interview offer in IBD at GS, Job offer in AM. Which one?

Hey guys,

I am graduting my undergrad in January, and I have been offered a full time position in AM with a small firm that I've interned at. It's a small operation where the founder does all analysis and portfolio management on his own. AUM is around $65m. His clients are not institutions, but people with a minimum investment of $500k.

I also have been offered an internship interview in Goldman Sach's IBD. But just the interview, naturally, no guarantee of succes, and I do not have neither a high GPA nor a lot of leadership roles behind me.

Here's the tricky part. I am European and due to VISA complications, I can only do one or the other - they are mutually exclusive. For the internship interview at GS, I would have to start a Master's Degree to get a student VISA, and hope that I would get the internship offer. If I accept the job offer in AM, I immediately get a temporary work VISA (he already hired an immigration attorney), and could do my Master's whenever I feel like it, while working.

My dream is to one day work in a Hedge Fund or Private Equity (unless I end up making the same amount of money as a PM in AM), so IBD at GS would solely be a way of getting there, whereas I would be happy with a PM position in AM (If I could make 1m+ annually, at least, which is my financial goal).

The job offer in AM concerns me because that it's such a small firm, that it might be difficult to break into a Hedge Fund or PE later on. However, I will get to be this guy's protege and learn how to get new clients, retain them, do analysis as well as portfolio management. Basically all aspects of his business. He wants me to be the next generation of the company, which he said plenty of times. So I could possibly learn a lot, and have a lot of responsibility and influence.

BUT: He wants me to do a training program for 18 months, and he wants me to start out at just $35k annually.. He says that once I get my series-65 and start pulling in clients, he will raise it to $65k - and from there "the sky is the limit", as he himself put it. So maybe, it would just be 5-6 months with very low pay.

Just to sum up: Goal: Work in AM, Hedge Fund or PE, with financial goal of 1m+ annual salary (I know thats a long ways down the road)

Opportunities: AM Job Offer: VISA Provided, become the owner's protege, 18 month training program, $35k to start, jumps to $65k GS IBD Internship Interview: Has to start Master's degree, no guarantee, but great Resume builder

Would it be reasonable to believe that my job offer in AM could lead to any of my goals? Am I better off rolling the dice and pursuing GS? Shoot me your best advice! (but please know what you're talking about!)

Regards, Patti