GMAT 680 and GPA 3.44. Shot at Stanford GSB?

Hello Alex,

I'm follow your threads here at this forum and at other forums. I particularly liked your comparisons of B-Schools to cars, it was as informative as it was entertaining. I also went through the podcast at mbapodcaster. I was wondering if you could shed some light on how good my chances are at an early application deferred for 2 years. My options are HBS 2+2 and Stanford GSB but my dream school is Stanford. I'm an Indian male (21 years old). I've included pretty much all the relevant information.

Background

I'm an Indian majoring in Economics from one of the top schools in India (Indian Institute of Technology-Madras). We have a GPA system that is out of 10 and my GPA scaled down to a 4 point system is 3.44 although I expect that it will rise when adjusted for the variations between the systems. I've taken the GMAT twice. My first attempt was a 640. Next attempt was a 680 (Q42 V41). I guess on D-Day I just freeze or get tired after the essays. I did well in the AWA both times getting a perfect score of 6.0.

My grades did fall from a 3.6 GPA (9/10 Indian scale) after I got stabbed in a mugging attempt in my 3rd year of college. But I've since bounced back from a much lower score and have kept it near the 3.45 GPA mark.

As far as internships go-

I have done an internship at a Private Equity firm and was involved very closely in the process of a fund expansion to the tune of 200 million USD.

I have done two other internships one with a securities firm and other in the Treasury Forex of a large bank. Needless to say, I want to get into finance post-study.

Now for the other stuff-

As far as professional experience goes, I started a small firm in 2009 after my family portfolio was almost wiped out in the aftermath of the crisis when it was just about 2.5 years after my dad's passing and have since paid my tuition and other expenses myself. I oversaw a 450% growth in the balance sheet during my 18 month tenure as a partner in the firm. This was just three months after my stabbing.

I've been a peer counselor for high school students with a training institute that prepares students for college for almost 5 years now and have counseled over 150 high school students during the time. I sat with each of them personally, gauged their interests and gave feedback to the academic counselors who then took over the process. In fact, starting such a peer counseling position was my idea after I recognised a certain gap between student mindsets and counselors in general when I was a high school student.

Extra-Curriculars-

I've been a dancer since I was 9 and am now a certified advanced Latin Ballroom and Salsa dancer.

I've also been practising martial arts since 9 and have been certified as a 2nd Degree Black Belt from the Apex body in India.

I've also held quite a few leadership positions and handled responsibilities both individually and in teams over the years. (I realise that this has already become quite long a post and dont want to further try and sell my achievements)

Well that's it about me. I want to know if I should take the GMAT again or not. I plan to apply early and defer my admission to B-School by 2/3 years. The HBS 2+2 program is one of the programs I'm applying to in R-2 along with Stanford GSB. I want to know what my chances are of making it. Or should I take up a one year masters such as the Duke MMS or LBS MiM, work a couple of years and apply after that to B-School. Will getting such a masters degree hurt my application for an MBA later on? (the rationale for doing so is because of the relative freeze in jobs across the globe in the banking sector and because delaying graduation in school really won't help because our department does not support finance as a career option because of their philosophy) I wouldn't have so many doubts if my GMAT score were a little higher but since that ship has sailed, I would love it and appreciate it very very (very) much if I could some help here.

Thanks much in advance

Manoj