which is the better option?

I needed some board advice on taking on an internship for next summer. Now my Uni has a great placement program with Barclays in London. The company only takes like 4 to 5 a year from my school, if that. Now the program also offers a lot of other opportunities with smaller firms in London, but the main one I am going for is Barclays.

The second program my Uni offers is one in New York City, where the school places several students at top American firms; Morgan, Merrill, UBS, Goldman, Lehman etc.

Now the dilemna is do I go for gold and take the London program hoping to score with Barclays, but if not end up at a smaller London firm, OR go for the NYC program where it is more of a sure thing that I would end up at a big firm considering there are many more that are likely to choose me.

An international experience for a financial firm (especially in London) would look great over here. Do you think that would likewise ring true even if I was picked to work for a smaller firm?

Fill me in.