Your GMAT above the averages for all the top 5 schools in the U.S. you're probably around the upper 20-25 % in terms of GMAT score ranking. Your undergraduate GPA is a bit modest, but by no means a show-stopper you're well within the middle 80% for all top 5 schools. Overall GMAT and GPA look fine to me.

Now lets move on to the rest of your application; b-schools typically prefer candidates who've shown an upward career trajectory and they like to see promotions, awards and excellent recommendation letters from your previous supervisors. If you're able to show in essence that you were doing your best, given that its a real tough time in the industry and unfortunately you were on the wrong side of the cut, but you have the tenacity and all the ingredients for a successful career in Finance. I am sure that you'll be able to write excellent essays and present your case well to adcom.

Bottom line : I disagree with your consultant, tell your story and write it as well as you can and you never know.

Top schools for Finance - If you're targeting a specific area in Finance do let me know.

What used to be investment Banks cluster around the following schools :

Reach schools ( I would suggest you to select about 2-3 reach schools ):
Wharton
Columbia
Chicago
Harvard
INSEAD

Probable :
NYU
LBS (non US)


Safety schools (Investment Banks don't recruit that much from these schools)
HEC (non US)
Tepper CMU