Messed Up by Going to a Non-Target MFin. What Now?

Hey guys,

I made the mistake of attending a non-target European MFin program because I didn't have time to do the GMAT at the time, I was put off by the high fees at top schools and I very naively believed that knowledge acquisition was all that mattered when going to b-school (my undergrad was in politics & IR at a fairly reputable Uni in Europe and I did the masters directly after graduating from my bachelors). I've now graduated with a good GPA at the top of my cohort but I have only been receiving rejections and almost all at the screening stage. I'm feeling very hopeless at the moment as I now realise how foolish I was to jump into a MFin without assessing ranking, exit opps, company placement etc. in full beforehand. I'm trying to stay positive but I'm worried my mistake has tarnished my CV and will haunt me going forward unless I manage to pull off a big jump somehow. I've completed two internships, one in ECM at a large European bank (not BB though) and the other in Big 4 TAS and I received return offers from both, but I'm trying to make into PE/HF space eventually and these aren't so well positioned for that.

Does anyone have any advice on how I should move forward? Should I set my sights on landing a spot in a top MBA program in ~ 3-5 years? Is redoing another MFin at a top 5 school a completely ridiculous idea? Should I just make the best of what I have and continue grinding without going back to school at all?

I'd appreciate any help or advice from Monkeys with a perspective on this. Thanks guys.

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