Hi there,
It definitely will make it much more competitive for you to get into an MBA given your age, unfortunately.
The average age of this year’s incoming students at Harvard is 27, while at Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Columbia, Tuck, Haas, Michigan and UT Austin the average is 28. While Wharton, NYU Stern, and Cornell do not release an official figure, the average years of pre-MBA work experience at these schools ranges from 4.6 years (NYU) to 5.5 years (Wharton).
Pretty much every school can point to more mature students in the MBA classroom. While the age range at MIT Sloan and Tuck includes 37 year olds, and UCLA Anderson and Oxford Saïd both have students in their 40s, the bell curve of distribution clearly centers around students in their mid to late 20s: 80% of the class at Columbia for example are in a range from 25 to 30.
There are lots of reasons, but one of the reasons b-schools prefer 20-somethings is because top US schools in particular are looking for young and bright candidates who can still be molded. So they may steer away from older candidates whose careers may have stalled and who want an MBA to get them on a stronger track. Career switchers are also tricky; the career management offices need to be certain that they can help the thirty-something change their path; and with 10 plus years in one field, this is not always easy to achieve.
But talent is talent, and older applicants who can make a great case for why they need the MBA, have well-defined and realistic career goals, with competitive grades and test scores, a track record of achievement and a clear sense of fit with the institution are still in with a chance of admission. So if you feel you meet this criteria, there is still a chance - but I would focus on the schools that admit more senior students or even consider an EMBA. Or take a selection of courses in the area of interest.
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Fortuna and we can give you a better assessment once we learn more about your profile.
Hope that helps.