MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 2457
Given Kudos: 2
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: 720 ready for MBA but will 3 yrs WE hurt recruiting chances?
[#permalink]
07 Jul 2009, 22:56
Emphasis on "him".
You are a "her". Yes, it's a double standard, but schools are usually more willing to admit younger women applicants. B-schools have had a very tough time getting the applicant pool to be 50/50 men-women, and the age/experience factor has a part to play. Most people with 5-7 years experience are in their late 20s, which for women starts to coincide with family planning issues (it discourages women to apply if the first 1-3 years post-MBA coincides with having children, or even having children right when they would be in b-school) -- move that back a few years, and more women will be willing to apply because they are given the chance to work a few years post-MBA while still being able to have children in their late 20s or early 30s.
Having said that, 3 years or 4 years at matriculation isn't going to make a huge difference, especially given your industry of choice (the other guy I gave feedback to wanted to go into energy/oil/gas, which skews older anyhow). As you probably know, consumer products marketing is one of the few "MBA friendly" industries that has a greater percentage of women in senior level positions, and as such they "get it" (at least from the various women I've known who are in consumer marketing, it seems to be the most accommodating when it comes to maternity leave -- there are industries that follow the "letter" of the law, and other industries that accommodate women irrespective of the law).
As for your schools, I'd swap out Darden for Kellogg.