I graduated from a small liberal arts school in Michigan with 3.9 GPA majoring in Economics and Accounting and with a minor in Philosophy. I completed three internships while in school (one in Big 4 audit, one in a Fortune 50 company's accounting department, and one at a market research firm). I also played on the men's golf team for three seasons. For what it's worth, I scored a 31 on the ACT back in high school (not sure if that's even relevant now).
Post-college, I joined the Fortune 50 company and spent two years as a corporate accountant before joining another Big 4 firm in a specialty audit practice focused on derivative/hedge accounting (and will be promoted to Senior this fall). I have three years of total experience at this point and have been considering whether or not to apply to B-schools this fall for matriculation in fall 2017 (at which point I would have four years of total experience--so fairly close to the 5-years average most schools advertise). I am currently in the process of obtaining my CPA license (passed all exams, waiting on the license) and I have also passed Level 1 of the CFA, but haven't yet taken Level 2. I have not yet taken the GMAT.
I would like to attend B-school to strengthen my expertise in finance (other than accounting), to change my career-focus from accounting/auditing to finance/financial services, and also to gain access to a larger, more prestigious network of professionals. Like many others, I am interested in investment banking.
I am curious if applying to top-20 schools will be more difficult because my alma mater is not well known outside of Michigan/Midwest region. Seriously, my alma mater is VERY small - roughly 1,500 students per year. My top choices at the moment are Booth, Ross, Fuqua, Anderson, and McCombs. Any thoughts? I appreciate your help/advice.