Target schools: Columbia, NYU, Wharton

Nationality/Race: White Male

GMAT: 770 (Q49, V47, AWA 6.0)

Education:
- 3.3 GPA at a top 20-40 U.S. public
- Relatively low GPA (sub 3.0) in years 1-2, but 3.6 and 3.8 in years 3 and 4 respectively
- Degree/Major: BBA/Management Information Systems

Extracurriculars:
- Serve on regional volunteerism committee at my firm
- Outside of that role, also organized several community service activities in the past few years
- In college, co-founded a club sports team and served as treasurer

Other:
- Letters of recommendation should be very strong

Motivation for MBA: In the past year or so, I began working with my firm's securitization practice. Prior to that time, I had worked primarily with risk management at financial institutions. Going forward, I would like to move beyond compliance and operational securitization services, and begin to lead projects related to transaction structuring, valuation, etc. I see the MBA as a way for me to gain both the finance and organizational leadership experience necessary to succeed in that role and to make me a stronger partner candidate eventually.

I am applying to NYU prior to the 1/15 R2 deadline. I am also applying to Columbia regular decision by 1/15. These applications are essentially ready to go, with the exception of one letter of recommendation. I also considering applying to Wharton in R3. Based on my practice GMAT scores, I did not initially consider Wharton a feasible option, but with a 99th percentile score on my recent exam, I am reconsidering.

Now for my questions:
1) Based on my profile, is it reasonable to apply to Wharton in R3? I understand that the round is a bit of a lottery.
2) Is a Columbia regular decision app submitted in early January essentially equivalent to a R2 app at most schools?
3) In your opinion, are my target schools reasonable based on my profile? One last sanity check would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.