Hi,
I just took my GMAT yesterday and will start doing my application next week.
Below is my profile. Can you please help to see if the range of schools is ok for me. Thanks

GMAT: 720(Q50/V37)
GPA: 3.3 <-- (a bit worried about this)
Major: Computer Science
Undergrad Uni: National University of Singapore
Age/Nationality: 24/Vietnamese
Graduated: 12/2009
Experience: 2 years

Resume:
Work:
- Assistant Director - Professional Services Consultant @ Moody's : 10/2009 - Present (Australia)
- Associate - Product Engineer @ Moody's : 01/2009 - 10/2009 (Singapore)
- Research Internship @ INRIA (French National Institute of Computer Science and Automation): Summer 2008 (France)
- Summer Analyst @ Credit Suisse: Summer 2007 (Singapore)

Academic:
- Highest score for Final Year Project (A)
- Publish and Present research paper in an international conference (Conference was held in Indonesia)

Exra Curriculum Activities:
- Volunteer to Summer Program in Vietnam to help financially disadvantaged families in Country Side
- Volunteer to help out families having post-Vietnam war effects
- Donate to help out families of Vietnam soldiers in Vietnam war before

Schools I'm thinking of applying to are:
Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Stanford.

I don't know if all of the schools mentioned above are difficult for me. I kind of need to study next year so I would like to have at least 2 safe options.

Can anyone recommend which school should I choose?

Thank you very much.
Tony

Hi,
After finishing MBA, i would like to work in a finance firm (like my current employer Moody's) or do some management consultancy.

Thanks for your help.

If I were you, I'd only apply to Harvard and Stanford if you have money to burn -- I think that your profile has near insurmountable odds against those pools.

Columbia seems like a good reach school to leave in, and in my opinion, ought to be your #1 target so much that you should apply ED.

NYU and Cornell are good fit schools that I think you have a very reasonable chance of acceptance at. I would add Duke and Carnegie Mellon to your research list. Maybe an outside look at Boston College and Rochester as potential safety schools.
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Looking quickly at last year's Cornell thread, there was a nice success rate for R3 candidates at Cornell. If your application is going to suffer by pushing it too quickly, I would definitely hold back for R3. Just stay out of Cornell R4.
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