DRW opened its Summer 2027 campus roles this autumn and reviews them on a rolling basis, so the seats fill as applications come in rather than after a deadline. The mistake most applicants make is treating DRW like a Jane Street clone — grinding speed puzzles and assuming the hardest math wins. DRW's own interview guides say the opposite: the take-home is the real filter, and the two-day superday scores market instinct, risk sense and communication as heavily as probability. The second mistake is applying to every track at once; DRW's trader, researcher and developer loops test different things, and firing off all three reads as "I don't know what I want."
Who they actually hire
DRW was founded in 1992 by Don Wilson, a former options trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor, and is still a private principal-trading firm headquartered in Chicago at 540 West Madison Street (Wikipedia, retrieved 29 September 2026). It trades a broad book — fixed income, derivatives, energy, agriculture and digital assets — and Wikipedia lists its headcount at about 2,000 as of 2025.
That breadth matters for where you apply. DRW runs offices across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and its campus programme spans Chicago plus London, Montreal, New York, Austin, Houston, Amsterdam and Singapore (DRW careers pages, retrieved September 2026). Its crypto arm, Cumberland, has been an institutional digital-asset market maker since 2014 (Wikipedia). DRW is also still expanding in commodities and energy: Bloomberg reported in January 2025 that it hired a former Millennium portfolio manager to push into European gas, and it hired at least 23 traders and professionals into London in 2025 from firms including UBS, Millennium and BNP Paribas (Bloomberg and Wikipedia, retrieved September 2026). If you want to trade energy or crypto rather than equities, DRW is one of the few prop shops where that is a first-class path.
On selectivity, nothing official exists. Quantt estimates DRW hires roughly 100 to 150 graduates globally each year and that about 25 to 30% of applicants clear the take-home assessment, and characterises DRW as competitive but more accessible than the very top names like Jane Street or HRT (Quantt, retrieved September 2026). Read those as third-party estimates from candidate reports, not DRW numbers. The useful signal underneath them: the take-home is where most people are cut, so it is worth more preparation than the interviews that follow it.
The five campus tracks, and picking one
Extern's September 2026 guide lists five distinct intern programmes for Summer 2027: Quantitative Trading Analyst (QTA), Quantitative Research, Software Developer, Software Developer (C++), and Quantitative Developer (Python), plus a "Discover DRW" networking event for underclassmen. Quantitative Research roles ask for a master's or PhD; the others take bachelor's through PhD, with an expected graduation window of December 2026 to August 2027 and no stated GPA minimum. The application is resume-only — no cover letter — and average time-to-hire is around 14 days (Extern, September 2026).
| Track | Aimed at | The evidence it wants | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Trading Analyst | Fast, numerate, market-curious | Probability, mental math, expected value, market reasoning | Take-home is a probability-and-logic quantitative challenge; superday includes market-making and card/dice games |
| Quantitative Research | MS/PhD, statistics depth | Statistics, ML, your own research defended in depth | Requires MS or PhD; phone screen goes deep on probability and stats |
| Software Developer | CS, systems-minded | Algorithms plus fundamental CS | Take-home is a coding challenge on core CS concepts (DRW careers page) |
| Software Developer (C++) | Low-latency engineering | C++, memory model, performance | Quantt notes questions like memory ordering with atomic variables |
| Quantitative Developer (Python) | Bridge between research and prod | Python, data tooling, pandas/NumPy | Superday can include Python data manipulation under time pressure |
Two things fall out of that table. First, DRW does not run a single generic "quant" loop — the QTA and research tracks test market intuition and statistics respectively, and the two developer tracks split on whether you are a C++ latency person or a Python data person. Pick the one your evidence actually supports. Second, the internship is the front door: it is a 10-week programme, primarily in Chicago with London and Montreal sites, and it pays well. Extern reports a Chicago software-engineering intern rate of $96.13 an hour — about $16,663 a month — plus a $25,000 signing bonus, a $15,000 completion bonus and corporate housing; QTA interns are reported at $84 to $91 an hour with a similar bonus structure (Extern, September 2026).
The firm is also hiring for shapes it did not three years ago: DRW's own careers listings now include an AI Research Intern alongside the traditional tracks (drw.com listings, retrieved September 2026), mirroring the industry-wide pull toward machine-learning research seats.
The process, step by step
| Stage | Format | What it grades | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Take-home challenge | Quantitative challenge (probability/logic) for traders; coding challenge for engineers | Whether you can reason cleanly on your own | Completed at home; Quantt says ~25-30% advance |
| Phone/Zoom interview | ~45 min with a trader, researcher or developer | Live probability and stats; you talk through reasoning; questions on everything on your resume | 1-2 calls |
| Onsite superday | Two days, Chicago / New York / London | Market-making sim, card/dice games, Fermi estimates, Python, multiple trader interviews, cultural fit | Day 1 afternoon intro + technical challenge; Day 2 full day |
| Decision | — | — | Usually 1-2 weeks after the superday |
The through-line is that DRW wants to hear you think. Its own "acing your phone interview" guidance tells candidates to prepare to answer detailed questions about everything on their resume, to talk at length about their work, classwork and research, and to brush up on mental math and fundamental CS (DRW insights, retrieved September 2026). Tradermath's guide is blunter: do not treat DRW as a pure maths test — the superday adds market-making simulations that sometimes ban pen and paper, card and dice games scored on expected value and game theory, and timed Fermi estimation, and it explicitly rewards market awareness, risk instinct and communication (Tradermath, retrieved September 2026).
