Age Limit on Full time MBA

I am former military and I am looking to enter a full time MBA program at 36-37. What challenges will I face being a older prospective student?

@MBAseeker1: I know of atleast 2 people who are enrolled in a top MBA and are 35 years old. Although entering at 36 is really really pushing it, but try to use ur age (and experience) to your advantage. I know it's easier said than done btw. But it can be done if you have a tight story. Best of Luck!

The main challenges that older applicants face in MBA admissions is 1) being too far along in their careers for a FT MBA to make sense and 2) being stuck in a dead end career. I do not believe there is an inherent bias against older applicants simply because of age. If you are just now coming out of the military this is actually the perfect time to pursue an MBA. The onus will be on you to communicate "Why MBA and why now?" but you shouldn't have too difficult a time doing so given your circumstances.

32 or 35 isn’t too old for a FT MBA. I have people in my class who were in their 40s. However, the older classmates were sponsored by their companies to return to a senior management position. The issue with going into a FT MBA program in the mid-30s is that most post-MBA jobs are looking for people between 2-7 years of experience. On the higher end of that range, you can go for the leadership development programs, on the lower end, you can go for investment banking and consulting jobs. If you already have 12-17 years of experience, most of the post-MBA jobs isn’t really suited for you. LDPs are looking to develop leadership pipeline 15-20 years down the road, at which point, you may be retiring. The lifestyle in investment banking or consulting is usually too rigorously for someone in the late 30s, plus you may be too old for the MD or partner track.

I am 33 years Indian unmarried woman...Btech (IT) 2005..then did lecturership in a pvt engineering college from 2005-2008...did Mtech(IT) from Jadavpur University 2008-2010(very reputed)..then joined IBM in 2010-2014..then join Cognizant in 2014 and I am still working in Cognizant,Kolkata..west Bengal,India...want to move to US for MBA with scholarship..I want to know with this career can I get scholarship ?and my chance to get admitted in a decent B school in US?Please help

Hi Sattvic,

I really don think there is an age limit for doing an MBA as long as you can prove yourself as a worthy candidate for the school.Even though you are 32, you have a considerable work ex behind you that can push forth your case as a candidate who further wishes to up his ante from his current role and experience.

I personally know someone who went on to do an executive MBA from Harvard at the age of 55.So age has no limits as long as the mind is ready to absorb knowledge.

Since you are in Chicago,two of the top universities are based out of Illinois - Northwestern and University of Chicago.Both are known for their MBA programs.

Also you mentioned that what kind of MBA course ( Part-time,Weekend,Full time),if you have the time and effort to pursue a full time,I suggest you go for the full time course as it will truly help you get the MBA experience .However i am not discounting the fact that Weekend and Part time are not good,they are also extremely good however one should be aware of the outcomes he expects out of the MBA program to determine which kind of course to pursue.

Hope that helps.

Swati scholarships are tough to get. Usually reserved for the most exceptional candidates of students. But usually those with top GPA, GMATs, and a strong demonstrated fit with the program receive these. Your age is not the problem just need to make a strong case for why you need an MBA

Swati,

B-school admissions depend on a whole lot of factors. The most notable ones are:
1. competitive academic scores and GMAT;
2. Career progression and career worthiness (what impact did you make through your career;
3. Your leadership, business and soft skills;
4. clarity in your carer goals and convincing answers on why you need an MBA.

Your description above does not give a very clear picture of these areas so it will be difficult to answer.

You are on the older side of the applicant pool, so b-schools will really expect you to have very valid reasons for doing an MBA now and from their schools. For this you will have to tell your story well and convince them.

Scholarships are quite elusive for MBA applicants. The adcoms have to realllly like you to offer one. So don't let that be your guiding factor to do an MBA from USA. At the same time, do look into Indian executive MBAs offered by the IIMs, as well as the European MBA programs that are more open to older candidates.

