Combined engineering program with Columbia? from a top 20 liberal arts school

Hi,

I go to a top 20 liberal arts school in New England and I'm very interested in a career in IB. I had some final rounds with BBs and Elite Boutiques this summer/fall through networking with alums, but haven't landed an offer. It's getting really late in the recruiting season and I'm starting to think that I kinda screwed for SA 2020.

I can only imagine FT recruiting being harder without a decent summer internship. My school has a combined program with Columbia engineering school (operation research, financial engineering...). I'm an econ major with great GPA it would be very easy for me to get into that program. I am thinking about doing 4-2 the program at Columbia and networking throughout the process. I can imagine I might have a better shot due to Columbia being a target and great network.

Has anyone gone through the 3-2 or 4-2 program and had experience landing an offer with BBs? Is this the right move or should I just suck it up and get an MBA after working in something other than IB. I could really use some advice here.

(I'm concerned that networking might be tricky because I'm technically going to Columbia as a junior, and some banks recruit as early as March for summer analyst next year before I even get to the school )

Thanks!