R3 this season or R1 next season or accept admission

[digvijayk]

Hi,

GMAT- 720 (V41 Q48)
TOEFL iBT- 115
GPA - 3.3 (Chemical Engineering)(was top 15% of the class- its a tough major)
UPWARD TREND IN GPA - initially was 2.5 level due to adjustment issues, then straight As last 2 years.
Work Ex - 46 months (by matriculation) (Never switched companies- IT company with annual revenue of $6 Billion)
Brand - Knowledge Sharer/ Trouble Shooter

Key Points of the Profile:
1. Selected Facilitator of the 25th edition of the cultural herald intra-org e-zine of my employer.
2. Authored 2 books on kindle - selling successfully- By word of mouth promotions only!
3. Selected from among 30 applicants for the post of Think-Tank Member of the same e-zine.
4. Elected Class Rep of my class in college and helped introduce extra classes not in curriculum but considered important by students.
5. Won competition for post of commentator for Inter-University Sports Meet during college.
6. Promoted 6 months before peers- at work.
7. Conducted a market research(under supervision of an in-house business consultant)- the report's results were utilized to modify my department's business strategy. Received appreciation from all.
8. Initiated a YouTube channel for providing free test prep and touched the lives of over a hundred people directly.
9. Created study groups for weak students during college days and helped them secure placements.
10. Trained new team mates at work on various tech and other aspects.
11. Sponsored a child's education for a year and am personally involved even now.
12. Won inter-school essay writing competition, wrote articles for school and college magz and was on the editorial board as well.

The main thrust of my profile is that I have created study groups in college, used to teach classmates so that they'd gain placements and they did, came to work- trained new teammates and submitted knowledge documents, created a youtube channel to provide free education, created blogs and then wrote ebooks to reach as many people as possible, facilitated the magazine- which is a position similar to an editor's with tonnes of other challenges, including bringing together creative talent (from within the organization)from across the globe to deliver high quality content within strict timelines and finally have a general knack of helping people receive education/training/knowledge.

Goal - Business Consulting in IT with further goal of setting up my own firm 5 years post mba.

Why Goal ? Because I worked under the supervision of an in-house business consultant, carried out a market research, analyzed the data gathered and synthesized with other information to pin-point specific market areas in which to invest. Did a lot of other similar sort of work, but mainly, I know specifically what I want to do even as a consultant.

Other extra-currics/Hobbies - Participated in various cultural events at work and was also member of the movie club in engineering college(responsible for editing n screening movies in the auditorium, managing video recordings during various annual events, etc.)

Target Schools - All Focusing on consulting. Have secured a couple of admissions at good institutes with scholarships. But due to a late GMAT, have not been able to prepare apps for top schools that well, except Cornell.

My fear is that I am a bit late in the admissions cycle to apply to some of the schools I "fit" in to - specifically Cornell(round 3-Jan 30). I have been talking to alums, current students, researching in other ways, and have really put in a lot of work. But, as mentioned I already have some offers with scholarships which came about when I had a lower GMAT score earlier - round 1. The dilemma is that i WANT to go(not NEED to go) this year only! I am 25 and I don't want to be any older while entering the MBA class. But, I can only get an MBA once.

Is it too late for me to apply to cornell and similar good schools ? Should I wait ?
What other schools do you believe I "fit" in ?

When should one wait or when should one apply in R3 ?