The example questions are the standard prop-shop set. Quantt lists probability such as the chance two dice sum to nine or more (5/18), a hat-and-parity puzzle, a market-knowledge prompt on why an inverted yield curve is associated with elevated recession probability, and, for engineers, two-pointer algorithms and C++ memory ordering with atomics (Quantt, retrieved September 2026). Chinese-speaking candidates on 一亩三分地's DRW 面经 board describe the QTA online assessment in the same terms — a short, timed set of quantitative questions — so the OA is consistent across regions.
One warning from the community: the process can go quiet. On Blind's DRW threads, candidates describe a 90-minute coding session plus a Codility assessment, and at least one reports waiting about two weeks after a phone interview with no feedback (Blind, retrieved September 2026). DRW is more accessible than the top names, but it is not faster or more communicative — plan for silence and keep other applications live.
What gets people rejected
- Treating the take-home casually. It is the single biggest filter (~25-30% advance, per Quantt). Do it when you are fresh, check your arithmetic, and show working where the format allows.
- Freezing in the market-making game. The superday sims reward quoting a price, managing risk and adjusting — not computing the perfect number. Candidates who go silent to calculate lose; candidates who narrate their reasoning win. Tradermath calls this out directly.
- Stating answers instead of thinking aloud. DRW's own advice is to talk through your reasoning. A correct answer with no visible process is worth less than a slightly wrong one you reasoned cleanly.
- Applying to every track. Trader, researcher and developer loops test different things; spraying all three signals you have not decided what you are.
- Assuming visa sponsorship. Extern notes DRW's public postings do not explicitly state a US intern sponsorship policy. If you need it, ask the recruiter for that requisition before the superday, and consider the London or Montreal sites as alternatives.
A 4-week plan
- Week 1 — Fundamentals. Rebuild mental math (fractions, percentages, quick multiplication) and core probability: expected value, conditional probability, common dice/card setups. For engineering tracks, drill data structures and, for the C++ track, the memory model and atomics.
- Week 2 — The take-home. Do timed probability-and-logic sets under the real constraint (no calculator, tight clock). For dev tracks, do HackerRank/Codility-style problems in 90-minute blocks. This is the week that decides most outcomes.
- Week 3 — Market instinct. Practise market-making games out loud: quote a two-sided market, update on new information, size to risk. Add Fermi estimates ("how many X in a city") and get comfortable narrating while you compute. A structured market-making mock loop for a firm like Optiver drills the same muscles DRW's superday tests.
- Week 4 — Story and stress. Write two-minute answers for every line on your resume, since DRW probes all of it. Run a full-length quantitative-researcher mock if you are on the research track, and rest before the two-day onsite.
Applr's mock interviews run DRW-style formats — the market-making game for traders and the probability-heavy phone screen for researchers — so you can rehearse the parts that are hardest to practise alone.
Practice
- See how DRW stacks up against another Chicago prop shop in Jump Trading vs DRW.
- If you are also applying up the street, read how to get into Jump Trading.
- Track which new-grad and internship applications are open right now on the New Grad 2027 tracker.
- Run your resume through the free ATS resume checker before you submit the one-page application DRW asks for.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "DRW Trading Group", retrieved 29 September 2026
- levels.fyi, DRW salaries, page last updated 29 September 2026
- Quantt, "DRW Interview: Process, Questions and How to Pass 2026", retrieved September 2026
- Tradermath, "DRW Interview Guide", retrieved September 2026
- Extern, "DRW Internship 2027–2028: Deadlines & How to Apply", September 2026
- DRW, "Acing your phone interview", retrieved September 2026
- DRW, Interns program page, retrieved September 2026
- Bloomberg, "DRW Hires Ex-Millennium Portfolio Manager for Europe Gas Drive", 15 January 2025
- Blind, DRW interview discussion, retrieved September 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How hard is it to get into DRW?
- There is no official acceptance rate. Quantt's guide estimates DRW hires roughly 100 to 150 graduates globally each year and that about 25 to 30% of applicants advance past the take-home assessment, and describes DRW as competitive but more accessible than the very top names like Jane Street or HRT (retrieved September 2026). Both are third-party estimates built from candidate reports, not DRW disclosures.
- What does DRW pay new grads?
- For engineers, levels.fyi's DRW software-engineer median total compensation is $310,000, ranging from $203K at L2 to $414K at L5 (page last updated 29 September 2026). Quantt puts graduate traders at $200,000 to $300,000 in their first year (retrieved September 2026). For interns, Extern reports a Chicago software-engineering intern rate of $96.13 an hour plus a $25,000 signing bonus, a $15,000 completion bonus and corporate housing (Extern, September 2026).
- What is the DRW interview process?
- A take-home technical challenge (a probability-and-logic quantitative challenge for traders, or a coding challenge for engineers), then a roughly 45-minute Zoom interview, then a two-day onsite superday in Chicago, New York or London, with a decision usually within one to two weeks of the superday (DRW careers pages, Quantt and Tradermath, retrieved September 2026).
- Does DRW sponsor visas for international students?
- DRW's public postings do not explicitly state a US intern visa-sponsorship policy, per Extern's September 2026 guide. DRW runs intern sites in Chicago plus London and Montreal, so international candidates have non-US options, but you should confirm sponsorship with the recruiter for the specific requisition rather than assume it.
- What questions does DRW actually ask?
- Trader loops lean on mental math, probability (e.g. the chance two dice sum to nine or more is 5/18), market-making and card or dice games scored on expected value, and Fermi estimation; the superday can include Python data manipulation with pandas and NumPy. Engineering loops add algorithmic coding and, per Quantt, low-level C++ such as memory ordering with atomics (Quantt and Tradermath, retrieved September 2026).
- Is DRW easier to get into than Jane Street?
- Quantt characterises DRW as more accessible than the very top names, but that does not make it easy: the take-home is a real filter, the two-day superday weights market instinct and communication as heavily as raw math, and candidates on Blind report multi-week silences between rounds. It is a different loop, not a soft one.