Please evaluate my profile, thank you

[hisoka]

I want to apply for R1 Sept 2010 for. I would like to know what my chances are for the top 5 schools, and how to improve my profile.

Chinese Canadian (1st generation immigrant), male, 26

Gmat: 760 (Q49, V45)
GPA: 2.80, top Canadian University, Engineering program
I have an alternate transcript with 11 business courses, including Accounting, Statistics and Marketing from another university with GPA 4.00.

I have 3 years work experience in the public sector. Promoted twice. Working mostly on Public health systems (food safety, safe drinking water). Started off as an IT guy (developer), but after promotions, I am doing mostly project/systems management.

I have a lot of extracurricular activities. I am President and Founder of a small social enterprise online that supports charities with causes in Africa. I have been profiled by a newspaper, an alumni magazine, a TV reporter, and at least a half dozen blogs.

I am a script writer for a weekly radio program on a prominent radio station for an ethnic minority.

I lead various activities for my church. (Youth related events for 200 or so participants)

In college, I held executive positions in student organizations such as IEEE student branch and FROSH Week.

I have ample time to do some extra preparation before the next R1 deadline. So I need to decide what to do with that time. Should I spend it on expanding my alternate transcript? Would CFA exams be good to further prove my academic ability? Or should I build more leadership experience, since HBS emphasizes leadership?

Please advise. Thank you.

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear hisoka,

I commend you for thinking in advance of writing your applications this fall. You have a competitive profile for many schools and appear to be doing all of the things you should. I'm not convinced you need to take further classes or that taking the CFA is going to have much influence. I would suggest gaining some leadership experience if you feel that is where you are weak. If there are not many opportunities at work, then pursue leadership opportunities in your community and extracurricular activities. All schools are looking for concrete evidence of your leadership potential or successful leadership experiences. Other than that, you should be doing some research on schools and visiting those that you can.

Best of luck,
Lisa