Best Course of Action to Break into Investment Banking: Non-Target to Credit Analysis to Top Tier MF?

Hey all. I am currently a first year credit analyst working at a BB. I went to a huge state school and graduated top of my class. I've been trying to break into Investment Banking for about three years now.

In an effort to rebrand, I have decided to pursue a Masters in Finance. So far, I have been accepted into a handful of programs, including Oxford's Masters in Financial Economics. I am still waiting to hear back from MIT's Masters in Finance.

I would really like to work in M&A at a Boutique Investment Bank and would prefer to be in Los Angeles, CA.

I feel as if I'm all over the place. My question is this: What compromise, if any, should I make in regard to my current collection of goals? Is it feasible to move from Oxford to LA and still make a respectable career in banking? I'm flexible on my plans, I just need some guidance.

Thanks in advance.

 

Why not do an MBA at somewhere like UCLA (if you want to be in LA) and go in as a post-MBA associate? It would make a lot more sense than doing a MSF and then struggle to break into an IB analyst program on the other side of the country (or world?) in a spot where you're unlikely to have any connections?

 
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