MM vs BB: what’s the vibe difference?

Did my SA (remote, peak covid) at a non-NY MM and am at a NY BB now.

Biggest difference I have seen is the people (obviously wasn’t exposed to the office/deal flow differences). At the MM, people didn’t seem as motivated/sharp. Just from conversations, there was a much more chill vibe but also kind of in a bad way. Also, as a result of being at a smaller company with less of a focus in banking, the answer for things was not as structured/straightforward and as a result I always had a bunch of questions/difficulty getting straightforward answers (e.g. what assumption we should use for a tax rate, how to build xx out part of a model, how we should format a presentation, etc.).

Versus at the BB, everyone on my team comes from extremely strong academic backgrounds, and all come off as very smart/motivated to do what they do. I actually prefer this environment - they are not necessarily “meaner” or more “competitive,” I think there are just more type A personalities making it to a NYC BB so everyone is more outgoing and as a result our analyst class is super tightknit. Also as a counterpoint to my last point for the MM, everything is much more structured. We have tons of RefMat for every different scenario and detailed ways on how to approach certain projects, so I have felt that I have learned a lot more and am more efficient with what I do rather than trying to “figure it out myself.” I personally prefer this type of work, as I find flailing around very inefficient and learn much better if someone gives me answers up front.