Gap year for better MSc or "worse" MSc now?

Hi everyone,

I need to make an important decision for my future. I am about to finish my BSc in Econ & Finance in a Russel group UK uni and I now want to move back to Italy (Milan) where I am originally from. I wanted to be admitted to the MSc Finance at Bocconi to have better chances at securing a career in IB/AM/S&T/MC after graduation in Italy and/or in Europe. However, I did not perform well in my GMAT and it is now pretty late to retake it so my chances of getting admitted for this year are almost non-existent (although the rest of my profile is pretty good). My second choice is the MSc management engineering (stream Finance) at Politecnico di Milano, the best uni in Italy in the rankings and one of the best technical unis in Europe. Although this is not comparable to Bocconi I feel that if I get good grades and I do an exchange in a European business school I still have pretty good chances to start a career in Banking and finance in Italy and abroad. However, this is not the same as going to Bocconi and so I am thinking of taking a gap year where I could study for the GMAT while working in a finance-related job at the same time and apply next year with the hope of getting a scholarship.

What would be the best choice to make in my position?

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