From my experience internships are actually harder to get than full-time positions. The reason being is that the Big 4 recruit early and fill most of their needs through their internship programs. The talent pool for full-time positions dwindle and if these firms have a need, you're competing against less qualified candidates as the top candidates have already been locked up and accepted offers. If you're purely interested in what gives you the best shot at getting a job, it would be seeking out open full-time positions. If you come across open positions, that means that the Big 4 are making a conscious effort to hire more associates knowing that the talent pool has been watered down. Thus, it will be much easier for you to stand out.
Consider this, interns are treated like princes and princesses, they get paid $25+/hour plus overtime (which during busy season/winter will definitely add up) and various events and trips throughout your internship. The Big 4 spend a lot of money up front trying to guise the fact that actually working there isn't an absolute soul crushing experience. Additionally, your internship experience will count towards your 1-year/2-year experience requirement for the CPA, so as veil begins to be lifted on the Big 4 experience you will be a few months closer to being armed with your license. It's a really great position to have, and definitely the best move if you're still in college. Additionally, you'll almost be guaranteed a position at the end of the program (unless you go to EY and crush their ‘PG' hearts by drinking during their coveted Disney World trip, or prove to everyone you're uptight). But as I mentioned, it might be more difficult to get that position.
With that said, if you're graduating you want to go directly into working as soon as you can. Many people who have graduated choose to go into an internship program for the winter and accept a position 6 months later, studying for/taking the CPA in between (as studying for the CPA during work is difficult). But as you're going to potentially be done with the CPA by the time you graduate, it's more advisable in my opinion to start full-time as soon as possible. The quicker you start, the sooner the start date on your resume, which is very important. Additionally, coming in as a new associate during the winter will save you 6 months, as all new associates are “promoted” to experienced after 1 busy season. In essence, instead of being up for a Senior Associate promotion after 2-3 years (depending on which Big 4 you go to), you will be up for promotion in 1.5-2.5 years (and in your case, instead of being up for promotion in 2015/2016 if you go the internship route, you'll be up for promotion in 2014/2015). This may not seem important to you now, but trust me it is. The quicker you can shed the Experienced Associate title, the sooner you will start being treated like a human being and no longer having to do grunt work. Additionally, you will have a lot more options if you want to leave the Big 4.
My advice is to pursue both or even talk to the recruiters about your situation and they will probably advise you to pursue a full-time position. Don't worry about your experience when applying for these public audit positions. It is assumed you know nothing and that will not hurt your prospects of getting hired.
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