Any chances to be admitted if you are MUCH younger than average?

Question

Hey all,

This is something that makes me sleepless. I'm going to apply at the 3rd wave, but have no idea if it makes sense at all.

I'll be 23 by the time classes start, have 3+ years of full-time professional experience (having Marketing role in Google in my CV) and entrepreneurship background. Going to pass GMAT pretty soon and hopefully (!) results will be about the average Stanford level.

Do you think I have any chances? Are there any current students of my age? Thank you in advance!

happyfeet69 · Answer

I know a 21 year old current MBA student so you shouldn't be worried about age. You have the perfect number of years of work experience (3-4), so if anything, your relative youth will be a plus. 
Give it a shot in R3, but remember that the admit rate in r3 is much lower than r1 / r2

Skadoodle · Answer

My current boss got into Stanford r3 with one year of work experience as a 22-year old (albeit roughly 8 years ago). Stanford and Harvard are both interested in younger students, while other schools are less interested (like Tuck).

I sent out my applications at 21 (turned 22 last week) so I put a good amount of research into applying as a younger student. I interviewed at Duke and I don't think my interviewer even cared about how young I am...

Viktoriaa · Answer

Thank you guys! Very much encouraging!

bentgmat · Answer

recent gsb grad here. r3 is kind of a hail mary imo. there are very, very few people admitted that round, and the classmates I had who were r3 were very, very special. you may very well be special - if you have 3 years full-time work experience, you must have graduated undergrad early which is impressive. the youngest in my class were 24 upon school start, with 2 years of experience when school started. there was only one person under 24; 21, had graduated undergrad super early and was genius IQ.

if you're counting working full-time as doing a start-up during undergrad, and you actually only graduated 2 years ago, that's a completely diff story and I'd suggest against r3 unless you have a super amazing story and background.

good luck!!

if you're counting working full-time as doing a start-up during undergrad, and you actually only graduated 2 years ago, that's a completely diff story and I'd suggest against r3 unless you have a super amazing story and background.

good luck!!

CrucialTaunt · Answer

This +1. I would also add that age is a factor (regardless of what people say), but it isn't a deciding factor. I doubt very much that these top elite MBA programs want a room full of 22 year old kids any more than they want a room full of old farts like me (I'm 34, so applying from the other end of the age spectrum). My guess is that they will accept a few of us on the edges of the spectrum, but the story has to be compelling and we have to bring something meaningful to the school. I do think that if you are on the young side, WE counts much more than age -- so in your case, if you in fact have 3 years of full-time post-undergrad WE, then you are right in the sweet spot and not on the fringe. That said, why the urgency for R3? You are certainly young enough that you could wait until next fall, nail your GMAT, and apply in R1 when you have much better odds. You'll still be one of the younger people in the class, and you would have an opportunity to present a much more polished application and greatly increase your chances of admission. Old people like me are the ones who should be in a hurry... if I wait until next year's cycle, I'll be 100. ;-)

Best of luck to you in whatever you decide! -Crucial (the old fart) "Slow down, you crazy child; you're so ambitious for juvenile..." -- Billy Joel

bb · Answer

Any chances to be admitted if you are MUCH younger than average?

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