A finance guy who had a 2.94 UG GPA from a us news top 30 school, 660 on the GMAT, been working professionally for a fortune 100 company for 2 years, interned for 3 years before that and was involved in a few extra currics in school. what are some MBA schools within reach? Is Emory an option too? Thanks
What leadership positions have you held in organizations in undergrad? Have you received any promotions? Do you have recommenders who will give you amazing recommendations or just good recommendations? are you African American or Hispanic? Have you worked or lived in a country outside of the U.S.? lots of factors at play beyond what info you gave as to admissions chances. Also, will you continue with finance or switch to something else?
Scoring above a 700 on the GMAT will be very helpful. Also, consider taking the GRE if you think you are tapped out on the GMAT.
If unable to improve the GMAT score, then I would focus on schools that might not get the very top recruiters, but are brand name universities with overall strong alumni networks. For example, Notre Dame, Rice, and Vanderbilt. If you improved your GMAT by 30-50 points, then you would greatly improve your chances at these schools. Emory is an option, but you would almost certainly have to improve your GMAT score unless the rest of your resume was unique and exception.
Class profile for Emory MBA Class of 2017–looks like you are in the ball park DS1.
http://goizueta.emory.edu/degree/fulltimemba/two_year_mba/class_profile.html
I would take a look at Boston College – the average GMAT is 660 and the school has a very strong finance concentration. Also, the employment stats are higher than some schools in the top 25 (in terms of amount employed within 3 months, and starting salary is $100k+) so I think the school is underrated.
http://poetsandquants.com/2015/11/16/meet-the-boston-college-mba-class-of-2017/
Other reach schools would be Vandy, Rice, Notre Dame, and Georgetown.