Hi,
When Steve Jobs/ Bill Gates started, had they listened to people who said "no their idea will fail", they wouldn't be where they are today. It's important to be pragmatic and realistic, but equally important to have dreams and hopes. One needs to have goals, and consistently work towards your goal. The keyword is consistent. Even if you don't reach your goal eventually, you would still land somewhere nearer.
I am currently in investment banking with SC. My annual package including bonus last year was slightly over 200k.
I came from a Computer Engineering background with only 2nd lower hons from
NUS. I worked in
DSTA for about a year and enrolled in SC International Graduate programme. Initially, after the 3rd round of interview, HR wrote me a letter to thank me for my application. I was disappointed, but I wrote to the HR manager and one of my interviewers a long thank you letter (addressed to each of them personally) to thank them for the interview opportunity. Surprisingly about two weeks later, I received a call from the HR. She said they have a vacancy now. Apparently, one of the interviewers fought for me and gotten approval from the UK office to add in one more slot just for me. I was thankful for the opportunity to be able to go thr' the 2 years of IG programme. It was extremely fruitful because I got rotated around various departments in the bank. After 4 yrs in SC, I have no regrets I tried.
I am not saying if you try you will definitely succeed, I am just saying if you don't, you will never know how far you can venture.