Hello everyone,

I am still fairly new to the application process but would love to get advice on my profile/school range.

Undergraduate: B.S. Business Administration (Kenan-Flagler) and B.A. in Psychology from UNC (GPA: 3.33, 3.45 if one poor semester is excluded due to personal circumstances)
GMAT: 770 (49Q 48V) 6.0 AWA - Best part of my profile
Work Experience: 5 years out (2 years working for wireless tech venture in Charlotte, NC, started out of private equity fund, well-funded, great entrepreneurial experience), currently spent the last year working part-time for University of Pennsylvania doing community development work and also am independently contracted to do high-profile projects for Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The Wrench: I resigned (by choice, very amicably) in summer 2008 from my position and then spent ~2 years traveling and living internationally (~10 months total in 10 countries) and volunteering to support non-profits I was passionate about.
Career Goals: Revolve around the combination of my entrepreneurial training and non-profit experience to create a social enterprise.

I am inclined to take a shot at the top 3 schools as well as some others in the top 10, but trying to get a feel for whether that is realistic.

Any advice you could provide would be most appreciated:
H/S/W - Worth my time to apply? Or hail-mary chances?
Any other good fits in the top 10 - Interested in Berkeley, MIT, Kellogg.

Would appreciate any advice in framing experience as well. Thank you for your time.

Hi Jackson,

Thanks for writing in. And congratulations on a fantastic GMAT score. I think the run of top schools are in reach for you -- including H/S/W. Rather than looking at your resignation as a weakness, embrace it as a differentiating point. You didn't just leave your job to travel, but rather you volunteered with causes that you are passionate about, and that directly links to your post-MBA goal of social enterprise. This should be the main topic of your goal statement and I'm sure your travel experience provides rich essay material as well. I'd consider you as competitive for the top-5.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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Daniel, I appreciate the reply and your encouragement. I will take to heart your advice about framing my experiences and addressing them head-on.

Thanks for taking the time to post here and best of luck going forward.