captpratyush wrote:
I want to make a career in either investment banking, consulting, or defence/aerospace sector. My school list consists of HBS, Stanford, Booth, Wharton, Tuck, Duke, Ross, Stern, Columbia, MIT, though not necessarily in that order. Where do you think my profile stands when looking at these?
1. There are folks from military who are able to break into banking as well as consulting, given your skill set build around leadership/team work, problem solving and crisis management, working in ambiguity and paying attention to details. At the time of the application, you will have to pin point what your career goals are going to be. As I had suggested earlier, informational interviews with b-school students/ alums should still be a priority task for you in the months upto the start of the application deadlines.
2. Your choice of b-schools has a mix of aspirational and reach b-schools, so I am quite alright on this aspect. Selecting all the top ten b-schools and applying to ten b-schools (humongous number) is a little unrealistic. I would suggest you apply to 5-7 bschools at max, taper down some of the reach b-schools so that you have more hits than misses, and start the essay writing process early! Your GMAT, which takes up most applicants' summer is already out of the way, so you can start lapping up the essays when they come out May - July.
3. Starting early will give you a chance to apply to more target b-schools in R1. If it fits with your MBA plans, apply to early application rounds of b-schools that offer it. Be mindful however that most of them have you undertake a binding agreement- if you get an admit, you have to withdraw your application from other b-schools.
Hope this helps