Capital One TDP with a tier 1 Master’s. Is it settling? /u/Vibes_And_Smiles CSCQ protests reddit

I’m probably going to dox myself with this, but whatever

Ok so long story short, I did Capital One’s Technology Internship Program (TIP) in 2023 and loved it. I had gotten a return offer to start their full-time Technology Development Program (TDP) in August 2024, and I declined it since I wanted to do a full-time Master’s instead. I am now doing said Master’s at a tier 1 school and will graduate in May 2025.

I reinterviewed for TDP and just got the offer back for August 2025, but it’s in Richmond, VA, the salary is far below my ideal range, and the company is unwilling to negotiate at all (despite the fact that I’ll have a Master’s degree, which isn’t a requirement for the position). I have about 2-3 weeks to respond to the offer.

It’s great to have an offer, of course, but I’m just not happy with it, especially because it’s basically the same offer I had before my Master’s degree. I also want to be a Machine Learning Researcher, and I have relevant research experience for it (although I have 0 YOE), but there’s no guarantee I’d be put on such a team at Capital One.

The options are (1) accept the offer and stop looking for another one, (2) accept the offer but keep looking and renege if I get a better offer, and (3) decline the offer.

I’m leaning against (1), because it feels like settling, but I’m not sure about whether there would be any potential reputational risks from reneging. My school says we aren’t allowed to renege (a policy I disagree with, but whatever). Then again, I’m a bit scared of rolling the dice in this job market.

Thoughts?

I’m probably going to dox myself with this, but whatever

Ok so long story short, I did Capital One’s Technology Internship Program (TIP) in 2023 and loved it. I had gotten a return offer to start their full-time Technology Development Program (TDP) in August 2024, and I declined it since I wanted to do a full-time Master’s instead. I am now doing said Master’s at a tier 1 school and will graduate in May 2025.

I reinterviewed for TDP and just got the offer back for August 2025, but it’s in Richmond, VA, the salary is far below my ideal range, and the company is unwilling to negotiate at all (despite the fact that I’ll have a Master’s degree, which isn’t a requirement for the position). I have about 2-3 weeks to respond to the offer.

It’s great to have an offer, of course, but I’m just not happy with it, especially because it’s basically the same offer I had before my Master’s degree. I also want to be a Machine Learning Researcher, and I have relevant research experience for it (although I have 0 YOE), but there’s no guarantee I’d be put on such a team at Capital One.

The options are (1) accept the offer and stop looking for another one, (2) accept the offer but keep looking and renege if I get a better offer, and (3) decline the offer.

I’m leaning against (1), because it feels like settling, but I’m not sure about whether there would be any potential reputational risks from reneging. My school says we aren’t allowed to renege (a policy I disagree with, but whatever). Then again, I’m a bit scared of rolling the dice in this job market.

Thoughts?