Zoolie,

Thanks for your note. Your solid academics and 3 years of I banking experience gives you the raw materials to be competitive at top schools.

As you can guess, the key issue you face is your gap in employment. To successfully address a gap in employment, ideally you need to convey these three things:
1) You left your last job on good terms (not fired for performance)
2) You were productive during your time off (traveling, volunteering, etc)
3) You have since gained a new job that is consistent with your future career.

It sounds like you left your last job on good terms and that you spent the first 6 months of your gap traveling. Hopefully you can show that the last 6 months were spent in a productive manner as well. Thus, your current task is to address the third point.

Obviously, I realize that the job market is tough these days, but I strongly suggest that you try to line up something soon. You will be at a disadvantage if you apply to business school with a 12 month gap in employment and without at least a plausible path to employment in 2009.

If you are able to line up a new job by January, then you could apply in Round 2 with a good response to the gap in employment issue. However, if you need more time to line up a job/internship, then you might consider waiting another year to apply. Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions about your strategy.

Sincerely,

Eliot Ingram
Clear Admit LLC