Profile evaluation request - early career applicant

[hello313]

Hello,

Please evaluate my profile below for full time MBA programs to start Fall 2011.

I am an early career applicant (will have 3 years of experience when I start):
3.5 undergrad GPA in Chemistry, minor in Econ from Dartmouth
760 GMAT (51Q/44V)
25 years old, Vietnamese-American male (US Citizen)
Will have 3 years of work experience in operations research consulting by the time I start next fall:
-early promotion to associate/jr. manager (1.5 years)
-placed in the top bracket of the bonus pool each year I was employed
-currently lead project teams to deliver consulting work
-participated in sales work (presentations/conference calls)
-presented to executives/C-levels on engagements
-did some consulting gigs internationally
-took initiative and spearheaded the standardization of a number of internal organizational processes in my company (developed standard content for proposals, created technical documents for common/standard consulting projects, created process around new employee recruitment, consolidated all of the group's research findings into one database, etc.).

From an extracurricular standpoint, I do a bit of volunteer work every Saturday and Sunday. I don't put in crazy hours toward EC's due to my workload but I try to volunteer 5-10 hours a week during the weekends. In college I was an executive editor of an entirely new publication so I led the entire process for my segment of the journal (recruiting editors, selecting papers, leading the editorial process, etc.). No substantial extracurriculars beyond that, however.

I'm looking into the schools below:
HBS
Wharton
Kellogg
Sloan
Columbia
Tuck

I know it's an uphill climb with only 3 years of experience. Any thoughts on my chances as I stand now, in terms of safety/reasonable/reach? As an aside, do you have any thoughts on my chances if I apply w/ 4 years of experience (by waiting an extra year)? Do you think that would matter?

Thanks for your help.

[mbamission]

Hello,

Thank you for your inquiry. I don’t think that applying with three years of experience is a hindrance at all. I would certainly apply now. In the event that you’re unsuccessful this time, you will still be young enough to apply next year. I think that your profile looks great. You have good grades and seem to be doing very well at work and have some clear professional leadership experiences. You will probably be able to write and speak about your activities outside of work. Five to ten hours a week is quite a lot! I don’t know what kind of activities you’re doing, but assuming that you can write about the impact that you’ve had on a person or organization, I think that you should be fine there.

That written, I do think that HBS and Wharton might be reaches, just because they are so competitive that no one is a lock for those schools. I think that you’ll be competitive at the other schools that you’ve listed. Good luck!

Sincerely,

Akiba Smith-Francis

MBA Mission
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