If I'm Graduating Undergrad At 30 Is An MBA Still Possible?

Question

Hello, I would like some insight on my unique situation. I'm what I would call a "late bloomer" meaning I didn't start college until 25 and I'll be graduating at the end of the Summer 2013 semester at the age of 30. I've worked full time since I was 18 and didn't start college until late because I couldn't afford it. I currently attend the University of Florida majoring in Business Administration and I have a 3.48 GPA. If the next 2 semesters go as planned I'll graduate with a 3.68 GPA. I recently took my first timed GMAT CAT with the Manhattan GMAT and earned a 580 (Q/29 V/40). I know I need to work on my quant and I've bought the Foundations of GMAT Math book to sand off the rust. I know I can raise my quant score substantially and the reason it is so low is because I haven't taken a math class in a few years and the data sufficiency questions confused me because I'd never had to answer a question in that manner before. But that's no excuse and I'll be focusing on the quant portion of the test in my studies. I work full time at a large bank doing brokerage customer service and most of my work experience is in customer service. I plan on continuing in the financial career field and going into investment banking on the institutional side. I'm researching Wharton, Columbia, UCLA, Chicago Booth and Cal Berkley. As far as leadership experience goes, I currently volunteer to teach local high schools kids personal finance and I've also taken the lead in my department to obtain certain brokerage licenses that we are required to have and once I obtained my licenses I've helped my colleagues study and obtain theirs. What do you think my chances are? Any advice on gaining more leadership experience? Thank you for your time.

ManhattanReview · Answer

In properly positioned, business school admissions love "late bloomer" stories like yours. I would therefor encourage you to move ahead full-force in getting your applications into all of the schools that you have on your list. Two other schools that are very open to students with your background are Yale and UCLA-Anderson.

The biggest problem that non-traditional students such as you have is that your application tends to read as one big apology. This is not what admissions wants to read - they want to hear about your life story (the good, the bad and the ugly) and how you got to where you are today. Also remember that business school admissions is more interested in what you want to do than what you have done -- so also remember to focus on your future goals and your motivations for gettting a graduate business degree.

Keep on studying hard for your GMAT and if you get your scores up to competitive levels, you should see good results in your MBA admissions endeavors.

Kimberly Plaga
Senior Admissions Consultant
Manhattan Review

Call for a free candidate assessment.

UncleMBA · Answer

Thank you Kimberly that really gave me the confidence and motivation I need. I'm going to continue studying for the GMAT and also start thinking about how I plan on showcasing what my future goals are and avoid the apologetic tone in my applications. Thanks again!

If I'm Graduating Undergrad At 30 Is An MBA Still Possible?

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