Morgan Stanley 2028 superday guide

For
2028 summer analysts
Sources
12 cited

Through the first round at Morgan Stanley? Here is how the superday works, how technical each office and group gets, the questions interviewers ask and when you hear back.

A student in a navy suit talking with two interviewers at a round table in a plain conference room with a blank whiteboard, in early morning light.
At Morgan Stanley the superday comes after a first round; in early 2026 (summer 2027) one invite arrived the day after the first round, for 8 a.m. on a Saturday.

Key facts

  • Before it: In investment banking, a phone or Zoom first round comes between the HireVue and the superday. New York goes straight from it to the superday; West Coast offices have added a second round.5,6
  • Interviews: Several interviews in one day. Equity Research in New York ran three back-to-back interviews of 30 minutes online (2025); a New York generalist superday also had three (2017).7,9
  • Interview types: Interviews can be competency, strengths-based, skills-based or technical, and Morgan Stanley is interested in how you work through a scenario as much as the answer.1
  • Who you meet: In investment banking, direct-hire groups interview you themselves; New York Generalist candidates are placed in a group later. Equity Research put candidates in front of more senior members of the department.4,7
  • How technical: Menlo Park (2024: multiples by sector, paper LBOs and merger math) and San Francisco (2025) have been very technical. A New York first round in 2025 was mostly behavioral.6
  • Timing: Two days after the first round in Menlo Park (2024), and the next day for one invite in early 2026. Others have waited a week or more.6,5
  • Hearing back: An offer exactly a week after an online Equity Research superday in New York (2025).7

Morgan Stanley does not expect you to know every area of the markets. It suggests choosing one or two areas of the industry you can discuss with knowledge and conviction, and knowing your resume well enough to talk through every line without reading it.1

What the Morgan Stanley superday looks like

  1. The first round first

    In investment banking, the HireVue leads to a short first round by phone or Zoom, such as a 20-minute phone screen, with analysts or a VP. New York goes straight from there to the superday; San Francisco and Menlo Park have run a second round for some. A direct-hire group interviews you itself.5,6,7,4

  2. The invite

    Superday invites come in batches, from about two days to a week after the first round. In early 2026 (summer 2027) one came the day after a first round, for 8 a.m. on a Saturday. Candidates who attended a Morgan Stanley office event in New York, or who held a competing superday, have had accelerated superdays.6,5

  3. Each interview

    Expect back-to-back interviews of about 30 minutes. Equity Research ran three online with senior members of the department; a New York generalist superday ran three that mixed behavioral and technical questions.7,9

  4. What they ask

    Interviews can be competency, strengths-based, skills-based or technical. You may be asked about times you used particular skills, what you are good at and what inspires you. How technical it gets depends on the office and group: tech coverage in Menlo Park has asked multiples, paper LBOs and merger math.1,6

  5. How to answer

    Morgan Stanley does not always expect the right answer; it wants to see how you work through a scenario. Take your time, communicate concisely, keep eye contact and let the interviewer finish before you respond. Avoid sounding rehearsed.1

  6. Your questions

    Ask relevant, specific questions that show you understand the firm's capabilities and culture, and avoid generic ones like "What does Morgan Stanley do?"1

The rounds, by office and group

Investment Banking, Menlo Park (2024) HireVue, first round, superday
First round about two weeks after the HireVue; superday two days later. Very technical.
Investment Banking (Jan 2025) First round, then superday
First round with two analysts, mostly behavioral, then straight to the superday. The report names no office.
Investment Banking, San Francisco (Jan 2025) First round, sometimes a second
An accelerated, fully technical first round, with a second round for some.
Equity Research, New York (Mar 2025) Phone screen + 3 x 30 min
A VP phone screen with a stock pitch, then an online superday with senior members.
Public Finance, New York (Feb 2026) Phone first round
With the head of the group: behavioral questions and bond math.
Generalist, New York (Aug 2017) 3 interviews
Superday invite two days after the first round; three interviews mixing behavioral and technical. An older account, for shape only.

