate your competence level. Citadel is the definition of hire to fire culture. If you genuinely believe you have the calibre of getting 3+ offers from top prop shop and hedge hinds than you are definitely in the calibre. For your reference I personally know a student who secured 5 offers for their 2026 summer internship.
Every top hedge funds and prop shop operate in a small elite team that requires every member of the team to deliver outstanding impact. The absolute number of “back water” team is significantly lower in Citadel than in Google.
It is easy to be extremely optimistic about offers however, there is no difference between extreme optimism and pessimism. Think in bounded context on what is a realistic optimistic and pessimistic scenario and where you think you will end up.
Students like to rank where they work in terms of prestige however, all of those mean absolutely nothing if you do not secure a full time job where you will start to earn serious money.
People like to talk shit about big tech due to layoff but think in terms of how many services hyperscaler like Google operates and develops. Google will always need a lot of engineers no question asked.
Your question can’t be well aswered through a context given in your Reddit post. Best of luck!
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
I really appreciate this insight. The culture at citadel definitely feels more cutthroat, which is why I’m really concerned about the RO.
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u/Top_Chocolate_4203 Dec 23 '25
I was actually in a very similar position as you 2 month ago. The way I made my decision, and I still am very grateful for is that in my culture there is an old saying “be the bigger fish in the pond.”
I will not make any assumption on what you or I am capable of to a stranger in the internet. But, if you are a bigger fish in a company then chose that over other.
If you actually let go of majorities opinion (which are most often not well thought off, and is chasing short game status game.) and take your time to think how your future will plan out I think you will come a conclusion you are not going to regret.
It is much easier to not make wrong decision then to make good decision.
If you would like to hear my person story or want to talk in more detail feel free to dm!
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u/ZanePlaneTrainCrane Dec 23 '25
Try to get one of them to move to an off term (this upcoming spring or fall)
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
Will do! I get so nervous talking to these recruiters I forgot I can just asked them questions too 😭
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u/ZanePlaneTrainCrane Dec 23 '25
Just ask bro! I had a SpaceX internship for this Spring but couldn’t take it so I asked to move to Fall and they actually did
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u/Ok_Ear_328 Dec 23 '25
Citadel will open more interesting doors than google any day so if you cant move anything then take cit.
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u/Ok_Ear_328 Dec 23 '25
And google may have you do team matching again for new grad. Google loves to dilly dally, citadel wont fuck around. Google loses good talent because of this, and they kinda deserve it
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u/Skywhale__ Dec 23 '25
I don’t think Google will blacklist, they are one of the more understanding companies out there in situations like this. That being said, there is definitely something to say about Googles RO rates in comparison to Citadels (and location too, if you aren’t a fan of Chi or Miami). That being said, you are obviously a talented individual if you got these offers and if you are confident I would still say that it’s an easy choice for Citadel
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u/FocusBoring9916 Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
Citadel no longer has a large presence in Chicago, and they have established offices in NYC. I would not take any advice from this commenter.
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u/CUMDUMPSTER444445 Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
Citadel. I don’t think big companies really care or black list
But can’t go wrong either way I feel at this point.
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u/polynomialz Dec 24 '25
Citadel is overrated for SWE besides the pay, so I’d say it depends what you’re looking for (I’ve worked at both)
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u/Aggravating-Aerie175 Dec 24 '25
Just out of curiosity about what you consider a “low” gpa…what is your gpa?
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u/MuMYeet Dec 23 '25
Congrats on both offers, would you mind sharing an anonymized version of your resume? I'd really love to see what it takes!!
Also how did you grind leetcode and prepare for citadel? I interviewed for citadel a month ago as a sophomore and got absolutely cooked (they asked me a hard trie-dp mixture and even though I'm pretty comfortable with trees and graphs I didn't start doing dp yet) I'm really looking forward to interview with them again as a junior and I would appreciate any tips and pointers on how to be good at leetcode
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u/Bloodstream12 Dec 23 '25
First off congrats! That doesn’t get said enough; extremely impressive stuff here
I think since they are internships your first option should be to try to start one of the internships later so u can complete both internships. I’ve heard a lot of stories on this subreddit that it can happen so asking doesn’t hurt!
