Changing jobs before B-School application

Hi fellow monkeys,

long-time lurker here. I am planning to apply to top MBA programs in the US this upcoming fall and would appreciate your insight on a tough decision that I have to make.

Right now I've been with a Big 4 Corporate Finance practice in Continental Europe for a few years (and worked at a boutique consultancy before that). My group focuses on Infrastructure & Energy-related deals (mostly PPPs though), so I recently started reaching out to headhunters to see if there are any opportunities at infrastructure-related PE funds for people like me. I would love switching to a fund with a little more risk-appetite than plain-old greenfield PPPs, and, after b-school, stay in the infrastructure investment area but preferably in the US (for private reasons).

Now, long story short, instead of a fund I was offered a position at a boutique bank that's extremely strong in infrastructure. The only reason why I consider this position is that it would up my compensation by a factor of 3. However, I'm worried that switching from a Big 4 Corporate Finance practice (with an adequate level prestige from an adcom point of view) to a boutique bank that no one has ever heard of would seriously harm my application. Besides, where I really want to be is the buy-side anyway, not at a bank doing something similar than I do now.

Any insight on the admissions process regarding this?

Thank you!