Background:
29, male, black, from Africa.

Education:
- Bachelors in Engineering at #1 university in my country.
- Ranked in top 10 in college entrance exam (out of 400,000+ students) and received a full merit-based scholarship.
- Graduated with first class and CGPA of 7.7/10 (relatively high).

Work Experience:
- 2 years LDP at the largest company in the country.
- 4 years in project management at the same company working on strategic projects with C-levels and GMs (no title change but several substantial salary increases).
- 1 year gap due to civil war, I had to leave the country.
- Currently working in the UAE but only for less than 2 months.

GMAT:
I took GMAT FE and scored 635. I'm planning to retake but there's no guarantee for the score to increase.

Why MBA:
I want to break into consulting. I didn't get the chance in my country because the industry is non-existent there. When I came to the UAE I couldn't break into the field and that why I'm eager to get an MBA.

EC:
Very minimal, it won't be of any noticeable advantage to my case and no need to mention them here.

Schools:
- I am open to your suggestions on which schools I might have a good chance of getting accepted in.
- Initially I wanted to apply to a wide range of schools to increase my chances:
FOMO: GSB
Reach: CBS
Target: Cornell, Ross, UCLA
Safety: Rice, USC, Rotman
- After taking the GMAT I became doubtful of the school selection I had in mind.