Hi swati66, First of all- your marital status is irrelevant to your B school application! And I would not overthink your age either. While you would be on the older side of applicants for a FT program, you would not be the oldest. What you don't mention is your GMAT? Is it strong? If you want a scholarship you need a strong GMAT in your pool. You have some excellent brands (IBM, Cognizant) and if you can show progression and a compelling case for why the MBA will help, you can have options in US for B school. Being female will help your case. We work with candidates to strategize on best options for scholarships and so this could be a great investment if getting a full ride is your goal. While your age also makes you a good candidate for exec programs, those are far less likely to offer fellowships. Please reach out athttps://stratusprep.com/free-consult/ if you'd like to do a free consult to learn more about how we help candidates strategize for fellowships. Best of luck to you!

In full agreement with MBA Decoder on this one

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

I am 29, working on applying for Fall 2020 with a grad year of 2022. I'll be 30 and have 7 years of experience at matriculation and have both a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering. I originally felt like this was the sweet spot for applying, but I'm now wishing I had done this maybe 1 or 2 years earlier.

Based on statistics I'd be in the upper percentile of most students at matriculation. Is this a problem? How can I get ahead of any "why now" questions using my application?

Not a deal-breaker but definitely a problem if you're applying to Harvard or Stanford. Were the average age is significantly lower.

This is probably a dumb question but is there anyway you can apply sooner? I would recommend that if you can.

I'm not sure what your situation is but if there's a good part-time program available where you live like Chicago or something then consider that for plan B.

Can't really provide you any feedback on the why MBA question until we know ourselves why have you delayed this. This is something you need to work with an admissions counselor on because it would require the effort to get to know you. To come up with something better than I spaced out and missed the mark.

Good thing, it's not really a part of most applications...but it's a part of almost all interviews.

https://mbaprepcoach.com

without knowing further details, it will be difficult to comment. But, i will add the exec MBAs as something to consider.

Think of an MBA as a marketplace for you and the recruiters. Schools do not have a problem with your biological age. Their problem is their insecurity about producing a success story out of you. They think that you will turnout to be an unhappy customer or an unsuccessful product( It is a Joke actually- Whether you are a product to them or a customer to them

Coming back to your predicament- you got to think through your current handicaps, and tell the schools what is it that you really want from them. Based on your work experience, I am assuming you have great leadership experiences. Show the school how you want to further build on those to explore - WHAT KIND OF CAREERS?

They would certainly expect a lot of maturity from you in terms of your understanding of the future aspirations. They will expect you to be the guy with the least problems once you get into a school. They would want you to ideally be very very focused. And yes- your WHY MBA Story has to focus on telling them- what will be the incremental value of an MBA to you ?

Honestly speaking- you should spend good 2 to 4 months thinking your reasons through. Rather than making this up for the business schools, and trying to impress them, you should authentically explore- why do you need an MBA now? And do not include things such as networking, admiration, credibility- leave them aside- and think through the real reasons.

When you are truly convinced, it becomes easy to convince others. On the other side of the Business school admissions committees are real human beings willing to consider stories, and be inspired.

Send me an email to Jatin@pythagurus.com if you are still confused. We will see what we can do. Thank YOu

Jatin

Hello Giaraam,

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by 30 years+ MBA aspirants. The fact is schools will not reject you simply because you are 3-4 years older than their average candidates. However, they want you to have a clear understanding of your career goals and how their resources/offerings can help you achieve those goals. The key is how strong your profile is and how well you showcase it in your application.

In the AIGAC conferences that I have attended in the past few years, whenever we asked the admission committee members as to how welcoming they are to the older candidates, they confirmed that that 30+ candidates bring maturity to the classroom, and they do accept older candidates if their story makes sense to them.

Last year, I assisted two older candidates with their application for full time MBA programs. One of them (38 years old) was accepted into UNC Kennan Flagler, and the other one ( 30 years old) was accepted into both ISB and Oxford.

You may click at the following link to read /watch the interview of Oxford and ISB admit. ( Towards the end of the interview, he shares his insights about the right age for full time MBA . You may read the underlined portion)

https://myessayreview.com/student-interv ... xford-isb/

I hope it helped.

Good luck,

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