This article was originally reported in January 2026.
Twenty sophomores from William & Mary (W&M) spent three days in New York City on the university’s 24th annual Wall Street Program, visiting 13 financial firms and meeting more than 60 W&M alumni, according to a W&M Alumni Magazine story republished by W&M News on January 22, 2026 (W&M News, January 22, 2026). The magazine first ran the story as an online exclusive in late 2025, after the fall trip.
What the students did
- Firm visits: the stops named in the story include Nasdaq, where students watched the closing bell and saw the W&M cypher on the Nasdaq tower in Times Square; EY; Morgan Stanley, where they heard from a panel of W&M alumni; and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Students heard about alumni career paths, toured facilities and sat in on daily meetings.
- Alumni hosts: Andrés Ramos ’12, a senior marketing specialist at Nasdaq, helped organize the program’s first Nasdaq visit. “I was really impressed by their intellectual curiosity and what they already knew about the industry as sophomores,” he said. Lauren Finikiotis ’21, a senior associate at JPMorgan Chase, helped set up the JPMorgan visit: “When I first started at JPMorgan, I had people who supported and mentored me.”
- A student’s view: Sully Naef ’28, a finance major with a biology minor, said, “I went on the trip to figure out if that world is for me.” Through the trip he learned about the Royal Bank of Canada’s Capital Markets Pathways Program, which he then joined.
Caroline Herath, director of business careers in W&M’s Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement, said the program builds the networking skills and confidence that make students more competitive for junior-year summer internships and entry-level jobs. “Throughout the program’s 24-year history, over 500 students have participated,” she said. W&M planned a 25th-anniversary celebration for October 2026.
How the program works
W&M’s career office lists the Wall Street Trip among its fall “Trips & Treks.” It takes about 20 sophomores with a GPA of 3.25 or higher to New York companies in investment banking, trading, risk management, hedge funds and asset management, and it is open to all majors. The office also runs A Day in DC (fall break visits to federal agencies, think tanks, public-sector consulting firms and nonprofits), a Creative Careers Trek to Washington, D.C., and a spring Tech Trek; it offers travel funding information for these trips (W&M Career Development: Trips & Treks). Application dates are announced by the career office each year.
Why the trip is aimed at sophomores
As Herath described it, the goal is to prepare students before they compete for the internship after junior year and for entry-level jobs. A sophomore visit gives students time to decide whether the field fits them and to build alumni contacts before they apply. Students at other universities can look for similar career treks, finance clubs and alumni mentoring programs run by their career centers and business schools.
What international students should know
- Internships need work authorization. F-1 students usually do off-campus internships during their studies on Curricular Practical Training (CPT), which requires one full academic year of study first. Since SEVP guidance issued in August 2026, many schools approve CPT only when the training is a required part of the curriculum for all students in the program, so check your school’s current CPT policy before recruiting for a junior-year internship (SEVP Broadcast Message 2608-02, August 24, 2026).
- Ask about sponsorship early. Long-term work in the U.S. after OPT usually requires an employer willing to sponsor an H-1B visa; ask alumni and recruiters how their firm handles international candidates.
- About W&M: William & Mary, a public university in Williamsburg, Virginia, is No. 52 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News rankings (Forward Pathway ranking database). Our W&M school page (linked above) has admissions data, costs and international enrollment.