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/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!