I thought the MEI checkride was a joke, easiest one I've ever taken. The training required is minimal if you've been teaching for a little bit. Taking a multi private will tack on an extra couple thousand dollars that isn't even necessary because you have to have a multi comm anyway. Paying any more than you have to for training is a waste. There's no reason to pay for multi time once you have the rating and you're commercial rated. Hang out at the fbo and find somebody to safety pilot or whatever to get some hours in your book. Its not as hard to get that time as you might think unless you attend a big school that makes you pay for it and won't let you fly anything but a school owned airplane. If that's the case then I guess you might as well get a private multi because they will make you pay for your time anyway I guess. PIC multi isn't as important as total multi anyway.