Hello,

I am seeking guidance on evaluating my profile and suggestions on schools that I can target in January (I know I am terribly late to meet R2 deadlines for 2016).

Background summary: Indian, male, 29 years of age, GMAT score 700 (v40, q47, AWA 6, IR 7)

Academic summary:
B.Tech in Electronics and Communication from Indraprastha University, Delhi with an aggregate of 78.9%;
Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM - generally treated as an MBA equivalent in India), majoring in Marketing (with my minors being in IT) from International Management Institute, a top 20 Indian B-School; I scored a CGPA of 3.18 on a scale of 4 (should be in top 15% of the batch).

Work experience summary:
I had a 6 months stint in the Sales and Channel Development department of a major telecom operator in India. Being a Management Trainee, I was managing a team of around 30 tele-calling, off-rolls employees as a part of my job description.
I have been working for the last 5 years with a leading business research company (KPO sector) and am managing a team of 8-10 analysts. I got a fast track promotion within 2.5 years (against the average of 3 years) to the position of a manager, and have been handling multiple projects for international clients. With time, my responsibilities have expanded from just project delivery to now people management, business development, skill development, process improvement, and solution innovation also. I have performed reasonably well in the company and am seen as one of the top performers (with a few awards coming my way consistently). I am currently managing 3 US client accounts and 1 Indian client account and requires me to continuously engage with clients over tele and video conferences and e-mails. I am stationed in Delhi/NCR, India. I am again expecting a fast tracked promotion in a month's time.

Extra curricular and volunteering/community service summary: Overall thin, with most of the activities being intra/inter college competitions, organizing multiple events (school, college, organization levels), being the secretary of my alma mater's marketing club (organizing a host of activities as a part of this), playing table tennis and billiards, and being a casual blogger. Besides, I have a strong passion towards process and product innovation, something that I have been actively exploring for the past 18 months at my current organization.

Long term goals: A little too broad, with interest areas being in Strategy/Analytics consulting (in direct continuation to my current role), Product Marketing (directly aligned to my graduation in Marketing), and Operations in that order. Outright exclusions from my list are Human Resources, Finance and Accounting.

With R2 applications of rank 12-25 US B.Schools closing in, I really need to pick my best few (maybe 3). In my opinion, my profile and GMAT make the top 12 a big stretch. Based on my profile (I know some schools may frown upon a second MBA) and score, could you please suggest which schools should I be rather focusing on right now?

Also, would my chances start decreasing from next year onward (due to my age and increasing number of years of experience) for a full time MBA (I am not much interested in an E-MBA right now)? I was hoping to apply next year with a better GMAT (aiming for 750) and improved profile (a promotion, some community service), but don't know whether that will help really or not (unable to decide the trade off between increasing age, experience AND better GMAT).

Thanks, Rajat!