Should I apply this year?

[bb11]

GMAT: 730, 48 Quant (76th%) and 42 Verbal (96th%), 8 IR (93rd%), 6.0 Writing
3.51 GPA, B.A. in Psychology from a mid-tier UC (Davis/San Diego/Santa Barbara/Irvine group). Graduated in 2012.
White male. Strong extracurriculars but lacking in leadership roles.

Worked two years at Intel as a sales/marketing analyst. I couldn't stand the Bay Area anymore so I finally quit my job, packed up, and drove to NYC a couple months ago. Got a job as a marketing analytics coordinator at an online video startup about a month ago (building on my previous experience, as I worked in Intel's digital video arm). Obviously I don't have leadership experience yet, and to be honest I don't know that my work accomplishments would stand out. I've got to work on many different types of projects, but all in junior roles.

However, I want to be in management consulting. It seems that continuing to wait to gain more experience is mostly a waste of time, as I don't want to stay in marketing and I'm delaying the doubling or tripling of pay that would come if I hit the average compensation of graduates a top 20 MBA program. I'd like to look at programs that would give me a great shot at consulting somewhere like Deloitte in the Northeast, so programs like Columbia, Yale, Duke, Northwestern, and Michigan would be ideal with Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown as lower-tier targets. Should I apply this year or wait until Fall 2015 to have a realistic shot to be admitted and be able to land a consulting job?

[mbaMissionJenK]

Hiya,

Thanks for posting. Nice GMAT and grades and such, and not bad work experience.... as you have acknowledged, possibly lacking in some leadership and real accomplishments in your professional experience and just started this newer job. So would your app be stronger in another year? Quite possibly. If you are itching to apply now should you consider going for it? Also quite possibly , just be open to better chances at the less competitive schools on your list. Also if you are so interested in management consulting you could always consider taking on a consulting job now even prior to the MBA.. just throwing that out there. Good luck!