Hi hoodprincess,
Thank you for your post. Here are a few reactions:
- You should not entertain applying in Round 3 of an application season to any program (except in the most extenuating of circumstances, which is not the case here). Round 3 is an nearly impossible round at pretty much every program and for pretty much every candidate, let alone when you're considering three of the most competitive and highly regarded programs in the world. I strongly recommend that you consider pushing to Round 1 of the following season. As a 2016 graduate, applying with two years of experience to enroll with three is pretty early and quite difficult anyway. Two years of experience doesn't give you much time for promotion, advancement, or impact to cover in essays and recommendations.
- You should absolutely widen your scope beyond Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. You have a nice GRE score, but pretty much every candidate out there should walk into an application strategy assuming Harvard and Stanford are not going to happen. (Obviously Wharton is no picnic either, it's just not on the same hyper-competitive plane as HBS and GSB.) That doesn't leave you with much of a school strategy. To be completely candid, I don't see any of Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton happening for you at this juncture. Maybe you could muster your way into an outside chance at Wharton if you apply in 2019 for 2020 enrollment and bolster your profile in the meantime. Between now and then, you should really take a hard look at what schools are out there, what they each have to offer, and which align with your interests. You should go through a proper school selection process and arrive at an appropriate, diversified strategy.
- I see that you noted your citizenship, but can you please clarify where you were raised, where you went to college, and where you've worked (geographically)? Along similar lines, I encourage you to read through the following (excellent) GMAT Club post about the admissions chances for Indian applicants. That should help frame your expectations and further your understanding how insanely challenging a "top-school-only" strategy would be.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/mba-admissio ... 39142.html- Yes you can use a recommender from a previous employer. If you've had two jobs, then one from your current supervisor and one from the previous makes for a nice balance.
- Your ECs and career goals need work. The ECs seem to all about you and your creative interests. What about impacting others, teamwork, the community? On the career goals side I'm not sure I follow what you mean by "public sector consulting with a focus on financial services." Can you please clarify or elaborate? What kind of venture do you want to start long-term? In what ways is it connected to the accrual of knowledge, skills, and experience that you'll have gained along the way? In what ways is it connected to your "passion and purpose"? How does who you are and what you've done to this point plus the MBA lead to your short-term goals? And then to your long-term goals? What drives these goals? Why these goals? What relevant knowledge, skills, experience do you already have? What knowledge, skills, experience do you lack and how exactly do you plan to acquire those via each particular program?
You don't need to answer all of these these questions... or have answers to them right now. They are simply rhetorical questions for you to deeply consider as you continue to refine your goals, schools, reasons for an MBA, how to bolster your profile, and when to apply over the next several months. All of that is a process. I hope this review helps. Happy to chat some time. Please feel free to sign up for a Free Consultation via the link below!
Best Regards,
Greg