prinziphoffnung wrote:
Well, I am a little frustrated. Having read the student profile stats from Stanford, Haas and Columbia I was well aware that the typical 80% age range is 24-30 with an average age of 27/28 at enrollment. I am 32, turning 33. However, I applied to these programs. About my profile: I progressed very well on my career path (which is non-traditional for an MBA, since I am a tech journalist) and have a 700+ GMAT and a 4.0 GPA. Still, everyone is telling me I have no chance at all to get admitted to an US B-school due to my age even if I may feel the time for that is right.
What do you think - is there a strict age limit? Or do I need a 750+ GMAT to be considered? Or is it enough to be confident that the school I want to attend is the perfect match and to make that clear in my application?
It is true that you are older than most, however 33 isn't too far and there has been people in all the programs you mentioned and H at your age. However you might also look for more age friendly programs which value experience. Of the top of my head I would say Wharton, Tuck, Ross, MIT would all be friendly to older applicants as they do have more experienced fokes. Regardless of any age, Haas/Stanford are very hard to get into. You may also look into International schools which trend the other way such as LBS, IMD, INSEAD. Euro schools tend to value experience than GMAT/GPA.
But no you are not too old.