Seeking advices for IBD internship

Hey guys,

I am starting this thread to seek your advices on how to improve my chance of getting an IBD internship.

School: non-target, liberal arts college in Midwest GPA: 3.3 Major: Economics Experience: two internships with a VC and a PE fund in an emerging economy

I am currently applying for IBD summer internship (mostly MM, regional boutique firms) and do not have much luck because of my low gpa and non-finance education. However, I believe that I have solid work experience.

So my questions are:

How to improve my chance of getting my resume in the doors? (I do have some contacts of HR from some MM firms) How to strengthen my arguments that I can do the job and my grade does not fully reflect my merit? How to effectively to cold called firms?
Most commonly response would be you can apply online. How do you carry the conversation to the next level?

Any advices would be appreciated.

Thanks guys,