Are there risks in applying?

Hey All,

I decided to apply to MBA this cycle pretty late this (my fault) and I tried to cram everything in the past month or so. Now that the deadline is looming, I have some questions about the risk of applying.

First of all, I took the GMAT and got a 660 47Q34V (again my fault for starting to study a few weeks ago) and I'm a 29 M USA(30 early next year). I'm a little pressured to want to apply this cycle because of my age. I have most of essays done.

Are there any risks to apply to reach schools with my stats? Or should I focus on applying to my "target" schools this year and continue to study for the GMAT and apply for the elite schools next cycle if I get a higher score?

My (realistic) reach with my current stats will probably be UCLA and USC. I'm currently planning to apply Cambridge (slight reach) and Ceibs.

Here are my concerns:
1. I don't want my make my recommenders potentially have to write recommendations for two cycles. Therefore, I don't know if I should ask my top recommenders for this cycle (with weaker stats) or ask my second choice recommenders and only ask top rate ones when I do have stronger stats
2. Applying to reach school this year will make me a re-applicant next year. Is it better to apply to schools the first time with better stats? I probably can get a better GMAT score but again, there are no guarantees.


Thank you