Hi, may I ask for a profile evaluation for the schools listed at the bottom?

I originally planned to apply in late 2012 for entry in 2013, but a major personal event (which does not negatively affect my chances of admission) has led me to consider applying now (R2 pretty much) for 2012 entry. I started working in 2007, but only in the last 2.5 years or so have I settled into my current career path. Would it significantly help my chances if I wait one more year (and potentially earn a promotion and add to my extracurriculars along the way)?

1) Basic demographic info:

26 years old, male, Southeast Asian (developing country)

2) Educational Background:

- GMAT: 780, v47 Q51 AWA 5.5
- Passed all three CFA exams in succession in 2 years (from initial registration for the Level 1 exam to final result of the Level 3 exam). I need a little more work experience to be eligible for the charter.
- Undergrad: BS in Engineering (top local school), Full Scholar, Honorable Mention, GPA of 3.3 (out of 4.0) with a clear uptrend as I moved on from general education courses to more specialized science and engineering courses
- Graduate School (did not complete): MS Computational Finance (top local school), full scholar, perfect GPA of 4.0 (out of 4.0) after 4 terms (did not complete due to redundancy with the CFA and incompatibility with my new job's workload)

3) Work experience:

- Current job: Credit Risk Management (analyst), major global financial institution, hired with a promotion from previous job, been here for almost a year so far. I have made a significant contribution aside from my typical duties at work by designing, proposing and managing a new utility for financial analysis, now required for use by my entire unit. It has received strongly positive feedback and involved showing initiative, teamwork, innovation, etc., so I'm thinking I can use it if I get the chance in my essays. I can probably get my recommenders to mention it too.
- Previous job: Capital Markets/Macroeconomic Research (forecasting and investment strategy), major local bank. Duties evolved from simple forecasting and analysis to more complicated risk management and investment proposals. Promoted in less than a year from hiring.
- Other jobs in Real Estate and Management Consulting, although for most of this period (during the early stages of the financial crisis), I was actively looking to get into finance.

4) Extracurriculars:

- Undergrad: Baseball (assistant captain for a year in university), staffer in my university's student publication (won a number of awards for my writing), senior position in an engineering leadership society
- After graduation: Continued baseball in an amateur league (won an award for pitching) for a year or so, but soon concentrated on my postgraduate studies and CFA. Currently taking classes in Mandarin but I'm at a very basic level.

5) Short/Long term goals:

Primarily investment banking, ideally in M&A, which ties in somewhat with my capital markets/macro experience and strong interest in management decisions on matters of financing and business development, which I experienced firsthand in credit risk management. I would be interested in moving to the buy-side in the long run.

Entrepreneurship would be a (very) wild card. At some point I would like to start my own firm, but that's very dependent on when I get a great idea and when I think the time's right. I am not seeing or depending on this happening any time soon though.

My first choice for where to be based would easily be NYC, but any major financial city in Asia, North America or Europe would be terrific.

6) Schools: Which schools have you considered already? Any on your initial short list?

Wharton, Stern, Columbia, LBS, INSEAD, HKUST (I would appreciate some recommendations though, especially for reach or backup schools)

Thanks for the quick reply!

I hope you don't mind if I ask a follow-up question. Would it be ideal to ask for two recommendations from my superiors in my current job (where I think they will probably both write something similar) or would it be better if I get one from my previous boss (who has worked with me in a different job)?

Thanks again,
John