Totally lost and not sure what to do in order to achieve my

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Hello all,

I am a 22 year old student in Economics, I will be 23 once I graduate in 2016.

My GPA is 3.2 unfortunately. However my school only counts all years after first year as GPA. If I can work really hard, by taking extra courses this year (which will mean that I will graduate with 25% more courses than needed) I can try to increase this to a 3.8 (which will be 3.6-3.7 totally over 4 years). Also I have one year of delayed study, however I guess the extra course load will compensate for that).

I also still have the opportunity of doing a masters degree at a decent, not top, university. Obviously if I take take I plan for the 4.0 GPA.

I have not yet taken the GMAT.

I do not have any work expierence as I have been self employed and also play poker profesionally during my studies.

I also have had problematic health issues throughout my undergraduate, having been to a neurologist, internal disease, ENT, and others. This led to emotional problems and obviously a loss of motivation.

My question to you is:
- Would it be wise to pursue a masters degree first before going to work?
- Would it be a silly idea to start a new undergraduate study in econometrics or physics? I would really like to do that, but my end goal is an MBA.
- Would it be a silly idea to do an extra year of undergraduate and by doing so getting a law degree?
- Would working for a options trading company hurt my chances for getting admitted at the top programs?
- Would you mention playing poker (succesfully on a profesional level) on your admission?
- Will a summerschool in leadership at LSE/Harvard add any value?

Assuming:
- I graduate with a 3.6GPA (with 25% more courses than needed)
- Get a 3 month internship at a top 10 investment bank
- Be either an option/ETF trader or risk analyst at a trading firm for 1 to 3 years
- Do volunteer work besides that
- Get a balanced GMAT of 700+

What would be my chances of a top 10 school?

Thanks so much, amazing!

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by Alexbr@ClearAdmit » Sun Nov 15, 2015 11:52 pm
your story will be a little unorthodox, but it does appear you have the aptitude to do well. I would focus on getting as strong a GPA as you can and graduate as soon as you can, to get out there and start your professional career. If poker has been an important part of your life, then yes, it should be mentioned. Obviously it presents some risks, but those risks can be mitigated depending on how you address it in your application. cheers, alex
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Mon Nov 16, 2015 10:38 am
I would most definitely get some professional experience before you apply. In general, you have a good shot if that is your profile; you just need to tell the right story.
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by bleiggge » Mon Nov 16, 2015 12:04 pm
Thanks a lot for your comments!!!

Just so summarize, both of you would not recommend doing a masters/extra bachelor?

Thanks a lot.