Kay6
14+ years experienced 36yr old female based in Melbourne, Australia.
Working in IT, currently in a tech lead role (Product Owner promotion in sight)
Experience - 1 year in London, 5 years in India, rest in Australia
GPA - 4/5
Yet to give my GMAT.
Here are my questions-
1. Is it worth doing a 1yr MBA where avg work experience is only 6years?
2, If no to question#1, then are part-time courses better? If so, options please.
So far, I am leaning towards INSEAD for FT option as their programme is for 10months and closer to home.
For part-time, I was looking at Haas Flex, and UIUC.
Your advice is appreciated.
Hi Kay6,
One thing you've got to manage with a part time program is the commute. If you live in Australia, travelling to the US for your inperson course modules may not be a viable option. Also consider the travel/ accomodation costs involved.
I agree with the first point you have raised. You may find yourself too old among a class of average 6 years experience, where priorities of students are different (possibly more socializing for them, which you may not relate with- you know that "been there, done that" feeling). I have heard this from several of my past older applicants at different b-schools. So you must take this consideration seriously.
The INSEAD MBA program may also not be the best fit for its younger class and accalerated pace, and they may push you towards an exec MBA. I will suggest that you reach out to the INSEAD admissions team- they do have discussions with prospective applicants, and that will help figure out whether it makes sense for you to apply to the 1-yr MBA.
There's another set of programs you could look into - iBEar MBA (USC Marshall), Stanford MSx, LBS Sloan fellowship program, Nanyang Fellowship program. All of these are 1 year MBA programs for older MBA aspirants who are at their mid-career. You will find people more within your age/ work exp group and so the overall experience is likely to be more meaningful for you.
Another thing you should consider is, which geography do you wish to be post MBA? The MBA program you join will have the strongest network within its own region. So if you wish to work in Australia immediately post MBA, then studying in the US may not make that much sense.
And, my last pointer : for deciding between a full time and a part time MBA- consider which course will allow you to make career changes. While a complete career pivot will not be possible out of both programs given your substantial work exp, the full time format will equip you better towards bigger changes in your career.
Hope that helps.
Namita Garg,
Founder,
MBA DecoderEmail:
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