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Yes, sure. This is what I am planning to do
I am in a somewhat similar situation except that:
1. Despite two attempts at the GRE, I still couldn't get a score high enough to get into HEC or the likes (coming from an overrepresented background)
2. I later realised I could only go to my current German uni for my Masters as I couldn't afford ESSEC (Got in there) and HEC even with a scholarship.
The masters allows me to work for 6 months in a year and via some internships I made some decent cash to support myself
The German uni I go to is good enough for local recruiting but non target for UK. Not surprisingly, I haven't gotten past HV/tests this year for recruiting. We do however get a few local/regional euro banks for career fairs.The students at my uni are largely unmotivated both academically (I had to do all the group work myself) and career-wise (they think a middle office job would be their greatest achievement if they were to get one and money isn't everything, they'd rather spend time partying and meeting women). I'm also non-EU, don't speak the language fluently. I still somehow managed to land 1-2 internships in regional banks and have a potential offer full time from one of them (however below street pay).
And yes, I have had to walk a lonely path career-wise. People at uni either don't know me or think I'm way too money oriented. I honestly have stopped giving a fuck at this point.
Now re your situation : how I see it, continuing with your Masters and then getting some relevant experience before switching to an MBA would make sense. That's how I plan to do it (given a full time job adds more value than just spending another year at a "target uni"). You/I will still build good enough of a network professionally via a target MBA. Who knows, you start in consultancy and instead of banking, you get offered a respectable MM buy side role in PE or the likes. Maybe you'll move ahead in life thereafter and an MBA might not even be necessary.Two key takeaways from people I've been fortunate to work with in my internships:
1. While your first job doesn't matter much from a long term career perspective, it's important to start full time as soon as you can since it fetches more value than internships/being at a target school with zero experience
2. Careers are non-linear
Hope it helps :)
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I wouldn't be so hard on myself: specially point (ii) isn't something I'd ever blame myself for. I was told quite a few times on wso that if i got a place in the Masters program at LBS/LSE I should take it regardless of the $ I'd need to borrow for that degree. I'm glad I didn't do it. Not everyone's situation is the same: being non-EU with no brand name experience in PE/IB/Consulting on my CV before starting my Masters, I knew come recruitment season, there would be a sufficient # of LSE/LBS folks more qualified than me for those internships; a.k.a my due diligence from LinkedIn supported this - a vast majority of folks who made it to SA/FT at UK banks were those with sufficient brand name internship experience from their home countries or the ones w/o experience were either females or some form of diversity candidates (someone I wasn't). Would it then make sense to lever myself up for a 1 year degree in the UK being a non-EU folk who required sponsorship? My answer was a 'no'.
HEC would be a good match given it was a longer program but yep it would've been expensive and would be difficult to afford (normally can't work full-time internships there during your classes as far as I've heard).
Re MBA - I recently came across a profile who did his MSc from Nova (ended up at McK, worked for 2 years) and then pursued an MBA at LBS and went on to join Barc as an associate. Seen quite a few examples besides this with 3/4/5 yrs of work exp. w.r.t postponing your happiness: been in Germany for a year now w/o any friendship/relationship developing, minding my own business and zero social life, bogged down w internships and full time studies (barely get the time to connect w my family back home) and ended up missing all get-togethers/Christmas. Yes i do feel i'm depressed as well but I've learnt how to live w it - since i have my eyes on the end goal, reminding myself everyday of how far i've come. Doesn't make sense quitting at this point. Would rather look back in 5 years and say 'that was intense but was worth it' rather than 'i wish i didn't quit being so close to my goal'.
My aim hence is to rebrand with a target UK MBA (LBS is the only one as far as I see) if need be. Besides, the network provided by LBS MBA would in my opinion be of a higher quality relative to a typical masters (MiM/MoF) network when folks are still immature and trying to figure their lives out.
However I've also seen examples of people working a few years (2-3) in Continental Europe before being recruited as an associate or the likes in the UK (w/o an MBA).
At the end of the day you'll take your own decision and maybe I didn't answer your question exactly but wanted to offer you a different perspective from another person's current situation. Do not decide in a way in haste that makes you regret that decision further down the line.
P.S - Feel free to PM
Hey, wondering which path u choose eventually. I am in a very similar scenario as u did. Gap year now and doing an internship in a non-BB but still very top investment banking. really want to quit and re-apply
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