1) on the backoffice versus front office/IB. besides having good qualifications, personality counts and personal network counts a lot. Some people are just not used to the dealing/wheeling type of environment. It is not just about getting into good schools, I have seen people average qualification doing exceptionally well. Personal family background counts a lot as well. the bankers in China/HK invariably have powerful family background to help them clinch deals. Those matter more than just a Harvard or MIT degree.

2) on that friend of yours who went to MIT and MBA/NTU. Really, he should have continued his program in US. I figure he/she was taking a practical route, but he should have just save up a bit more and go back to US for another program. taking an MBA from a local schools diminishes the MIT degree. Or let me put it another way, someone who went to NTU and followed by a master degree in MIT has better appeal than the other way round. I had a friend who did his NTU engineering degree followed by MIT (MSc). He went to Mckinsey and his career was outstanding ever since. I know it shouldn't be the case, as the MIT undergraduate program is really tough. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to be a IB. you need to smart enough but also street smart to be a good IB. Taking a MIT and reversing back to NTU, does say a lot about this guy.