Ms. IB Hopeful

You come off as a very likeable candidate, and I think your MBA classmates would love to have you in their courses. You already know the weakest issue with your application: Your 2.77 GPA at the University of Toronto. At least you can tell the story of turning that around in your senior year with a 3.6. That is a super important story to tell admissions. For an Asian or Indian with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, your 710 GMAT will be viewed as just okay (and slightly low for your background and first choice MBA program). If you can provide some legitimate excuse for the low grades (and not that you goofed off and partied), that would make a very big difference. Clearly, you have some great accomplishments, including a promotion at a Big 4 firm and your role in winning a multi-million-dollar deal for your employer. Given your low GPA, I would urge you to retake the GMAT (I know, I hate the test, too). I think you need a higher GMAT to offset your low undergraduate grades and give you a stronger story. You also might include Cornell, NYU Stern and UCLA in your target schools. Cornell has a superb i-banking track that would allow you to get on that path toward a bulge bracket bank. NYU is obvious, and UCLA has a very strong finance group. Good luck to you!