Plan B? Plan C? How do I max my odds of breaking into IB now?

Hi everyone, 

I'm a senior at a large state school (biz school). Over the summer I worked at a top 10 asset manager (AUM wise) but due to firm wide reasons the interns were not given a return offer. I always wanted to do banking but at this AM I interned in their PE team so I did not complain. Come senior year, I was fortunate enough to get interviewed for FT roles at Citi, BlackRock, EY, boutique REPE firms in Chicago, boutique banks in Chicago, SF & NY but do to various reasons (my shitty interviewing, my visa being far from ideal were the primary ones tbh) I did not get a job by the end of fall. This sucks because I was able to get interviewed at so many shops but the second they'd see my visa lets me work in the US only for one year, I'd be out of the process immediately. I'd also say my interviewing was not great and this also led to my GPA dropping my first sem senior year to a 3.3. I lost complete hope on any decent finance role and this last semester just focused on my GPA which kinda paid off because even though I'm doing 20 credits, my sem GPA is at 4.0 currently and I can pump my major GPA to around a 3.7/3.6. 

Come second sem senior year, I worry I will not get a job and apply to my school's MSF program which is fairly new and relies heavily on the my school's strong undergraduate finance program and a certain pipeline that sends kids very well to the top banks (this is in both the undergraduate and MBA program). The MSF program is new although the professors that run those pipelines / clubs teach in the MSF program and alumni are usually very very helpful. The MSF program is also useful because I'm an intl student and this will give me the STEM extension letting me be employed in the US for 3 years. 

Now, the goal is to do IB in New York / the east coast and I'm wondering if I should make the MSF program 1.5 years with the goal of recruiting for SA24 spots (& hopefully convert that to a FT offer). Hopefully by then (Dec 24) the economy will improve as well? Or should I stick to the 1 year MSF and hit FT recruiting directly May 2024? Will the economy / dealflow improve by then? I'm getting a decent scholarship and a graduate / teaching assistantship role so its not too bad. The MSF program will also let me join new investment funds, clubs, TTS seminars etc etc but more importantly a chance improve my GPA which is why I feel making it 1.5 years makes sense but I want to maximize my chances of breaking into IB so I'm open to anything. 

Thank you so much and would appreciate any advice!!

Best, 

A Lost senior