Strange Circumstance

Here's my deal: I have made a 4.0 ever since I returned to school last year. But, I left for a year after making terrible grades my first year. I effectively needed to stop and figure out what I was doing. It wasn't that I was any less capable then, I was just totally directionless. Then, after my freshman year, I starting learning about i-banking and I fell head over heels for it...actually...and I'm not one of the people who just heard of a bunch of people doing it and thought it sounded like the thing to do. I absolutely love the business and I spend most of my time learning more about it.

What I am asking about is the reality of my chances. While I am on track to graduate in 2009 with a 3.75 (given that I keep up my 4.0s each semester...something I am very committed to), I currently have a 2.6 from my freshman year grades really diluting the 4.0s I have made this last year.

I know that most BB...not most, ALL BB banks have a tendency to throw out any resumes below a 3.5. But, I feel really strongly about getting into the i-banking business. I am so passionate about this and I am doing a lot to prepare. I have a very strong resume and I am currently working for Citi this summer in PWM (as a sophomore so it isn't my actual summer analyst position). I have held many substantial and interesting jobs in the past.

As for what I'm doing to actively pursue the summer analyst position, I am going up to NYC next week to meet with the BB banks I am interested in (including all of the top banks we are all familiar with). Of course I am nervous and excited.

While the data certainly screams that I am in no shape to be talking to these BB banks based on my GPA alone, I have a feeling and a hope that they will see the reason for my grades and be able to tell that I am in a totally different place now. Does anyone have a sense of how this kind of thing is perceived? I feel rather confident that few of my peers feel as sincerely passionate about this job as I do and I am doing so much to get ready. Please advise me on how to communicate myself to these banks. This job really means a lot to me and I'm hoping that I can connect with the people inside the suits and get them in a conversation where they hear me in all of my humanity saying, "I know my grades. I know your standards. I have the brain and I've shown it every day since I returned after my year off. That first year was a result of me, unfortunately, not knowing what I wanted or even how to work with that."

Because the real hard part is that I will have a really competitive GPA when I graduate but I can't show them that until I graduate in two years. Though I have made 4.0s consistently since I returned, its only been two semesters so it is not yet as apparent that I've made a shift as it will be in retrospect. How do I communicate this to these BB banks? Am I crazy to think this is even remotely possible? I'm tempted to say yes...but I just can't imagine that an employer would be able to look across the table at someone who is absolutely crazy for the business and the company- and actually knows a lot about it in addition to having pursued it like mad- and tell them that even though they are suitable in every other way, a number just isn't high enough. I hope that passion can outperform statistics if it is true and heart felt. Am I nuts?