Profile Evaluation

Greetings,

I am hoping to get some advice regarding my pursuit of an MBA. I posted a long time ago, so with updates I figure it is worth a re-evaluation. Thanks in advance! I'm hoping to career change toward general management consulting (I can go into more detail on the specific sectors if necessary)

25year old male
740gmat (49q)
3.25gpa (ivy undergrad, applied econ degree)
Several collegiate-wide business plan competition awards, fraternity involvement EC's
Co-founded a business summer before senior year (generated ~30K profit in 2.5months off of a $4k loan)
Currently volunteer and also write pro-bono for a mental wellness blog
Series 7, 63, 65 licenses

Currently 13months post collegiate work experience - 10months as a strategy analyst at a large retail brokerage (worked on the institutional side).
Recently recruited for a position as an IT consultant working in the hedge fund space for BNY Mellon - Personally responsible for 5 funds currently with a combined ~$8B in assets (my team of 5 manages 35 funds worth ~$75B). Four are existing clients, one however I am currently implementing from day 0 (training ops/traders/pm's on the ems/oms software, configuring portfolios, workflows, relationships with prime's, etc) and interact with these clients on a daily basis (in person/phone).

Although I have been with the new company briefly, I have a solid understanding of the contributions and expectations over the next ~8months or so come application time. I feel pretty fortunate with this role, as most of my peers were hired with ~3yr work experience or advanced degrees required.

As noted, I'm 25 and only graduated last May - after my sophomore year (originally class of 2007) my father became ill and I was forced to return home to take care of him. Additionally, he lost his job so I needed to supplement the income while my family weathered the storm. Consequently, this leave affected my grades as the semester I was forced to leave early resulted in a 2.1gpa. During this time, I worked full time as a supervisor for 2years at a major retail electronics store - I then took an entry level credit/due diligence position with Chase. However, 6 months later my family was better off and I returned to college to finish my degree. - I know this is a bit out of the ordinary, so I'm curious how much this time falls into "work experience" when applying.

--- So i guess one question is: Do I consider myself as having 19mon work exp (26 by matriculation) when applying at the end of this calendar year, or do I factor in the additional 3years while I was forced to leave school?

--- If I am only to consider the post-collegiate experience, is it too early to apply this winter (i.e. should I wait until winter of 2012 to apply)?

I'm fairly confident that my recommendations will be quite good (former employer, current employer, and current clients that I consult have each offered). Additionally, I believe that I have many compelling experiences that can be relayed in my essays.

I'm fairly open to the various programs, but am hopeful to stay in the top 20 (currently in NYC, but am open to other locations). Would you mind recommending a short-list of schools (maybe 2 reaches, 3 fits, 2 others) ? Additionally, if you could comment specifically on whether it's worthwhile to apply this upcoming year, or to hold off until the end of 2012.

Thanks again for reading!

Regards.