Dear Yankexpat,

Thanks for your post!

The short answer to your question is that I think you could be a competitive candidate at the US top-5 programs.

I am intrigued by the international component of your candidacy and I can tell you that the schools will certainly appreciate the fact that you have lived in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia but are US-educated and have also worked in the States. This is a rare combination.

Your work experience in finance would typically be viewed as somewhat run-of-the-mill for an MBA applicant (2 years in i-banking as an analyst, followed by a move to PE) but the fact that the current phase of your career is taking place overseas should help you to stand out.

Your GPA from ugrad is clearly strong, although I'd like to know which top 25 university we are talking about - especially in light of your GMAT result, which at present is going to be 10-20 points below the average at your target schools. Keep in mind that the GMAT result is often used in tandem with GPA as a way to 'benchmark' the difficulty of the undergraduate institution. While I think you are probably close enough with your score, in order to advise you I'd need to see your undergraduate transcripts to assess the courses taken and I'd also need to fully understand your history with the GMAT exam (number of times taken, etc).

Your XCs certainly sound strong enough to keep you in the running. Just be sure that you look for patterns in your involvement, and that you think about how those themes might play out on the campus of each target school (with regards to your involvement as an MBA student).

You didn't offer any information about your career plans (post-MBA), but I assume this is something you've given some thought to? Ideally, your goals will mesh nicely with some aspect of your past experience to date. Most of the top schools place a fair amount of emphasis on this, so keep that in mind as you develop your plans.

As I stated at the outset of this post, my sense is that you should be competitive at the top programs. It will likely come down to your application materials, interview skills and the support you get from your recommenders. If you'd like to chat further about your profile and career goals, please send your resume to [email protected] and set up a free session.

Best of luck,

Graham