Help me kick off this journey... profile evaluation please?

1) 25, male, Taiwanese-American

2) Cornell University '09, dual major in Economics & Philosophy
GPA: 3.17 (obviously my biggest worry. to put it simply, I was quite a different person 4-8 years ago mentally; I never gave anything 100% until I began my career. Now I give 100% to everything.)
GMAT: Unofficial 740, which I expect to go higher (I took the GMATPrep Practice without any studying a few weeks ago and got this score, 48Q, 44V)

3) I have worked for over a year for a consulting firm that advises banks on regulatory issues (I think the #1 in the world). For the past year, I've worked on a high-profile engagement stemming from the housing collapse - the Federal Reserve and the OCC ordered 14 large banks to review all foreclosures conducted over the past several years, and my firm is working with a number of the 14 banks. In this capacity I've helped draft testimony presented to the Senate Housing Subcommittee, and I've served as an operations manager for a foreclosure review team of 30 lawyers analyzing loan modification errors the banks made.

Formerly, I worked for two years in the technology Mergers & Acquisitions group of a middle-market investment bank. I worked on a number of deals in the $100 millions range, and as part of a small group had a lot of responsibility I think was unique to my experience. I left investment banking due to ideological burnout and a strong feeling that my work life contradicted with the principles that guided my personal life.

I've never been promoted, and that, along with my GPA, is a major worry for me. I left investment banking after 2 years, when a promotion was promised after 3. Having been at my current job for only 1 year, I believe I'm close to an official promotion but can't guarantee I'll have one before I apply to B-School.

4) The only substantive extracurricular activity I've undertaken is mentoring an underprivileged 11-year old as part of a "Big Brother" type program. I loved this, but I could not do it when I was doing investment banking (90+ hrs/week of work), and then I had to stop after about 7 months because my travel schedule at my current job got crazy (out of town 4-5 days a week). This was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done, though - built a very strong bond with this smart 11 year old kid. This program takes smart kids out of bad schools and puts them in good private schools for free, and gets mentors to help them transition (usually a major cultural/racial component).

5) I LOVE Economics and Philosophy (which doesn't really jive with my GPA at Cornell). Most of my free time is spent reading about economics, psychology, or political philosophy. I essentially want to go to grad school to meet as many intellectual, ambitious people as I can, and try to affect the world through my personal lenses of economics and philosophy. I'm extremely interested in joint MBA degrees with Public Policy, or Education. I am also extremely interested in technology, but mostly as an enabling tool for social/economic progress, not for "cutting edge" stuff, if that makes sense.

My #1 dream would be to improve American poverty and education (I think they go hand in hand). I think there need to be major shifts in attention, focus, and policies to begin fixing the problems that the American underclass faces. It's very frustrating to me that the "American Dream" is almost completely walled off from a huge segment of the population from the moment the members of that population are born. That's what I would want to work on after graduate education.

6) I'd like to apply to a top-10 school, though I need to continue my research into their specialties/pros/cons. I make a comfortable amount of money, and 0% of my motivation to go to grad school flows from wanting to make MORE money. The majority of my motivation comes from wanting to be able to wake up in the morning surrounded with smart and interesting people all focused on improving themselves and their communities. That's what I would look for in a grad school, not any specialized competency like "#1 in supply chain management" or anything like that.

7) MISCELLANEOUS: I think I can get an excellent work recommendation (probably 2). I cannot get an excellent academic recommendation (see 3.17 GPA). I believe I am a strong writer and can write strong essays.

Thank you so much!!!!

- CL