The Application Process

Hi Everyone,

So I currently work as an accountant / financial analyst at a tech startup and I was out of the blue offered in Transaction Advisory Services at an ibank (TAS =/= ibanking but you work closely with deal teams and clients). I was planning on applying to b-school this year (Booth, Wharton, Berkeley, plus others in that tier) and looking to get into ibanking after I graduate. My current company is very supportive of me applying this year to potentially start in 2016. The TAS company has already told me that if I wanted to apply next year they would be completely supportive and would write me a letter of rec with a great name attached to it. Regardless, my plan is to return to school. It is just a matter of when and there lies my dilemma. I have 5 years of work experience and I don't know if one more year in an industry closer to what I'm looking to do after I graduate is needed or I'm already a strong candidate to get in this year. Is it worth taking the risk of foregoing the new job and staying with my current company to apply this year? Money isn't a factor here as both jobs will be paying exactly the same and bonus / stock potentials are similar.

An abridged version of my background is below.

Background:

GMAT Score: 740 (98th percentile verbal, 67th percentile quant, 97th percentile overall)

Professional:
--4 years public accounting experience at mid-tier and Big 4. Took on leadership roles early and starting leading my own teams of 2-10 staff 1 year ahead of the rest of my cohort. Represented firm at recruiting events. Facilitated new hire trainings.
-- 1 year industry accounting / financial analyst experience. Promoted to a Sr. position in 6 months. Developed completely new financial analyses for the company that has provided new insight into the company's performance.
--CPA license

Education:
--3.3 GPA from UC school
--Definitely didn't apply myself as much as I could but there were extenuating circumstances
--Various student leadership positions
--Continuing educations via Coursera and Udacity
--Hoping that my GMAT score, continued interest in related fields, and CPA will help illustrate that my undergrad GPA and courseload are no longer representative of who I am)

Extracurricular:
--75+ hours donated to building homes for low income families
--Member of multiple committees for nonprofit focused on success of first generation college students (I myself am a first gen graduate)
--Career mentor of a student in the above organization
--Work with shelter dogs

Thanks for sharing your profile. If I am understanding your dilemma I think there could be some value add by taking on the new role. You are a strong candidate on paper even with the lower GPA score. But the role seems pretty close to your eventual post-MBA goal and given there is no guarantee you will get into any of your target programs even with your competitive profile it seems like spending a year in this role is a nice hedge. Especially since it seems like the opportunity came out of nowhere and it may not be as easy to get a similar role under any other circumstances.

Hope this helps!