MBA >> IB >> PE | Am I already too far behind the pack?

Looking for the cold, hard truth from the PE community as I plan out my future.

Background:

My passion since undergrad has been PE. Unfortunately, both IB and PE opportunities in my region are virtually non-existent, so after going through the recruiting gauntlet and coming up shorthanded, I settled for the commercial real estate sector after completing business undergrad since jobs were aplenty. After 4 years of buy-side/sell-side investment analyst experience in CRE and approaching the end of my CFA journey, I'm still feeling unfulfilled with where my career path is going. Even the prospect of an esteemed career in real estate doesn't excite me at this point (my underlying issue is with the asset class - I find the complexity in real estate deals/management too low, so even large transactions that I've worked on have seemed somewhat boring).

Question:

After doing some soul-searching, I want to pivot into a PE career despite failing to do so out of undergrad. Research/networking/WSO have shown that the most viable pathway would be through an Ivy League MBA, followed by a stint in IB (I recognize that my standing at the MBA level would automatically be lower than the pre-MBA PE/IB folks). Although I believe I can achieve the above (and recognize the difficulty of doing so), my burning question is: would it be worth it in the end given I would be around 32 once I complete the pivot? In other words, would I be too far behind the well-experienced people in my age group within these PE firms to end up as a high achiever? Of course, I am assuming that these experienced people would have a higher chance of promotions/opportunities, and I am defining “worth it” as having non-limited growth opportunities relative to those experienced peers.

Disclaimer: as an outsider, I know I might sound naïve or deterministic, but I only want to engage my proposed pathway and pursue 700+ GMAT/tuition costs/opportunity costs if industry insiders think it could be worth it in the end. Anyway, I appreciate any advice and opinions.