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You don’t need to get super personal if that makes sense. The tell me about yourself and walk me through your resume are essentially the same question and you will be asked some variation in every interview.

Hi, My name is John and I’m a super senior at Fake Cornell in Iowa but originally from the St. Louis Area. Although I was originally a psych major, during my first finance elective my freshman fall we learned about the stock market  and I found that super interesting. After that, I joined the investment club and learned about banking [from Susie if she works at the bank]. The summer after my freshman year, I interned with [we love €] and loved the work and knew I wanted to be a finance major. That summer I started investing in Robinhood after a bet with my cousin. When I returned to Cornell in the fall, I switched my major to finance. Outside of school, I’m on the varsity quidditch team, serve as a mentor in the local middle school, and wash dishes in the dining hall.

This is similar to what mine was like. Hope this helps. I wouldn’t talk to much about being low income, specific races, first gen unless it’s on your resume through a club or questbridge or something like that or you’re at a diversity day. 
 

Your interview isn’t a gofundme so don’t make it a sob story.

 

I had a typo in my original post. You shouldn't include everything in the email but in your networking calls. Your cold email sounds good but I would avoid that route at all costs if possible. It's not a good use of your time. Get an alumni on the phone and when the call goes well, thank them and ask if they have anyone else they think you should speak with and then shut up. The pause can be awkward but there's a 90% time they will put you in contact with someone else because they don't like the silence. 

When you do linkedin searches, look for people who are in questbridge or other low income or first gen type programs. When reaching out to them, I'd include a single line about your background and they will probably be more willing to help.

 

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