Hi there,
It's really difficult for me to say definitively which schools you should apply for without knowing what your personal criteria and goals are. That said, I can offer a profile evaluation and recommend a tier of schools you should aim for - hopefully that will help!
I wouldn't fret too much about the 5 month gap in employment in and of itself, especially if you did something interesting during that time (took the opportunity to run a marathon, get involved in community, etc..?). Either way, address it in a personal statement.
Overall, I would say your academic profile is average (good GMAT but average GPA) but that your professional experience is pretty strong. Having made the transition from banking to private equity, what is your career narrative going to be? Given that you were laid off and had an opportunity to do something new, did you take a step towards what you wrote about in your essays last year? If you are reapplying to schools, will you be able to continue that thread, or perhaps build a new one based on your new experiences? In either case, I think your professional trajectory reads quite well, even despite the 5 month blip.
The real concern to me is the lack of community and extracurricular activities and the lack of a strong leadership profile in general. These are big gaps in your profile right now. With that in mind, I'd recommend that you target schools in the Michigan, Duke, Darden, UCLA range. You may even consider a school like Cornell as a safety.
Hope this gives you a starting point. Best of luck!
Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
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