Quantitative Researcher to Investment Banker...is it possible?

Apologies in advance if I sound like a braggart or come off as annoying. I'm currently a sophomore Electrical Engineering major and I have a 3.1 GPA at a non-target state school. I've taken Calc 1 through 3, ODEs, and linear algebra. I'm currently self-learning PDEs and stochastic modeling. I have a strong background in time-series analysis, as my research in the Department of Electrical Engineering deals with signal processing (clustering of brain-network time-series) and deep learning (training/validation of CNNs for classification of labeled time-series). I get co-authored by a conference this fall if my team's proposed algorithm performs well with further testing. In addition I plan to pursue research in statistical thermodynamics through the Department of Physics, due to my interest in physical random processes and to see if mathematical descriptions of random physical phenomena can be used to analyze financial random processes. I'm very research oriented, and I have a strong interest in finance, so as a result I'd like to create/research/use mathematical and statistical methods that have financial implications. But investment banking, despite the stress and working hours, is where I want to end up, although my strengths lie more in the research/mathematical side of finance. I'm highly unsure of what to do after my undergrad, as until now I've been thinking Masters/PhD in some technical field at an esteemed STEM school......or I could go straight to business school. But then all my technical expertise would go waste. Any thoughts/advice/comments would be appreciated. Thank you.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Dolor et provident sint molestiae praesentium. Eaque est nihil quibusdam cum. Nemo rerum labore placeat expedita est suscipit id fugiat. Laboriosam ea dicta ipsam rerum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”