Hi there, I would like to hear some advice on my chances to apply to a M7 program as an international student. I'm applying in this year's second round.

Age & Work Experience
30 years old at the start of the program
6.5yr work experience in 3rd world country
• 2.5yr credit risk at mutual organization
• 2.5yr FP&A manager at small service firm - staff of 15 – reported to CEO (retired military man – case study material)
• 1.5yr project management/consulting at small credit card company – report to COO (HBS MBA graduate)

Education
• Engineering degree (industrial engineer)
• Master in Finance degree (corporate finance)
• Passed CFA level 1
• International Baccalaureate (IB diploma)

Tests
• GMAT: 600 without prep, taking prep course right now - will retake asap
• Toefl: not taken yet
• Toeic: 970
• GPA: nonconvertible, +-75 percentile?
EC
• Mountaineering (summited Aconcagua), guitar (had band), bjj, tennis, licensed sailor (participated in j24 and soling regattas).
• Duke of Edinburgh International Award: gold standard (volunteering)
• Teacher Assistant: project appraisal course, undergraduate engineering program
• Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese

MBA objective:

Plan A) Career switch to PE turnaround shops in developing countries or VC

Plan to use corporate knowledge + financial skills to work on deals and finding turnaround opportunities (optimization, process improvement, etc). The firms I’ve worked all had financial issues mainly because of a misuse of resources, poor C-level management and a lack of a capable and strong HR team (which leads to hiring the wrong person or assigning them to the wrong position).

Plan B) management consulting

I’ve worked on sales projects (cross selling), process modeling/simulation, cost reduction programs, analyzed m&a synergies, etc. It seems a more “natural” transition for me.

I would want to avoid going through the IB step to get to PE. I know it’s a very long shot but worth a try given my age and experience.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!