So, I’m in London now, doing a two week internship at an investment bank. I’ve spent time in essentially every division of the bank, M&A, Restructuring, Equity Research, Convertibles, High-yield and distressed. The only things I haven’t done, as far as I can tell, is treasuries, credit derivatives, or equity derivatives.

But, the real point of this is not to talk about my internship, its about my life. I’m presented with two paths right now. I’ve got seven interviews set up at Harvard for research positions in some really great labs. But, at the same time, it’s being made fairly clear to me that I could work in investment banking and make a damn comfortable living doing so. And so, the question I now have to answer is this: all things considered, intellectual interest, financial compensation, geographical location, time demands, and so forth, do I want to go into banking or science?

Let’s break it down. I’ve been trained in science and I’m good at what I do. But, finance has been my hobby for the past 2 years, and I’m pretty good at that too. Science has the clear advantage when it comes to the emotional feeling of having done something good for humanity at the end of the day. But, by contrast, how warm and fuzzy does that make you feel when you’re living in a hovel, with cockroaches in your cupboards? Going back to the first hand, how does that money feel when you’re alone or you work hours that preclude you from having a family? Then again, there really isn’t a huge difference in the hours between science and trading, at least not at my level.

Then, lets consider the issue of “what if I made a mistake?” What if I made a mistake, and it turns out that I chose the wrong path. How easily can I cross back over? Well, right now, I have an inroad into finance. But, that road won’t be here in 5 years, after I’ve been tarnished by research. By the flip side, if I go into banking for one year and decide that I hate, it is fairly simple for me to play it off as my “year traveling in Europe” and move right back into a lab.

Let’s also consider my social health. If I go into science, I will do so in Boston, where I have plenty of friends. If I go into finance, I will probably head to the world capital of finance, London, UK, where I know no one.

As you can see, many variables play into this decision, and frankly, I think I need a Monte Carlo equation to solve it all.

Different people give me different advice. Some people have clear biases, either because of their relationship to me, or because of choices they made in their own lives. But, even acknowledging that, it seems that one thing is agreed upon: I have the temperment, personality, and intelligence to be very successful at banking. While I may have the intelligence for science, it is less clear whether I have the patience and the temperment to do that well.

Now, let’s look further into the future. If I go into research, it will be 8 years (2 research assistant, 4 PhD, and 2 postdoc) before I even get, with luck, my own lab. After that, I spend probably the better part of 5 years setting my lab up and building the prestige of my lab. Even after all that, I still will only be an Assistant Professor somewhere, making an inflation adjusted 60k or so a year. My dream of starting a biotech firm where I employ brilliant people and give them free reign to do research to improve the quality of human life? That fizzles and dies, unless I turn out to be incredible in trading my personal account using equities.

Now, let’s go the other way, I work in investment banking for the same number of years, 13. I’m 34 and filthy rich. Provided that I haven’t let money corrupt me, it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier for me to start a biotech firm with that kind of money at my disposal.

In a strange way, the analogy of my cell phone reflects this choice. Since the moment I got here, I had a desire to get a cell phone and a prepaid SIM card for the 2 weeks I was here. I was encouraged to get one by several individuals that I met. So, the Sony Ericsson w810i caught my eye. But, as anyone knows, phones in the UK, especially with the exchange rate, are terribly expensive. I could easily afford it, but I resisted it, because, especially if I was going into research, it was fiscally irresponsible. I went back and forth many times.

But, even as I retell this anecdote, I think it should be clear that I’ve already chosen the finance path. After all, I do have a brand new Sony Ericsson w810i in my pocket…