Getting into INSEAD at age of 33

Question

Dear all, I am currently finishing my preparations to apply for the INSEAD MBA and I would like to check my odds considering my advanced age.

I am turning 33 in February, Brazilian, Senior Manager in Accenture Brazil with considerable international experience. I don't have my GMAT score yet, but I'm considering applying for Round 1. My main motivation is to move from Supply Chain consulting to a strategy consulting firm in Brazil.

I know that INSEAD, IMD, IE and LBS are more tolerable with "old" applicants than US schools.

Considering that I will achieve a reasonable GMAT score, what are my chances to get into INSEAD considering my age?

Many thanks in advance guys.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi BrazilianWarrior1983, There are a lot of factors involved in getting into a B-School. You can post your queries here: ask-admission-consultants-124/?fl=menu May be a bit detailed profile will help you get better evaluations.

ubii88 · Answer

Don´t be intimidated by your age. I see many Brazillians admitted at age over 30. For the July 2017 class, I see in MBA Connect two Brazilian men with age 35. So, keep it up!

BrazilianWarrior1983 · Answer

You mean for Insead's class of July2017?

ubii88 · Answer

yes, equals auguts/september 2016 intake.

farrous13 · Answer

BrazilianWarrior1983. Your question about your chances is irrelevant. Don't take this the wrong way, hear me out: I've read many evaluations online and serious candidates stress out about their chances and how they match up with others. Really this evaluation is useless in my opinion, since it does not consider the important factors such as the essays and the candidate's personality. I see it no different than going to a psychic and asking: "how will I do next year". If I were in your shoes, I would focus on getting a GMAT score within the 80% range of the school and making sure that the information in my essays line up with the school's goals. Besides, you could be competing with more than usual number of Brazilians or applicants in your demographic. So just because you get rejected, does not mean you weren't qualified. Therefore, your question about your chances is irrelevant since the school does not have the inputs from you (yet) and you don't have any sort of output from the school during the process. Do your best and then apply. Good luck

gabbs · Answer

Hi BrazilianWarrior1983

Ive Just graduated from INSEAD and I can definitely say that your age should be least of your concerns . With the average age of 29-30 at INSEAD, you are well within the INSEAD age range as anyone else. Ive had many friends in your age range and the firms coming on campus also have roles for someone with a great experience like yours. I would say go ahead and apply

farrous13 · Answer

Hi gabbs, Can you share you experience here? Interested to know how 2015 went for you guys and what was the overall experience? I am also interested to know where you ended up (industry wise) and how did your career goals change during the intensive curriculum. Besides, why did you choose January intake over the other? And did most of you manage to get internships? Sorry, lots of questions :roll:

We can always do this over email. But it's good for interested candidates to have this info. Thank you

gabbs · Answer

Hi All

I think INSEAD was the best year of my life yet... It was an enriching experience on all fronts Education, Career and personal fronts. After the INSEAD experience and even during it when I met other top BSchool candidates I could make out the difference in international mindset at INSEAD and glad I chose it.

Career wise it offers you all the best opportunities that you can imagine. More than the Career Services its the very experienced classmates that help you chart your career path. You will inevitably find a classmate who has already done a job which is your current dream job and is now at INSEAD. It's the best platform to network, connect and what I would say make the right choice.

The major reason for choosing the January intake was the internship. You get to try or in case of finance the only way to get a full time role. Internship is a tricky business and its very competitive, also more so because the internship recruitment at other schools is over by the time you start in January. So the places might be limited.

Hope this is helpful

Cheers

farrous13 · Answer

Gabbs, thank you for putting the time to write your brief experience. No doubt INSEAD is a great school and I'm glad that you and the other alumni that I spoke to have learned a lot from the international experience and the condensed timeline.

So did most of your peers end up receiving an internship offer? How was the recruitment process. With the limited time you had, can you enrich us with more info on what were the cons and pros of the recruitment process you experienced? Maybe also you can let us know what some of your peers thought.

Also in what part of the world did you end up and in what industry?

Thank you,

VeritasPrepEdison · Answer

Applying for INSEAD at the age of 33 shouldn't be much of a concern. It would help to show your extensive leadership experience and global exposure. This would help convince admissions that you can contribute well to the experiences of your peers.

bb · Answer

Getting into INSEAD at age of 33

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