Get into a top tier US B-school ?

Question

Hi Alex,
 I am listing my information below. It would be great if you could share your thoughts on my chances into 
making it to one of the top 10 B-schools in US. Also if I have to apply to 3 which ones should they be.

Age: 27 (Turning 28 in july)
Nationality: India
Sex: Female

Undergrad: Computer Engineering from a reputed college in India.
I was top of my class for first two years and 2nd for the 3rd and 4th year.

Grad: Master in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Tech
I graduated with a 3.37 GPA but the thing that stand out for me is that I was the only one in the entire class of 2007 who did a
thesis. My thesis work was on something completely new to me and I put day and night together for two years to finish it. My advisor can vouch for that.

GMAT: 720

Work Experience
1) Bay area tech company: From June 2007 till Aug 2010
 I worked in a very competitive bleeding edge technology here for 3 years.
2) Bay area tech comp: Sep 2010 till Present
 I am working in networking here too.

I got promotion within my first year of work and a lot of appreciation from management.

Goals:
Short term: I want to get into a role where I wil be challenged to manage people and technology
Long Term Goal: I want to go back to my hometown and start some sort of organization to help with women education.

Passion:
-I am very passionate about running and do marathons every so often. I even run for charities and raised money for education of poor people through my running.

- I was the Leader of an organisation of new women grads at my company which helped girls to make the transition from college life to professional life, give guidance for being successful in professional life and peer networking in general.

- I have volunteered for a lot of organizations. One that stands out is a Hospice for HIV infected people. I use to volunteer there for 4 hours every week.

- When I was in college I had adopted a poor girl in Bombay and helped her through school education

Will appreciate whatever input you can give.

Thanks,
AJ

AlexMBAApply · Answer

What schools are you hoping for or are interested in?

I can't give you opinions (it's your life, your preferences, your subjective needs/wants -- not mine). What I can do is give you an idea whether your opinions and expectations are realistic or not.

jain83 · Answer

Fair enough

. I am thinking about applying to Stanford, Haas and HSB. I am aware that I would need a backup school but haven't been able to come up with one. Any suggestions there ? Also do you think I stand a chance at the above mentioned schools ?

AlexMBAApply · Answer

To be honest, the top 16 schools will be a stretch. Your sweet spots are more likely going to be in the top 30, such as USC, Texas, Tepper, UNC, Georgetown, Purdue, Indiana and so forth. Schools like Haas will be a stretch.

jain83 · Answer

What do you think I can do/change in my profile to get into the top 10 school. Take Gmat again ?

AlexMBAApply · Answer

You can't fundamentally change who you are in a few months. A lot of it is baked into your profile already (your education/work experience). Best thing to do for your career if you're really interested in b-school is to choose a list of schools that you can realistically get into, and then make the most out of your experience. There are plenty of folks who do just fine coming out of other b-schools.

Get into a top tier US B-school ?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards