Here’s what you need to do-
1- Figure out “what do I bring to the college”, not “I want you to help me get a job at a prestigious bank”. These are colleges you are applying to- not apprenticeship programs at Goldman Sachs.
2- Identify the schools “within range” of both your HS and college stats- and figure out which of them are better/worse/similar to where you are.
3- Create a Plan B- what happens if you apply to transfer, don’t get in anywhere, what’s your move to optimizing your time at Baruch?
forget grad school for now. You’ll have solid work experience under your belt, you’ll have GMAT scores (which you will study like crazy for). Different ballgame entirely.
If you were my kid (and I’ve recruited for top tier financial institutions in my past life, although not right now) I’d advise that being one of the top three finance students at Baruch is a better “platform” for a career than being in the middle of the pack at NYU (not clear that’s a realistic target for you, just giving an example).
I -bank hiring is not a cakewalk for anyone; the banks are not hiring the college, they are hiring the student. The only exception to this is if you are a quant where coming from two handfuls of colleges is pretty much a guarantee. Not that you will get offers from every place you interview, but that you are highly likely to end up at one of your choices.
But you are not a quant. And most banks and boutiques are going to ask your SAT scores (yes, they will follow you) and they are going to be looking for a ton of leadership and innovation and all that jazz. So it seems to me that you’ve got better chances of breaking out of the pack at Baruch.
But you need a strategy of what to communicate- and “I want to get a better job on Wall Street so I want to attend your college” is not a winning strategy.