Attend top 30 school or defer and apply to top 15 schools?

Hello all,

I've spent much time here as a lurker and respect the quality of dialog at this community. I've reached decision time, and was hoping to get advice from some of the people here. I'll try to keep my story succinct.

Early this year I made the decision to pursue an MBA. The timing wasn't great, but I hustled and submitted applications in May to two schools that were still accepting them (which meant I didn't have an opportunity to apply to any top 15 schools). I've been accepted to both programs.

My profile:

680 GMAT
3.0 GPA in Engineering (Computer Science)
27 years old and five years of work experience in technology (San Francisco): the last three years in business analytics roles. I spent one year managing a small customer support department.


I want to continue to work in analytics, and am interested in advanced data modeling/mining, decision sciences, et.


My decision:

My schools are Purdue and the University of Maryland. Both programs have solid Operations/Decision Sciences departments, and both appeared extremely enthusiastic to have me, making me think that I've got an application that's capable of getting me into a more prestigious program.



I realize that my GMAT and (in particular) GPA are not spectacular, so I believe three things got me: 1) work history which is varied yet focused and shows very significant growth, 2) a background and future goals outside finance or consulting, and 3) a reasonably colorful personal background (lived internationally, played sports, etc).

So my question is: do I try to defer and apply to better schools? Programs that I'd apply to include: NYU, Columbia, UCLA, and Duke. MIT feels well out of range, but I would possibly submit an application for giggles.

Do you think I have a realistic chance at getting into schools of this caliber? Is this too great a risk? Would it be more prudent to attend Maryland this fall?


I thank you so much for reading and commenting.