I struggle to understand why you would want to put yourself through so much trouble.

Two points come to mind:

Firstly, I sincerely believe that more education *will not* provide you with extra opportunities - this is such an overblown misconception. You already have a bachelors degree - a foundational underpinning which you will need to nurture through work experience - and not through more education. You will have spent more money without the benefits - there are plenty of opportunities to network if that is the only reason you are applying. But I suspect the real reason is your immigration status and that you need to maintain it for the foreseeable future. And you are trying to make the best of it by attending grad school - which always does not equal the best choice. A dilemma, as I see it, could be remedied through work experience, even if it means applying for opportunities outside the US - this preservation will give you more satisfaction then you should ever hope for. Finance is *global* - so do not be afraid to stretch your reach elsewhere. If you are sickenly adamant about staying in the US then you will need to grab anything you can get your hands on, such as entry level accounting roles or doing budgeting for a mom-and-pop in a remote area - heard of Bryan, TX?  Or continue maintaining your status with more studies but you will not have gained anything - and you will be in the same situation once you graduate. If you are trying to go to grad school to explore quantitative finance in depth - you may have some valid reasons - see the second point below. 

Secondly, you seem to have a bit of contradiction in your understanding of roles within finance. The topic itself is quite broad - and you need to appreciate the choices available to you. This enormous field can have people working at so many different areas - most tend to misunderstand the skills required quite easily. Your interest lies in quantitative area of finance - in industry we call this a 'quant'. Their skills are in formulating mathematical algorithms for (program) trading, that is, the traders or computer programs trade almost anything trade-able in the market. Best of the breeds work at hedge funds or bulge bracket trading desks. But understand that PhDs in pure science is desired - and not necessarily that MS in financial engineering are not in demand. And this is totally opposite to investment analysis/asset mgmt which *also* seems to be your interest. For the latter, degree is not necessary but need to be intellectually passionate about investing, valuations, strategy, etc.

I have a BS in finance from one the universities you listed in your first post and currently work in management consulting - and I have been these roads many many times so I know what it is like. Your best bet is to get work experience asap - do whatever you have to (lawful that is) in order to get the foot in the door - much better teacher of lessons than any university degree.

Hope that provides you with some thoughts to ponder over. Let me know if you have more questions.

-JB