Taking a lateral/demotion offer

I am currently a 3rd year LMM PE associate who is nearing the end of a three-year program at my current firm. My firm is pretty strict on the three-year-and-out policy to push associates to B-school. I had decided pre-COVID that I would forgo the MBA and try to lateral instead.

Recruiting has been tough with the state of the M&A market and I've finally landed another PE offer, although it would essentially be starting from scratch as an associate at a MF group that sits outside of traditional buyout strategies. There's no guarantee that I would make it to VP here and the base comp is actually slightly lower than what I make now.

Am I crazy for thinking I should hold out for something more aligned with my experience/objectives?

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