@sawzaki:
This is a great profile. Responding to your questions:
Q: Would schools consider national service as counting towards WE? The reason I ask is because in Singapore, we are generally required to serve 2 years prior to entering university.
A: In a way, yes. It might not be "traditional" work experience, but it'll be a strong credential. In effect, it's going to be just as good whether it's technically classified as work experience.
Q: Are there are any schools in particular you would recommend that I should target? I confess that I've only just started the application journey and have yet to fully know the profiles of each school. I would realistically place HSW as reach schools.
A: If you want to go into consulting, you should put an emphasis on those programs that are best geared for it in terms of academic and recruiting. The M7 all do well though Booth and Columbia are more finance-focused relatively speaking. Duke (Fuqua), Michigan (Ross), Virginia (Darden) and Yale (SOM) are in the top 15 and are very consultant friendly.
Separately, for your career essays in your applications, you might want to avoid MBB as a short-term goal. Not only is it overplayed but it's not terribly interesting. Even if you ultlimately pursue that path, you should try to find a more exciting short-term goal to lead your to your long-term one.
As you begin your journey, please sign up for a free consultation if you would like to discuss further and might be interested in exploring our various admissions consulting services:
https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/