MSF or ???? - Seeking advice

Hi everyone,

I'm a final year British undergraduate at a T20 semi-target in the United Kingdom, set to graduate with First Class Honours (4.0 GPA) from a respected programme within my university. In summer 2023 of my sophomore / second year, I did an internship with a well-known multi-strat hedge fund in London, which set me up really well to recruit for SA positions within the Capital Markets division of investment banks. I worked tirelessly to try and place well, but struck out despite 2 superdays.

Whilst disappointed, the fund I worked for in 2023 were happy to have me intern for them in 2024, which I gladly accepted. This unfortunately fell through last minute, but I luckily got another internship offer at a different hedge fund in the US, where I was doing an exchange year abroad. This also fell through last minute due to visa issues, so I didn't have an internship last year (bad ofc).

Previously, I hadn't given a second thought to further education, but I started considering business school as an option. The MSF carries a lot of weight in Europe, and my research indicated that it was starting to become more relevant in the US with some really great industry placements + have always wanted to go to b school in the US. I applied to 4 top MSF programmes, with the aim of recruiting for both the US and London during the year. I received rejections from 2, but interviews from the other 2, whom I am waiting to hear back from. For context, I'm in the fortunate position that my family are prepared to assist quite significantly with tuition / CoL if I'm admitted, so no debt. I feel that I have a strong background and actually a pretty good professional network on both the East and West Coast, ergo a specialized masters may help with allowing me time to strengthen my resume with an internship and then recruit for both buyside and sellside from a really strong position. However, I am not naive to the fact that today's market is extremely tough for all graduates, particularly international students, and I do not want to spend my time and family's money to no avail.

I also received an internship with the same US fund that fell through last year, but in a different division from the investment team in a different location - think middle office. I am likely to accept this offer regardless of the division, as I am grateful for employment and just looking to gain as much experience as I can to further strengthen my resume. Furthermore, whilst I feel that one summer without an internship / work experience can be forgiven, I feel it would be extremely difficult to recruit with only one internship from 2023.

Without further education / an extra year to pad resume, am I still a competitive candidate for front office roles? Am I in a position to take the internship, take the experience back to the UK and still be able to recruit for ECM / DCM / buyside equity analyst roles in London? 

If you've read this far and have any other advice, please feel free to tell me below - thanks in advance.