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I'd actually do the Big 4 now that youve got some time till school. Crush your GMAT. You cant do anything about your GPA now (not that its bad or good or anything...its just in the past). Take some courses...practice. Take a GMAT- spend the 300 bucks to do it for real and see approx where youre at. Bulge bracket...you might be screwed. So am I- didnt decide to be a businessman until just after college. And Princeton said they had enough ladykilling manwhores on campus and didnt need me. Oh well. Fuck the JD if youre not really interested in that (and youll have a CPA anyway). The analyst position for you is a pipe dream. Dont sweat it though. Find a sweet school you want to go to that is reasonable to get into. Find a bunch and apply to them. They have to let someone in.
Or show the woman doing the HBS interview your hog and start looking for places in Cambridge. With a CPA and 3.5 and couple years work experience (at a Big 4), Id say you could get into a top 20-30 school with a 660 GMAT. What a top 30 gets you...who the fuck knows. By the time you get out youll go all mushy and get a gig at some ad company in NYC anyway...
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Thanks for all the input. I've actually been speaking to my old boss (a JD/CPA who started at Big 4) and have started coming to the same conclusion. I figure I could spend the next two years at a Big 4 and in the mean time I might decide that I-banking isn't for me or a hell of a lot of other things, but it would give me time to pass the CPA and rock GMATs, plus open up a few other doors. For the time being it's probably the best career option, plus it will give me a chance to get back to snow (if only I hadn't shipped out my Praxis to Spats today...)
It's kind of funny to read back and see how my approach ahs changed in the last few days, but thanks to all who piped in and gave me some input to help figure things out. Now all I have to do is try and get an interview (hoping for Denver, but who knows, SLC or Seattle have interesting ski options even though I'm guessing my days will be limited in the winter. I figure this option will still let me get 30 or so days in as I can blitz the slopes before busy season starts.