Hi all, I've decided to post my question here as I haven't received any answer on other topics!
I am trying to find suitable MBA program. In general I can consider both US and European Bschools. I want to switch my career from Finance/Banking (employer - top UK bank's branch in my country) to Consulting. In long-term I want to open my own consulting company.
My list for now (changes every day - HEC, Essec, Oxbridge, MIT (as a dreamschool), Georgetown, Bocconi

Age: 22 (23 at Matriculation)
Gender: f
Work exp: 2 years (FT in Global Markets Department, Kazakhstani Branch of an International Bank), 0.5 (PT)
Citizenship: Kazakhstan
GPA: 4.17 out of 4.33 (Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, BA in Business Adm and Accounting with major in Finance, degree was taught in Eng)
GMAT: 600 (Q38, V34)
Extracurricular activities: fotography, charity orgs, part-time job while at uni, debate club, fitness
Exchange student experience (Germany, 1 Semester)
Studied 1 semester at Medical University, then left for Finance.
Career goal: Consulting

Pls share any recommendations/comments/ideas!!! I've just looked at admission statistics out here, all profiles with gmat above 700?! ))) So glad for you. I had 4 hours of torture I had only 2-3 months of preparation twice a week or so... This score was not a surprise for me, although I scored 640 on gmatprep...
Ok, anyway, guys! Pls tell me some successful stories about people with 600 gmat, tiny w/e accepted to some high-profile Bschools Pls make me happier

Ozzie, thanks for ur reply!
do u apply to some other schools? If yes, what r they?
I made my list: HEC, Bocconi, Oxford and may be Essec (as a safety) + some US school

Well I applied mostly to US Schools. My R1 school would be Fuqua, Tepper, and Darden (only the first 2 invite me to the interview, I think I got dinged by Darden). I was also planning on going to HEC Paris and IESE Spain or Cambridge but I'll need to research more on them because I don't want to over-stress my recommender for writing too much recommendation :D - no safety school for me though for some reason.

Without sounding racist or sexist, I believe your profile as female with an adequate work experience that comes from an east european country will be really interesting for an adcom. Just make sure you write your essay to your advantage (like challenges on doing business in your country and your accomplishment on overcoming those challenges, your ability to work in diversity, etc). If you can play your cards right, your GMAT shouldn't be a problem anyway (but again, just to be safe try to retake it to score in 650 - just remember, GMAT score is not everything. If you feel that you can't improve any longer on GMAT, it's better to prep up your essay instead).

So sorry, an honest mistake. Did looked at the map and with the close proximity to russia, I wrongly assumed that it's in eastern europe . Nonetheless, since most of the applicants from Asia come from India (to some extent, China), you do stand a good chance of admission.

Well since I haven't done any in-depth research on the schools you mentioned I don't know for sure but I think increasing your GMAT from 600 to 650 is a big deal. Just don't fixate on it too much and neglect the rest of your application - hope that clears the misunderstanding.

Oh hey, answering your earlier question. I know a guy (admitted last year) that got admitted to Chicago GSB (now Booth) with 640 (forgot the precise number, but in the low 600). So all is not lost for the sub-700 GMAT taker (including me :D), it's just that we have to have a really good essay/work experience.

If you absolutely want to apply for B-School. You should apply for a safety school. Being only 22 with limited work experience, it's difficult to get into the top B-School (at least in the US) unless you have some other outstanding qualities. You do have a unique background because of your country, but I'm not sure that's enough. I'm not discouraging you from applying to top school, but I think it would not be a wise investment for your time or money.