Ordering your own bass does seem very nice... I've been thinking about doing that, too. The more basses on the market, the better for everybody else about to buy a bass! So, be prepared to keep it throughout your life; it won't sell for the same amount of money you spent. Have you actually played a Martin? Keep in mind the other makers out there, the Pöllmann brothers, Peter Elias, and so on. They'll make a bass for about $20k or slightly more, I think. Perhaps a lot more; I'm not too up to date with the currencies right now... I hope to try a Martin next week, or at least I'll see Mr. Martin himself on a course. I won't bring my own Pöllmann so I couldn't compare them properly, but I'll be happy to give you my thoughts.
Anyways, I quite like that bass you have there. Probably a shop bass, yes, but a nice shop bass. (You can find pics of one that I have in the 'Speaking of restorations' topic that's probably the age of yours, but is a (cheaper) Gamba model.) A friend of mine has another early 20th century bass labeled "Markneukirchen", a brand associated with a dealer who bought instruments from local, not (yet) master luthiers and probably factories too. His bass is nice. Needs a new neck, though... but the wood seems fine, sound is good, and it might actually turn out good after a restoration. Perhaps good enough that he may not have to buy an even better bass in order to win an audition, but you see this is the problem - as a student, you can't afford to spend money on something that might not turn out good enough; in a few years you'll have to be able to win an audition, and if your bass isn't good enough, you won't be able to do yourself justice.
The "Markneukirchen" label in his bass is associated with a dealer who bought instruments from local luthiers who weren't master makers, but probably from factories too; perhaps, if my friend is lucky, the guy who once built his bass may have been rather skilled. So, it COULD become quite okay. Problem is that you never know. The fact that the bass is rahter old is likely to have made it sound better than it did when it was new, problem is that lots of work often needs to be done as these instruments never seem to have been taken proper care of, and a restoration usually won't pay off. Been there, done that: My small Gamba model has a pretty nice sound, but not enough to justify the amount of money spent. Nothing is certain - especially if it is factory made. I like the fact that you already dropped your bass off at the luthier's, though; probably not very wise if you want to save your bucks, but I'd probably do the same. Could never stand seeing a bass go to waste...
Long rant, not much said. Tell us about the result, and how it compares to other instruments in the $5-12k range! When will you get it back?