With what i see in your profile, you seem to have the right raw material with which you can build a solid application to your target schools. McCombs has a great reputation and you had a great GPA and a great GMAT score. CPAs are valuable to the b-school student body but a lot of them apply, so make sure you can differentiate yourself (hint: not many accountants are involved outside work). Being a CFA level one is good too--the rigor of the CFA exam is worse than b-school academics. i like that you have a story to tell by working with PE/hedge fund clients and figuring out you would be good at that. This is the kind of insight and learning that b-schools want you to have figured out prior to b-school and is part of the reason they require work experience from applicants. B-school is not the place to "find oneself," and it sounds like you have done some mature analysis of your strengths and passions. This approach will resonate well with the adcoms, but make sure you more clearly define your short and long term goals. PE, for example, rarely hires freshly minted MBAs, so you should have a plan for the 1-5 year period post MBA that is solid and believable if you want to pursue PE longer term. Let us know if we can help you pull your approach together.
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Bryant Michaels
Admissions Consultant