Hi,

Thanks for your post. Based on the information you shared regarding your work experience and academics, I think it is fair to say that while you certainly can be competitive for admission at the programs on your list, you will need to find a way to stand out in the applicant pool.

Since you don't have leadership experience in your role at work, you'll want to look to your extracurricular activities for examples for your essays. Same goes for teamwork since it sounds like you tend to work solo for the most part. Using examples from activities outside of the office has it's advantages since these experiences tend to be a bit more unique than a run of the mill office example.

As far as safety schools, there really isn't such a thing anymore. Given how competitive bschool admission has been the last few years, I generally advise my clients to apply to 4-6 schools with a mix of reach, target, and lesser ranked/less competitive programs. I suggest you use your goals as a starting point and then think about other factors such as class size and location to figure out your next tier of schools. Perhaps USC? It could be a great fit and you already have a nice connection to the school.

Regards,

Stacey