Strategy PhD Profile Evaluation PLEASE

[anjinsan]

am planning on applying to Strategy PhD programs for Fall 2010; but I'm even debating whether or not I will be admitted to any programs (yet alone anything in top 20). I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could honestly evaluate my profile:

Age: 26

Nationality: Turkish

GMAT: 750

Undergrad GPA: 3.1 - BS in Finance. GPA lower than would like it to be, but I was a scholarship NCAA D-1 student-athlete with not much time to study.

Graduate GPA: 3.4 - MBA in Strategy & Finance. Top 30 b-school. (Top grades for strategy & economics courses).

Research Exp: Paid Research Assistant for INSEAD PhD at b-school for Operations Management Strategy.

Work Experience: MBA Summer Associate @ Goldman Sachs in New York.

Letters of Rec: 3 very good LORs (INSEAD PhD, Stanford PhD, Cornell PhD). All b-school professors in Strategy, Economics, and Operations Management.

Do I have a shot of getting into any Strategy PhD programs? If so, which programs should I target? Any advice going forward between now and January? Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

[cooperstreet]

I don't know what its like in MBA programs, but a 3.4 in a policy sci or history MA program isn't very good.

[belowthree]

I'm not familiar with your field, but I'm familiar with some of your questions ("Will I get anywhere?" "Which should I target?" etc...)

Shoot broad. Look beyond the top 20, look beyond the top 50. Don't apply to any place you hate, but there's plenty of places outside the top 20 you could probably be comfortable calling home. Find them and send them applications.

I ended up turning down an unfunded top 10 in my field school for a funded outside the top 50 in my field school because I realized at the end of the day not only do I need the funding, but I would be more comfortable calling the outside the top 50 school home. You can do good research in your basement if you have to. A good school helps and does a lot and there's certainly a few other schools I would have gone to if I had the choice, but if you can find a place you don't mind calling home, you can find a way to do good work there.

[rogue]

I don't know what its like in MBA programs, but a 3.4 in a policy sci or history MA program isn't very good.

From what I know, GPAs tend to be lower at highly competitive MBA programs. Whether it's true or not, I'm clinging to this theory since my MBA GPA is also a 3.4.