Each row is one office or group's process, with the month it ran. Morgan Stanley says interviews can be competency, strengths-based, skills-based or technical.1,6,7,8,9

Before your superday

  • Every line of your resume, told without looking at it.
  • Three or four stories, each built so the interviewer can see how you worked through the problem, not only the result.
  • For tech coverage: which multiples fit which kinds of company, and why.
  • A paper LBO and a simple accretion and dilution example, done in your head.
  • The bridge from enterprise value to equity value, in one breath.
  • One or two areas of the markets you can discuss with conviction, tied to the group you want.
  • A reason for Morgan Stanley, your group and your office that matches what you ranked on the form.
  • Specific questions for each interviewer, never "What does Morgan Stanley do?"

The questions

Morgan Stanley uses common questions to learn what kind of personality you have, whether you lead, and whether you will fit in; it already knows your qualifications from your resume. Technical questions follow the office and group.2,1,6

  • Competency and behavioral: Times you used a skill: a team, managing your time, a failure.
  • Strengths: What you are good at, what inspires you, your weakness and what you do about it.
  • Technical: Valuation, multiples, paper LBOs and merger math in banking; bond math in Public Finance.
  • Fit and motivation: Tell me about yourself, why Morgan Stanley, why this group, why should we hire you.
  • Markets and ideas: A stock pitch with a valuation in Research; one or two areas of the markets you know well.

Which division question you get

Investment Banking, Menlo Park
2024 (summer 2025): very technical. Multiples for a high-growth app, enterprise software and a semiconductor company; several paper LBO and merger math questions.6
Investment Banking, San Francisco
Jan 2025 (summer 2026): an accelerated first round, set before the application opened, that was entirely technical and very difficult.6
Investment Banking (office not named)
Jan 2025 (summer 2026): a first round with two analysts, mostly behavioral, then straight to the superday.6
Equity Research, New York
Mar 2025 (summer 2026): one or two stock pitches with a valuation, why equity research, why Morgan Stanley, STAR situational questions, how your major applies on the desk, and a Fermi estimate.7,11
Public Finance, New York
Feb 2026 (summer 2027): a phone first round with the head of the group. Teamwork, managing your time, what you know about public finance, and bond math and perpetuities.8
Institutional Equity, Sales and Trading
Feb 2025 (summer 2026): superdays ran in more than one wave, with offers going out after the first.10
Global Capital MarketsBest guess
Expect why capital markets, a recent IPO or bond deal and how it was priced, on top of the investment banking technicals.

The Global Capital Markets line is our best guess from the investment banking and markets questions above.

Using Morgan Stanley's values in your answers

Morgan Stanley names five core values: Do the Right Thing, Put Clients First, Lead with Exceptional Ideas, Commit to Diversity and Inclusion, and Give Back. Its interview guide tells candidates to learn its history, capabilities and core values before the interview.3,1

Do the Right Thing

“Act with integrity”3

Judgment questions about a rule, a client or a shortcut. Say what you would do and why, plainly.

Put Clients First

“Listen to what the client is saying and needs”3

Why this group, and any story where you served someone else's goal before your own.

Lead with Exceptional Ideas

“Be vigilant about what we can do better”3

Failure and weakness questions. Show what you changed afterward.

Commit to Diversity and Inclusion

“Value individual and cultural differences as a defining strength”3

Teamwork questions where the team disagreed or came from different backgrounds.

Give Back

“Develop our talent through mentoring and sponsorship”3

Leadership questions about someone you taught, coached or brought into a club.

The quotes are Morgan Stanley's own. Matching them to questions is Intervyo's advice: use one value as the reason your story matters, rather than reciting the list.

