Dear Wisebrain,

Thank you for your inquiry. You have oustanding grades and a solid GPA, so the question really hinges on how your profile will change in other ways (work experience and community involvement) if you delay your application by a year.

If you remain at work without the promotion, will you have simply more work experience, or will you gain better work experience - more leadership, more responsibility, more international involvement, etc. Similarly, if your community involvement is weak, will another year at work, even if it's doing essentially the kind of work you're doing now, allow you the time to enhance that part of your profile?

The schools you mention - HBS in particular - tend to skew young, so two years of experience (three by the time you matriculate) is a very typical amount of time. The answer really comes down to what the best use of that extra year is and whether it can make your application stronger.

If you want to elaborate further we can continue this discussion and see if I can offer more specific advice once I have more detailed information on your profile.

Best wishes,

Jessica