Dear nkgmat,

You are certainly on your way to building a competitive foundation for your future applications. Based on your post, your work experience is interesting and a little unusual for Indian applicants--which will be an advantage for you. Your CGPA is quite high and your 700 GMAT is in range. I'm not sure you need to increase your GMAT, but a higher score won't hurt you if you think you can increase your score. Worst case scenario--you apply with a 700 which is pretty darn good. You also have some extracurriculars you can include and hopefully have some interesting stories you can work into your essays and interviews from those experiences. Whether or not to wait is really a decision for you to make on if you are ready to go to business school next fall. By the time you enter in fall 2011, you will have close to 5 years experience which is about right. The only reason to really wait is if you feel you aren't ready or if you know you will have an opportunity at work that you can't pass up (i.e., that will add value to your resume). Think about where you are in your career and where you want to be; then you will know when is the right time to apply.

Good luck,
Lisa

It is hard to know if 20 points will make a significant difference--it might at one school but not at another. A 30+ point increase is more likely to make a difference at any of the schools on your list. As for the schools you note, these are all highly competitive, but I think you should submit a stellar application to them and see what happens. There is no reason to think you are not competitive based on the limited information provided. I also think it is important to apply to 1-2 safety options as a back up plan, so you might want to identify some great safety options that meet your curriculum and career goal needs to apply to in R2.

Best of luck,
Lisa