Example questions and how to answer them

Technical"What multiples would you use for a high-growth app, an enterprise software company and a semiconductor company?"6
  1. 1Start from the rule: pick the multiple that matches where the company's value and earnings are.
  2. 2High-growth app: often no profits yet, so EV/Revenue, or a user-based metric, on forward numbers.
  3. 3Enterprise software: recurring revenue and rising margins, so EV/Revenue for faster growers and EV/EBITDA or EV/free cash flow for mature ones.
  4. 4Semiconductors: cyclical and capital intensive, so EV/EBITDA and P/E, ideally on normalized or through-the-cycle earnings.

Tip: Asked in a Menlo Park technology banking process in 2024 (summer 2025), across a first round and superday that were very technical. Name the multiple, then the one-line reason.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Written by Intervyo as an example. For a high-growth app that is not yet profitable, earnings multiples do not work, so I would use forward EV/Revenue, and maybe a per-user metric to compare with peers. For an enterprise software company, it depends on maturity: EV/Revenue for a fast grower still investing, and EV/EBITDA or EV/free cash flow once margins are stable, since recurring revenue makes cash flows predictable. For a semiconductor company, which is cyclical and capital intensive, I would use EV/EBITDA and P/E, but on normalized earnings across the cycle, because a peak year would make it look cheap.

Technical"Walk me through how you get from enterprise value to equity value."6
  1. 1Start from enterprise value: the value of the core business to all capital providers.
  2. 2Subtract debt and other debt-like claims, such as preferred stock and minority interest.
  3. 3Add cash and non-operating assets, which belong to shareholders but sit outside the core business.
  4. 4Divide by diluted shares if they want a per-share value.

Tip: Asked in a summer 2026 investment banking first round (Jan 2025, office not stated), where it threw a candidate off. If it comes in the first round, expect it to come back harder at the superday.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Written by Intervyo as an example. Enterprise value is the value of the operating business to everyone who funds it. To get to equity value, I subtract what is owed to other capital providers ahead of common shareholders: total debt, preferred stock and noncontrolling interest. Then I add back cash and other non-operating assets, like equity investments, because they belong to shareholders but are not in the operating value. What is left is equity value, and dividing by the diluted share count gives a value per share.

Technical"Would you rather have $1,000 today or $100 every year forever?"8
  1. 1Recognize the perpetuity: $100 forever is worth $100 divided by the discount rate.
  2. 2Find the breakeven: $100 / r = $1,000 when r is 10%.
  3. 3Answer it: below a 10% discount rate, take the $100 a year; above it, take the $1,000.
  4. 4Add the practical point: credit risk and inflation push up the rate you should use.

Tip: Asked in a New York Public Finance first round with the head of the group in February 2026. Give the breakeven rate, not just a choice.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Written by Intervyo as an example. It depends on the discount rate. $100 a year forever is a perpetuity, worth $100 divided by the rate. At 10% that is exactly $1,000, so 10% is the breakeven. If my required return is below 10%, say 5%, the stream is worth $2,000 and I take it. If it is above 10%, I take the $1,000 today. In practice I would also think about who is promising to pay forever and about inflation, both of which raise the rate I should use.

Estimation"How many stairs are in the Empire State Building?"7,11
  1. 1Say your structure before any numbers: floors times stairs per floor.
  2. 2Floors: state an assumption, about 100.
  3. 3Stairs per floor: a floor is about 12 to 13 feet; each step about 7 inches, so roughly 20 steps.
  4. 4Multiply, about 2,000, then sanity-check and say what would change it.

Tip: Asked in a New York Equity Research process in 2025 that had a phone screen and an online superday. The interviewer wants the logic out loud, not the real number.

Markets and ideas"Pitch me a stock."7,11
  1. 1Name the company, your call and a target price or upside.
  2. 2Give two or three reasons the market is missing.
  3. 3Back it with a valuation: a multiple against peers or a simple DCF.
  4. 4Name the main risk and what would make you wrong.

