Aspiring Equities Guy Seeking Advice from the Street

Monkeys,

I am looking for thoughts and advice on breaking into the industry. 

My Situation:

I am a few years out from a top undergrad B-school (Stern / Haas / McIntire), and work for a T2 Strategy consulting firm (sigh). I have long been interested in the capital markets, and have been actively investing since college (insert shameless plug here about portfolio performance), but chose to go into Consulting instead of Banking because I saw myself as a doer and a strategic thinker, not a spreadsheet cruncher. This turned out to be ill advised.

Fast forward, I now am an experienced Consultant focusing on strategy & corporate finance for mega caps Retail and High Tech. The thing I've enjoyed the most in this role is getting to build a thesis on how the changes I am recommending to clients will impact their FCF, EPS, Mkt Cap, etc, and then convincing them that my forecast will prove right. I've become good at this over time. Separately, I am now following the markets like a helpless junkee and continuing to run my own money + that of family members. I have no formal investing experience so my process is basic as white bread, but my instincts have been good.

Anyhow, I have concluded that my professional calling is to be a Money Mgr or Sr. Sell-Side Analyst. I intend to pursue this objective with everything I've got.

Current Thinking on Path Forward:

I will go to b school and then try to break in. This would preferably on the buy-side in asset mgmt, but I'm well aware that my resume doesn't exactly fit the bill. So, am very much open to and excited about the sell-side as well. I enjoy writing, am detail-oriented, hungry for information, and comfortable with numbers, so Equity Research seems like a solid option. However, I do not see myself as purely a research & modeling junkie. I also enjoy working with clients and developing relationships, thus S&T seems like a good option too. Last, I also haven't totally ruled out traditional IB (prob in a coverage group) in the interest of getting the most rigorous experience and keeping broad exit options open.

My Questions:

• Generally speaking, how screwed am I? For the sake of discussion, let's assume my safety MBA program is UVA Darden and my reach is CBUS. From a school like those, how big of an up-hill battle is moving from consulting to finance?
• Assuming I am fairly set on a career in equities / trading, should I drop the idea of doing IBD for two years? If I did want to go that route, how easy would it be to move internally within a bank from IBD to S&T or ER?
• My hunch says that buy-side AM is off the table for awhile, and possibly forever, given I have no investing experience. Is this true? Can the same be said of prop trading firms (and are these desirable places to land)?
• If targeting sell-side roles @ BB and MM banks, what factors should I consider when thinking about post-MBA Associate roles in ER vs. S&T? Can anyone speak to differences in pay, culture, day-to-day activities, skill-sets?

• Would you recommend the CFA for someone in my position, or is my time better spent on other things? Any other suggested next steps between now and b school?

Any feedback, advice, chirps, or reality checks are humbly appreciated. Thank you.