Profile Evaluation - 29 years old, Indian Male, Finance, CFA

HI there, Thanks for reaching out. The 3.7 at NYU is great, and it sounds like you have some solid work experience but you are above the average age & your GMAT, while solid, is below average for the very top schools & it sounds like your extracurriculars & leadership experience are limited. Although it's good that you are American, being an Indian male is still tough when it comes to b-school apps; even American Indian males are overrepresented in the application pool.

Assuming your GMAT stays the same, I'd target schools in the 11-20 range. If you can increase your score to something in the 730 range that would make you more competitive for the schools you named, but at the end of the day the scores are also just one piece of the overall puzzle. In order to get into these very top schools it's also critical to show a unique value proposition -- the schools want to know what you can uniquely contribute & why they should admit you vs. someone else who "looks like" you on paper (and may even have higher scores). That value prop is made up of many things: your work experience & the impact you've driven there, your post-MBA goals & why that is your passion, your experiences outside of work (i.e., any factors that have shaped who you are as a person or informed your values), etc. There's no formula when it comes to these apps -- but the one thing that is critical is to differentiate yourself.

If you'd like some help thinking through your strategy & your story feel free to reach out to us. If you email Claudia at claudia@admissionado.com she can set you up with a free consultation with one of our MBA consultants who can take a look at your resume & give you some more targeted thoughts.