Tip: A New York Equity Research candidate pitched a stock in the VP phone screen, and was expected to have one or two pitches with a valuation ready. Bring one you have pitched before and can defend.

Strengths"What is your biggest weakness?"2
  1. 1Pick a real weakness that is not a key skill for the job.
  2. 2Show self-awareness: how you noticed it.
  3. 3Show what you are doing about it, with a concrete step.
  4. 4Never say "perfectionist".

Tip: Morgan Stanley's Vice Chairwoman Carla Harris says this comes up often and is worth preparing; her example of a fair answer is working on public speaking.

Example answer, written by Intervyo (not a real candidate)

Written by Intervyo as an example. Speaking up early in large groups. In my first club meetings I would wait until I was sure, and by then the discussion had moved on. Last year I joined our debate team to work on it, and I now set myself the rule of making one point in the first ten minutes of any meeting. I still prepare more than most, but I share a first view sooner and refine it as I go.

More Morgan Stanley superday questions

Behavioral

  • “Tell me about a time you worked on a team.”8

    Public Finance, New York, Feb 2026, first round

  • “Walk me through a situation when you had to properly manage your time.”8

    Public Finance, New York, Feb 2026, first round

  • “Describe a time you failed.”2

    Morgan Stanley's own list of common questions, not a candidate report

Technical

  • “Paper LBO questions.”6

    Menlo Park investment banking, 2024; a topic, not exact wording

  • “Merger math questions.”6

    Menlo Park investment banking, 2024; a topic

  • “What do you know about public finance?”8

    Public Finance, New York, Feb 2026

Fit and motivation

  • “Tell me about yourself.”2

    Morgan Stanley calls it the first question you are likely to get

  • “Why equity research, and why Morgan Stanley?”7,11

    Equity Research, New York, 2025

  • “Describe yourself in three words.”2

    Morgan Stanley's own list of common questions

  • “Why should we hire you?”2

    Morgan Stanley's own list of common questions

Markets and ideas

  • “How would you use what you learned in your major on the desk?”7,11

    Equity Research, New York, 2025

  • “What is happening in the market for the group you ranked first, and how does Morgan Stanley fit in?”

    Best guess

    Our expectation from the firm's advice to know one or two areas of the industry well

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How long to hear back after the superday

Invites and offers go out in batches. Expect the superday within a week or two of the first round, and a decision within about a week of the superday.5,6,7

  1. 2024 (summer 2025)

    Investment Banking, Menlo Park

    Superday two days after the first round, which came about two weeks after the HireVue.6

  2. Jan to Feb 2026 (summer 2027)

    Summer analyst, US

    One superday invite came the day after a first round, for 8 a.m. on a Saturday. An Equity Research candidate heard a week after the first round that the file was on hold, for review again in two weeks.5

  3. Jan to Feb 2026 (summer 2027)

    Investment Banking, New York

    Candidates invited to a New York office event had accelerated superdays, and the first offers went out within weeks of the January 1 opening.5

  4. Mar 2025 (summer 2026)

    Equity Research, New York

    Offer exactly a week after an online superday.7

  5. Mar 2025 (summer 2026)

    Institutional Equity, Sales and Trading

    About a month after interviewing, some candidates still waited while others in the first wave of superdays had offers.10

A competing superday elsewhere has been used to speed up a Morgan Stanley process.5

Best guessExpect a decision within about a week of the superday. If two weeks pass, send your recruiter one short, polite note and keep preparing for other firms.

What happens after the superday

  1. Online application

    Resume, office and group rankings on the Morgan Stanley Campus board, reviewed on a rolling basis.4

  2. HireVue video interview

    Done. Offered straight after you submit, with about 48 hours to finish it.5,6

  3. Online assessment

    Done. Online tests after the HireVue, due by a set deadline. For the New York equity derivatives summit (summer 2027), eligible applicants were sent an additional online assessment, due by its own deadline.12

  4. First round

    Done. A short phone or Zoom interview; a second round for some West Coast offices.5,6

  5. SuperdayYou are here

    This page. Several back-to-back interviews in one day with people from the group.7,9,4

  6. Offer

    About a week after the superday in Equity Research. New York Generalist summer analysts are placed in a group during onboarding.7,4

First round vs superday

In investment banking the first round is the real filter before the superday, and how hard it is depends on the office.

