American Express

American Express has won the Fed's approval to convert into a commercial bank. America's largest credit card company will be allowed to waive the normal 30 day waiting period on its application so that it can have immediate access to the Fed's discount window.

The company has been beset by rising credit-card defaults fueled by the sagging economy and rising unemployment. October also marked the first time the company, which has posted four straight quarters of losses, was unable to sell bonds backed by customer payments.

What do you guys think about an M/B/B analyst-level offer vs. an analyst offer for corporate strategy at a Fortune 500 company? (Disney + American Express are two that recruit at my school, but it could really be any Fortune 500 with a good internal strategy division).

Upside - If you were likely to end up at an internal corp strat after consulting (or after B-school, after consulting), you may have just skipped ahead a few years in terms of career development. Also, corp strat lifestyle is supposed to be a bit better than M/B/B (less travel, hours).

Downside - Worse B-school placement? Worse pay/benefits? I'm just guessing here - someone who knows something, help me out!