HSW et al.

Dear Faustini,

I think you are over-analyzing and over-thinking this decision. Why do you need the MSc or MA degree if you plan to get an MBA? Unless you have a solid rationale for how both degrees combined with your professional experience are necessary for your future career plans, business schools will question your need for two masters degrees.

As for when to apply, that depends on when you are ready. You have a competitive profile for your three target schools, despite the minimal extracurriculars, so I think you should apply in R2 if you want to be in business school next fall. There is no disadvantage to applying in R2 versus R1; you just want to get it in by the R2 deadline. Competitive, compelling applicants have a chance in any round, but there are few seats left in R3 which makes R3 a bit of a disadvantage.

Hope that helps. Good luck,
Lisa

Your GPA does not need to be remedied, but if it did, the 770 would probably mitigate it. A 49 on the quantitative section is quite good, so all in all, you should feel good about your GMAT/GPA profile.

Some schools do hold community activities with more import than others, but even at these schools, not having any real community activities is not going to be enough--on its own--to result in rejection. There are usually multiple factors that come into play to cause an admissions committee to either accept or reject an applicant.

Regards,
Lisa