Is 38 a good age for MBA?

Question

Hello,
I am 37 years Indian male planning to enrol in a Full time MBA. My first choice is INSEAD. I have 15.5 years of aerospace industry exposure (Airbus) with 8 years of management experience. Currently I am in operations job and work closely with COO- although he is not my direct boss.
I am also involved in a startup- not as a founder but as a partner.
I have good international experience as well with 3 years working in UK, 5 months in China, and few months in France and Germany.
I have few questions:
1. What are my prospects of getting admission?
2. How much minimum GMAT do I need?
3. Will it be easy to get a job after MBA?
Someone please help.
Regards,
Nitin

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Leadership · Answer

Hi  nakmahon  ..
Welcome to GMAT. You have very low chances to get admit because of age, huge experience, over represented pool of Indians, etc. I would recommend to consider EMBA programs. They will be more beneficial to you at this stage.

Any suggestions  MBAPrepCoach  ..

LeoN88 · Answer

Let me answer this question based on my (in-person/online) interaction with ISB Admission team-

Let us consider that you have a decent GMAT score (710+) and a compelling story (Essay) that secures an interview call.

Now, the first thing (IMO) ISB will try to understand is that why are you going for a full-time program? (PGP). Candidates in your age and equivalent to your work experience generally opts for part-time/executive courses (say PGP-Pro). So, you must have absolute clarity on this. Until and unless you are convinced then it's way too difficult to convince the admission team.

Secondly, please study the placement report for the target school (Browse https://gmatclub.com/forum/insead-201/, attend webinars/speak to AdCom and alumni) to understand whether your target companies visit the campus or not. If not then you have to go out in the market and secure interview invites in the last month of your MBA; are you comfortable doing that (Read ready to take the risk?)Now, a lot of other important factors also come into play- are you proficient in French? Do you want to work in UK/Singapore? etc.

CC MBAPrepCoach

I hope I've touched upon few pointers which you must discuss with an admission consultant/expert. I recommend you get in touch with MBACrystalBall & BenCrackVerbal

Let me recommend you an ambitious yet safe bet, since you're and Indian you'll understand. (I'm also assuming that you're married and your spouse lives in India)

Go for the IIM-B full time program. Indian B schools attract a large pool of companies on campus. In worst case situation, you might have to wait for one month and given your experience you can easily join a start-up firm. INSEAD is a great school, if you get into the program you'll definitely get a job but before taking such a high risk evaluate all these options and think of worst case scenarios.

Check This: What Are My Chances - Evaluate Your Profile!

nakmahon

H
1. What are my prospects of getting admission?
2. How much minimum GMAT do I need? <These are common questions for an MBA aspirant, it also tells me that you're considering INSEAD as an end goal and not a stepping stone for a well researched career shift/progress>
3. Will it be easy to get a job after MBA?
Someone please help.

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GyanOne · Answer

Hi  nakmahon

Thanks for posting. Some definite positives in your profile there, including niche industry, and solid international experience. On your questions: 
1. Prospects of making it to INSEAD are low as you would be considered too experienced for the full-time MBA class. INSEAD would in all probability ask you to consider their EMBA program instead. 
2. You need to first decide on the programs that you would be applying to. At this point, the  Sloan Fellows programs  would be much better fits, as they are meant for people with 15+ years of experience, and are full time MBA programs. For those, you should be looking at 650+ minimum, and of course higher the better. Some of those programs, such as the LBS one, do also waive off GMAT requirements on a case by case basis. 
3. Depends on what you are looking at, and where you go. Generally, most participants in EMBA programs (and many in the Sloan Fellows programs too) end up returning to their earlier employers, in higher roles. At 15+ years of experience, placements are more lateral than school-enabled, even from full-time programs. That said, people have managed to change employers and even functions through the Sloan Fellows programs. In some cases (rarer), industry shifts have happened too.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

nakmahon · Answer

Thanks all for your response. I understand the experience part but I am stuck in this job for quite some time and due to salary range and kind of industry experience it is getting difficult for me to change industry and profile. I would still like to try GMAT and see if I can secure a seat in INSEAD. This will be a chance for me to reflect upon myself. I am never afraid of hard work and 200% sure that I will be able to cope up with 10 months of rigorous hardwork.
I will be needing few tips and tricks to complete my application and will come back again for help.

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japo17 · Answer

Hi there,

I am in a similar situation in terms of age....the way I see it is that if pursuing an MBA at a top school is your personal goal a you should go for it!!

I wish you all the best.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

japo17  and  nakmahon

the idea of "going for it" sounds nice but  you are going to waste your time, money and energy trying to get into INSEAD at this age .

It's a very, very long application and a big commitment.

Please spare yourself the disappointment. Your options are as follows: Sloan Fellows programs (see Gyan's link above) - the LBS Sloan Masters program round 1 deadline is in March and Round 2 in May. It's a one year full time program. IMD - but only maybe. Average age is 31, the highest among full time programs. Then, part time programs, still a long shot but possible, and executive programs.

nakmahon · Answer

Hello,
Maybe you are right, but I feel to give it a try at least once. I do not like to think later that what if I would have tried and got it.

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CrackVerbalShree · Answer

Hello @nakmohan, I agree with MBAPrepCoach . However, there are a few other programs you could explore. 1. Nanyang Fellow program is a one-year full-time program - For older applicants, the chances of getting placed might be bleak. However, if you have a good network in the industry you can use that to get good roles to post this program. 2. Kellog also has a program with HKUST for senior leaders - Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA program. 3. LBS - Sloan program on leadership and strategy. - You can take a look at this program too. It is specifically for senior leaders. 4. The IBEAR MBA by USC Marshall 5. Indian Executive MBA programs - We had a student who got into the IIM A executive MBA program at 40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1EKlkSQEvU Hope this helps. Regards, Shree

GMATaxe001 · Answer

https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/executive you might want to look into this class profile. same average age and work ex as yours. now you ll have to figure out the logistics of location and job.

deeppan · Answer

nakmahon 
It has been 8 months, so which programme you choose finally?

Joker09 · Answer

Yes, curious to know, if you can pls share

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bb · Answer

Is 38 a good age for MBA?

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