Peer Profile Review: 27M, UAE Based, Indian Ethnicity, 730 GMAT

Hi All. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I got waitlisted post-interview at Ross R1. Do you mind please evaluating my profile and some of the questions I have below

Why I want an MBA
I'd like to use my MBA to transition from consulting to a corporate development role at an early-stage start-up. Throughout my career, I have always been drawn to building things and developing new solutions, be it trying to develop a new recruiting approach to improve gender diversity or whilst at university when as President of a club I had to find a way to raise capital in a very short amount of time. I have done a combination of strategic/implementation work and feel an MBA would provide me with the opportunity to gain a more well-rounded knowledge about how to run a start-up.

Why I want one now:
I have noticed that throughout my career I am often on projects that are attractive to what the partners can sell currently. Typically this involves doing work for mining or legacy companies. I do not see a lot of my skills or experience being useful in 10+ years time if I stay in consulting. If I were to stay for another year in consulting, I would hit Manager and it becomes a little harder to transition as I might be seen as a “career consultant”.

Background
• Work experience:
o 5 years at current big 4 consultancy – 2 promotions
o I used to work in the strategy team and now do a lot more Infrastructure work, however, it’s mainly implementation.
o I have worked in both Australia and the UK, and was fortunate to gain a transfer to the UK due to high performance/relevant experience
o At work, I led our recruitment efforts, and came up with some innovative ways to improve the team’s gender balance from ~15% to ~35%, for a team of 60+ that was heavily mining focused this was significant
o I also delivered and led a lot of the Tableau, Excel training nationally which led to follow-on work.
• Extracurriculars
o Volunteered at an orphanage for 4 months (during uni), helped a female student convince the administration to let her attend university/live in a hostel rather than get married, the first time a female student from that orphanage has attended college
o Heavily involved in clubs at university – was the President of a team of 40 people, turnover of 150K+, awarded club of the year. Also sat on a number of university boards.
o Have minor EC’s post uni, have mentored students through pro-bono consulting projects but not as strong as during uni
o Play a lot of chess and attend a lot of football matches (World Cup in Russia, Attended a domestic football match in over 17 countries)
• Undergrad school / major:
o Top Australian University (top 4)
o Double Major of Commerce / Finance
• Race: Indian, born and brought up in Australia
• Sex: Male
Stats
• GMAT 730 (Q48, V41, IR7, AWA 5)
• GPA: 5.8/7, converts to a 3.4/4.0

My questions for you:
• I was recently put on the waitlist for Ross, which has made me question my school selections, are the following within reach given my profile?
Booth, Kellogg, Haas, Columbia, LBS, Stern, Yale SOM
• I am not looking at lower-ranked schools at present as they don’t have a reputation in Australia, I was leaning towards Melbourne Business School as a backup, are there any other schools I should be considering?
• Do you think I am viewed in the ‘Australian’ bucket or the ‘Indian’ bucket?
• As an Australian Citizen, I can qualify for an E3 Visa (makes it easier to get a job as I don’t have to enter the lottery/requires less sponsorship requirements) is this worth mentioning in my essays, I have a feeling I may have been WL’d due to a start-up goal and being international?
• My backup goal is to transition to a Tier 1 Consulting Firm, aiming for the Middle East, Infrastructure. Is this a better goal for schools like LBS/Yale?
• I applied to Ross without a GMAT score and thought I did well in the interview, would a 730 materially help get me off the waitlist and when would you recommend I submit an update?

Thank you in advance for your feedback and consideration, I really appreciate it.