Advice Needed: Turn down IB offer to recruit for consulting?

Hi everyone - first time posting but I've tried doing as much research as possible before asking my question and I couldn't find anything, so I figured I'd post and try to get some advice.

I'm in my first year of a Top 20 MBA and I am aiming to switch careers and go into consulting (mainly Big 4 M&A/Advisory/Strategy). When I return to campus in January, OCR will begin immediately, with most applications due by the first week or so, and interviews taking place 1-2 weeks after that. To this point, I've almost exclusively focused on consulting, attending all the info sessions, networking events, and case prep.

My dilemma is that I recently received an offer from a boutique IB and it expires before consulting applications are even due. I enjoyed my interactions with the company and could see myself working there, but I went back to school to get into consulting, so I can't decide if I should accept the offer or decline it and take my chances with consulting recruiting. Thoughts?

Long term, I'm not too sure, but I could definitely see myself in a corporate development or corporate strategy role, assuming I don't make a career out of consulting/banking.

Thank you all in advance and sorry for the long post!

 

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