Format

First round

Phone or Zoom, short (a 20-minute phone screen in 2025), with analysts or a VP.5,6,7

Superday

Several back-to-back interviews of about 30 minutes in one day; online for Equity Research in 2025.7,9

How technical

First round

Mostly behavioral in New York; entirely technical in San Francisco.6

Superday

Paper LBOs, merger math and sector multiples in Menlo Park (2024); behavioral and technical mixed in New York (2017).6,9

Who

First round

Analysts or a VP; the head of the group in Public Finance.6,8

Superday

More senior members of the team, from the group that hires you.7,4

What comes next

First round

A superday invite from about two days to a week later, or a second round on the West Coast.5,6

Superday

An offer within about a week.7

FAQ

How many interviews are in a Morgan Stanley superday?

Usually about three back to back. Equity Research in New York ran three 30-minute interviews online in 2025, and a New York generalist superday in 2017 also had three.7,9

Is there a first round before the Morgan Stanley superday?

Yes, in investment banking: a phone or Zoom first round after the HireVue, with analysts or a VP. New York goes straight from it to the superday; West Coast offices have added a second round.5,6

How technical is the Morgan Stanley superday?

It depends on the office and group. Menlo Park technology banking asked sector multiples, paper LBOs and merger math (2024); a New York first round in 2025 was mostly behavioral. Morgan Stanley says interviews can be competency, strengths-based, skills-based or technical.6,1

Is the Morgan Stanley superday virtual or in person?

Equity Research in New York held its superday online in 2025. Ask your recruiter whether yours is virtual or in person when the invite comes.7

When do you hear back after a Morgan Stanley superday?

In New York Equity Research, an offer came exactly a week after the superday. Investment banking offers go out in batches through January and February.7,5

What does Morgan Stanley look for in a superday?

Who you are and what motivates you, whether you understand the business and the job, and how you work through a scenario. It wants a compelling reason for the industry, the firm and the division, and specific questions for the interviewer.1

Can I speed up my Morgan Stanley superday?

A competing superday elsewhere has been used to accelerate a Morgan Stanley process, and attending a New York office event has also led to an earlier superday. Tell your recruiter about any deadline you have.5

Superday at other firms

Sources

Firm pages first, then dated candidate reports. Last checked Nov 4, 2026.

  1. 1Morgan Stanley: Interview Preparation
  2. 2Morgan Stanley: Don't Let These Common Interview Questions Trip You Up
  3. 3Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley Core Values
  4. 4Morgan Stanley Campus: 2027 Investment Banking Summer Analyst Program (United States)
  5. 5Candidate discussion on a public forum: Morgan Stanley SA 27 (from Jan 2026)
  6. 6Candidate discussion on a public forum: Morgan Stanley IBD 2026 Thread (from Jan 2025)
  7. 7Candidate report on a public forum: Equity Research Summer Analyst interview, New York (Mar 2025)
  8. 8Candidate report on a public forum: Public Finance Summer Analyst interview, New York (Feb 2026)
  9. 9Candidate report on a public forum: Summer Analyst interview, Generalist, New York (Aug 2017)
  10. 10Candidate report on a public forum: Morgan Stanley 2026 Institutional Equity Summer Analyst (Mar 2025)
  11. 11Candidate reports on a public forum: Morgan Stanley Interview Questions (2026) - 1479 Entries
  12. 12Morgan Stanley (AnitaB.org job board): 2027 Institutional Equity Derivatives Trading and Structuring Summer Analyst Program, In-Person Summit (New York)

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