Upcoming Engineering Senior... what are the options?

My background, for context: MechE rising senior at a small (laughably non-target) WNY engineering school with business and math minors, 3.7 gpa, became interested in finance last year. I have accounting, finance and investing knowledge and have done a lot of self-teaching and research. For experience, I was an undergrad IP law clerk last summer and am finishing up an engineering internship this summer. My only financial connection is a prof who was formerly a VP at the NYSE, but he has been teaching since mid 00s and not sure how willing he would be to pull some strings if he knew someone that could help me. I need to make a decision: go the legal route, go into engineering then possibly into finance, or try to go straight into finance.

My questions: If I were to go into finance (be it IB, PE, Corporate, funds), what would be the best course of action for me to take for each industry? Try to break in straight after undergrad (unlikely at this point?), work as an engineer then crossover, or grad school (this brings up more: grad school right away or after working a few years? MBA vs MS Finance?)

Sorry for the short novel, my prof's hard to reach over the summer so I came here to ask. I know this is a lot of very broad questions, so any useful info/advice/personal experiences at all are much appreciated. Thanks!

1 Comments

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

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

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 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

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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...”