xzha117 wrote:
Thanks guys for the generous replies. Really appreciated... I guess I will leave the GMAT be then.
Speaking of moving forward, I am getting started on forming my "story" for the application and I am interested in your opinion on how my age could affect my chances to get into the M7 schools.
To outline my situation, I am 31 year old this year and will be 32 by the time the 2016 semester starts. I am a China-born New Zealand citizen who has been living in New Zealand for 14 years. I came to New Zealand from China when I was 17, finished my Bachelor degree in engineering (1st honours) in a top New Zealand university. I have been working for about 7 years mainly as a project manager for infrastructure projects, including 4.5 years in the public sector in central government and 2 years in the private sector.
When I worked in the public sector, I became the youngest project manager to manage a $100 million dollar project (one of the roads of national significance) from procurement stage to construction stage. I won the emerging project manager of the year award from PMI New Zealand in 2013. Then I decided to switch to the private sector and was promoted twice in the last 2 years, and delivered $10 million revenue as the project manager for a branch that has an annual turnover of 30 million. I am also involved in the business development space for major project tenders. During this time, I was shortlisted for the finalists for the emerging leader award by New Zealand Contractors Federation.
So why MBA so late? Coming to New Zealand took me extra time to learn English and transition into a different education system. So I started to work at an older age than the majority of kiwis do. Then I wanted to experience both the public sector and private sector before knowing what to do next. Also I could have applied 1 year ago but I have been waiting for my girlfriend to finish her undergraduate (this year) so she can come with me and do a graduate degree at the same time. After 14 years in NZ, I feel it is now or never to go to a bigger place to do something different. In my mind, this will be the stage 3 of my life (obviously stage 1 being the time in China and stage 2 being the time in NZ).
Currently my target schools in US are Harvard, Wharton, Booth and Columbia with no particularly obvious reasons. Also I am planning to apply for LBS and Insead just because I feel a little more comfortable with the British and european settings because of my time in NZ. My aspiration is to get into consulting after MBA, with some focus on infrastructure investment and government. However it is early stage and my thoughts on this change on the weekly basis.
Now my biggest worry is that I am too old for American business schools where the average age is between 26-28. I don't know how much the age thing really matters and how much more I will have to stand out in order to offset the disadvantage.
Sorry for the long winded question... This forum is awesome and I feel like I can get some honest and valuable answers here.
Well first of all, 31-32 is a biiiit on the old side, buy you aren't an old fogey yet (I'm approaching that age though.. ahem...), and it's totally reasonable for you to apply even to top schools, but do as you have here, and EXPLAIN why now, why not before, why it makes sense... prove that getting an MBA at this slightly later stage will still be immensely helpful, and you will be fine and dandy...
And yes, I am the same Jon Frank
Peace be with you,
JF