<p>I have a different story from a lot of people here, and basically, I want to know whether applying is even worth my time. When I graduated undergrad - a top 10 liberal arts college with a 3.5 gpa but a humanities major - I thought I wanted to go to law school, but decided to work for 2 years as a paralegal to make sure. As it turns out, being a lawyer sucks, and I decided not to apply. </p>
<p>Since then, I have worked for 2 years for a fairly prominent non-profit organization in D.C., with one promotion and increasing responsibility. I also have a 750 GMAT. </p>
<p>After b-school, I would want either to return to my current field in a role with even more responsibility, or transition to finance/consulting/GM. To do this, I'm pretty sure I'd need to get into a top 10 school. Since my work experience kind of sucks compared to the people with MBB or IB analysts right out of undergrad, do I even have a chance at a top 10 school? Feel free to go hard on me... I want to be very realistic about my chances. Thanks very much for any insight!</p>
<p>Work it. There are some schools that hit above their ranking regionally. Examples: NYU in Finance in NY. UCLA in Finance too and Entertainment. The point is they may not quite be ranked top 10, but if you apply yourself intelligently, you’ll do just fine going to one of them. </p>
<p>Start talking to them, apply with the expectation that you might not get in, but that they will see your seriousness for when you apply again one or two years down the road. Talk to them through the process. Maybe this way you’ll get into a top 10, but if you choose a non-top-10 right, it won’t matter…</p>
<p>Get busy with getting a new position that represents more leadership, entrepreneurship, and/or a step up. Apply yourself outside of work to volunteering in a leadership position.</p>
<p>You’ll do fine, but you’ve got to work hard to make it happen.</p>