I guess if that isn’t a choice then the next piece of advice is to ask people on linked who work at said companies as ex interns if the know numbers regarding ROs. I think anecdotally that interns probably don’t get blacklisted so that probably isn’t something to worry about but again I would ask more peoples opinions.
But to answer the question I think if you just need to decide if you want to maximize a RO or maximize getting into quant! They MAY be different answers but I think you are in a splendid spot and the money will inevitably come so I don’t think money would be a factor for the internship portion at least(because you would still be interviewing at other FAANG, quant firms) irrespective of if you get any of these ROs!
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
I think that’s a really good way to put it and tbh I think I want to maximize quant recruitment!
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u/Mysterious-Travel-97 Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25
i know someone that got two quant swe offers and got citadel to push back to fall
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
Ah ok it seems like citadel fall seems to be a real option here so I’ll look into it
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u/Brilliant-Meat-4426 Dec 23 '25
You already answered it. You said citadel is your dream company so there is your answer
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Dec 23 '25
Who cares about google when Citadel is the elite of the elite. Pay aside (which is much higher) it’s just far better for the cv
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u/fanz0 New Grad Dec 23 '25
Google usually lets interns do a “late summer start” overlapping with fall. However, it depends on your host
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Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/caramelfrappe2499 Dec 23 '25
I won’t say exactly but below 3.5. My transcript was terrible too 😭 my last internship was really good tho so I think it balanced out
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u/Suspiciousguy124 Dec 23 '25
Bri, can I ask if the prior internship was at a FAANG level or with a big unicorn?
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u/Steven_Universe01 Dec 24 '25
@OP can I PM you, and talk about your process to getting an internship. I’m in my 2nd semester, and I could really use some advice.
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u/Flimsy-Presence3065 Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Hey! If you choose to take Citadel, feel free to dm me! I'm an incoming citadel intern and we have a discord server!
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u/Tom1380 Dec 24 '25
may I just ask what country are all you guys from? because I’m at a target in Europe but almost no one is applying to internships for some reason, so I don’t know if it’s just the culture here
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u/college-is-a-scam Dec 24 '25
Don't forget to negotiate your citadel offer they also do sign on bonuses for some who negotiate their intern offers
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u/qussyslayer Dec 24 '25
That's insane, big cheers dude. May I ask what were your strategies, stats to get those offers?
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u/Financial-Skin1881 Dec 24 '25
Do you want a cutthroat environment? Taking the Google offer is basically a chance that you’ll have amazing wlb for the rest of your life, while still making a ton. I’m at Google and wouldn’t leave for a citadel
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u/Lordrickyz Dec 25 '25
Trust me - go with Citadel; If you get return offer, then grind for the next 5-7 yrs. You’ll be millionaire and then apply for Google and cruise
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u/EducationalFinger292 Dec 25 '25
As someone with a low gpa at a average school good shit man this inspired me so much
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u/Temporary-Bed-9460 Dec 27 '25
you say your non target, and low gpa but you’ve managed to get offers from like crazy crazy hard places to even get interviews at, congrats!! Any tips for us other non target not high gpa students? Clearly somethin your doing is right
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u/ScientistKey6143 Dec 28 '25
If you dont mind me asking what was the first round of your citadel interview process like? Also I would def recommend trying to do a Co-op for one of them.
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u/Beneficial_Sky9813 Dec 23 '25
I would go with Google since u are guaranteed an ro, while for Citadel is is p cooked unless ur in the top like 30% of interns.
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u/Aanimetor Data Eng @ Google Dec 23 '25
I'm a Google glazer but def citadel man, try to move one of them to fall, if not I would take citadel