Dear Consultant,

Thank you in advance for your help!

I am a 24 year old female Indian. I am going to apply for matriculation in Fall 2009. I, too, have doubts about my candidacy. I am sorry if this post is too long. In summary, my strengths are my academic background and cultural experiences, weakness is my short work history. I am targeting schools among the top ten. Is that realistic?

My other challenge is that my current employers do not encourage pursuing an MBA. I am not sure how to approach them for a recommendation. I am not comfortable disclosing where I work.

Target schools - Duke, NYU, Wharton, UT-Austin
GMAT- 740 (49 Math, 42 Verbal), AWA 5.5

Work experience:
1. I have been working as a Software Engineer for a well recognized but small company for 3 years. I don't have any management experience, so coming up with examples for leadership experiences is hard. I was promoted 1.5 yrs ago from Software Engineer I to Software Engineer II.

2. I work in the U.S office now. I have also worked in the British office.

3. I volunteer at a Women's organization. I write Marketing material for their clients and help with their websites.

4. I worked part-time during my undergrad- as a tutor, grader and lab assistant.

Academic background:
I was a star student in High School. (I guess we shouldn't delve that far back in our applications though?)

I have a 3.95 GPA in Computer Science from UT Austin and a 4.0 in my Business minor. I also have a minor sequence in Mathematics with a 4.0. So my quant. background is strong.

I took some courses at a community college and transferred the credit to UT Austin. Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to the grades and got B's and C's. Will that count against me?

I am taking courses towards an International Business certificate at another UC Berkeley.

Extracurricular involvement:
Between work, classes and volunteering (which is a partly a hobby- I like writing), I don't have time for any hobbies. I do take dance classes once a week and workout regularly.

I like reading and painting, but don't have much time for either.

I adopted a dog several years ago. In a single household, raising a dog is time consuming. So, I haven't had much time to pursue other interests. Will that work against me?

I am also concerned that I didn't have many extracurriculars during my undergrad, between maintaining my GPA and working, it was next to impossible.

Awards, patents, publications
1. I was on the university honor roll for several semesters.
2. I am a member of the National Scholars Collegiate Society
3. I have several awards from high school, does that count?

Special Experiences:
I have lived in 4 countries for at least 3 months and worked in 2 of those.
I was born in India, but did not grow up there. We moved around a lot, so I have been exposed to various cultures. I find traveling and new experiences exhilarating. I have learnt 5 languages (but only speak 2 of them now). I was 17 when I moved to the U.S to start my undergrad. I came here alone- that was such an adventure for me!

Also, I prefer a collaborative environment to a competitive one.

Thank you so much for your help.