Hi WSO -

I've been an on and off lurker for a while and finally decided to sign up.

I'm currently at a community college as I'm a British Citizen and had no grades/SAT score in the US and my wife and I had little money when I first moved here.
I knew very little about US colleges (I now have a better grasp thanks in part to reading on here), I planned to transfer in to Rutgers but it seems it makes my goal (FO position at an i-bank) extremely difficult. I looked into the possibility of trying to transfer to a more attractive school and NYU Stern came up as a possibility (I know it's extremely tough to transfer in). Due to my CC basically messing me around when I first began there I'm having to take a semester in the fall and after that I would be looking to transfer for the spring semester, the problem being that Stern only accept transfers for the fall semester.
As I'm new to the country I don't know many in the industry, one that I know lost his job at JPM during the financial crisis and while he still works on the periphery of the industry for another bank (I say this as I don't know his role now) he's admitted that although he'd love to he can't be of much assistance. The other works for Credit Suisse in a Southern office.

Is it worth going to Rutgers next Spring and trying to network my arse off? or is there a better school for me to aim for? (I'm really restricted to Northern NJ and NYC due to my wife's job).
My wife has been telling me to get my undergrad from Rutgers and then try to get a masters from a target school, is that a realistic idea?
I've also been reading that for non-targets internships outside the summer are a good way to gain experience due to the large competition for summer intern jobs, is this a more viable option?

If you made it this far down I thank you, like I have said I don't know where to get good honest advice due to my lack of connections at the moment so any help on anything above will be greatly appreciated.
With thanks.