Thanks for your post. There are several key components of your profile which will be attractive to b-schools including your academic performance of top 5% (quite an acheivement from the Indian applicant pool to say the least) as well as a very solid GMAT score. The latter will not help you stand out unfortunately, since many in the Indian applicant pool score well, but when coupled with your high class ranking, it should be a very solid showing for admissions committees. Additionally the key roles you have played at work will illustrate your leadership potential, a very critical element of any b-school application. You come across as having extensive team experience, which is another area important to the adcoms. One of the hardest things to do as an Indian applicant is to differentiate yourself, so I am glad to see some things in your profile to help you stand out. Particularly interesting is the Scientology connection, which will certainly not be a common trait of the "typical" Indian applicant. Publishing a book of poetry will also seem unique in comparison to other apps. Offering a different perspective proves valuable in the classroom and also in the general culture of business schools, so I would say make sure you think on what your collective experience will bring to the table and how it offers something more than the "next guy" with a similar background. Hopefully you can visit some schools which catch your interest so you can start to narrow things down, but I would aim for schools in the top tier. You are a bit old for Stanford or HArvard, but depending on your precise post MBA goals, you might stretch for a school like Booth or Wharton and also take a look at UNC KF or Georgetown as safety schools. In the middle would be an entire range of schools which could be a good fit such as Duke, Virginia, Kellogg, Ross, etc. Etc. Let us know if we can be more helpful.
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Bryant Michaels
Admissions Consultant