u/Either-Cabinet4873

Hey guys, need some honest advice here.

I’m a 27M international applicant with ~6 years of work experience. Around 4 years of that has been in pitchbook/deck creation and M&A research at Bank of America, working pretty closely with bankers across global teams.

I’ve been admitted to Vanderbilt Owen with an $80K scholarship. My goal post-MBA is investment banking.

The dilemma is the current market — IB hiring feels a bit uncertain right now, and I’m not sure if it makes sense to start this year or defer for a year and try entering in a potentially better cycle.

Would really appreciate thoughts on:

• How risky is recruiting for IB in the current environment?
• Does deferring actually help, or is timing the market a bad idea?
• Is Owen strong enough for IB given I’m international?

Trying to figure out if I should lock this in or wait it out. Thanks in advance.

Hey guys, need some honest advice here.

I’m a 27M international applicant with ~6 years of work experience. Around 4 years of that has been in pitchbook/deck creation and M&A research at Bank of America, working pretty closely with bankers across global teams.

I’ve been admitted to Vanderbilt Owen with an $80K scholarship. My goal post-MBA is investment banking.

The dilemma is the current market — IB hiring feels a bit uncertain right now, and I’m not sure if it makes sense to start this year or defer for a year and try entering in a potentially better cycle.

Would really appreciate thoughts on:

• How risky is recruiting for IB in the current environment?
• Does deferring actually help, or is timing the market a bad idea?
• Is Owen strong enough for IB given I’m international?

Trying to figure out if I should lock this in or wait it out. Thanks in advance.