Advice needed

Hey friends,

I could use some advice on whether to take a corporate M&A job, or hold off to wait to hear from traditional IB's.

For a little background, I'm a junior from a large non-target state school on the east coast. Although we are among the largest schools in the US (IB grad in at least the last 20 years that I know of (and it's nowhere near a BB). I have a decent (>3.5) GPA, several financial internships, nationally recognized volunteer work, etc. I have been networking like a stalker and feel as good as I can at this point about my chances at several IB's/banking institutions for SA positions (BB, GE Cap, boutiques).

I have also been connected to the leaders of one of the largest private companies in the world's commercial M&A group. They are wheelers and dealers at the moment and my family works at the company. I also feel good about this and anticipate a yes/no before the holidays.

Given that I won't hear from the IB's until ~Jan/Feb, and I will definitely hear back from the M&A group before then, any advice? My ultimate goal is to end up in healthcare VC/PE and will do whatever it takes to get there

much love

BSB