Ask mbaMission

Hi, and thanks for your inquiry. Congratulations on a terrific GMAT score.

While your age may be a factor for some schools, I think whether you have kids is pretty much irrelevant (to them! Not, of course, to you!!). I hate to say it but your devilish good looks probably won't help much either!

Seriously - the schools will ask whether you have kids on your application, but you don't need or not need to mention them in an essay. If it comes up organically, as in as part of a personal story about challenges, leadership, etc. that's fine. But just to put in that you have 2 kids isn't what they're looking for. You will not be the only applicant or, if successful, student with kids.

I can't really give a complete profile. Your grades are on the low side but the more recent GMAT obviously is not. Can you describe what you do outside of work, and your scope of responsibilities, leadership, growth, initiative, etc. at work?

Thanks.

Most MBA programs' mean age for entering students is 27, give or take a year or two. So for every year above that, it gets harder to get accepted. MBAs are designed for people starting out in their career, and at 37 the school may not view you in that category.

However, for part-time programs or executive MBAs, age is much less of a factor.

mr big wrote:Is 37 too old to start an MBA program?

Thanks for the follow up. Five years is probably too long ago to include as more than a passing reference in an essay. But schools do want to see more than just the work side of you, so if you can't supplement that with community involvement, be sure to examine your personal story. Have you made an impact in someone's life, even informally? Overcome an obstacle? Found a creative solution to a problem? These can all be fodder for good essays.

Your list of schools is ambitious so whether you add to it depends on your goals. If you absolutely want to be in business school next year, I would probably suggest adding some excellent but lower ranked schools to increase your odds. If you only want to attend a top 5-7 school, then focus hard on your essays. You can't undo the undergrad GPA or lack of community involvement, but your GMAT will help and your work experience is solid. Rounding that out with a personal story to show another facet of you is important, and you'll want your essays to show initiative, leadership, personal strength, creativity, etc.

Good luck.

Axeman33 wrote:Thanks for the response...it is much appreciated.
At work, I am the only analyst and have been involved in both successes and failures. I am the analyst for our small fund of funds business (both private equity and hedge fund of funds) and I help run the analytics and product development for our hedge fund business. We have launched several small funds over the last few years and closed almost as many. There have also been many funds that we worked to develop that never got off the ground. It's been interesting for sure and I plan on coming back to the same firm or joining a similar firm after b-school. We have fewer than 10 people at the firm.
I don't do much outside of work besides hang out with my family and occasionally some friends (often other young dads who also need a break). Tried Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for awhile (loved it!) but had to stop due to constant injury...picked up squash instead. Years ago I did a lot (coach youth lacrosse, organize Alumni lacrosse games, reunion chair, etc.)...but that is over 5 yrs ago.

I appreciate your voicing your concerns, and, personally, share your perspective. But I do believe that your frustration is mis-directed. MBA consultants make no independent decisions regarding admission and we are merely sharing our experience and wisdom concerning what we have seen the schools look for. The schools all publish median and mean ages, and it is simply a fact that at U.S. schools, those numbers are roughly in the mid-20s. Some are as "high" as 28, but most hover in the 26-27 range. As a mean and median, that certainly does indicate that older candidates get in, but if you search statistics or for chats by admissions officers themselves, you'll see that they discuss the challenges of "older" students being accepted. Are there 35 year old students at the schools? Yes. But the simple fact is that there are not many of them, and the challenge of acceptance gets far harder after 30. (This is less the case at European schools, part-time programs or of course executive programs).

Again, thank you for raising an important point.

dragoljubce wrote:I am constantly surprised by the blatant ageism prophesied by MBA "consultants". As a mother who is pushing 40, I am so very disappointed by this discrimination. How in the world is someone who is only 30 years old considered OLD? Everyone else in the world age, maturity and life experience is considered an asset; everywhere but on this forum. People chose to pursue MBA for different reasons, including full-time MBA at what you all consider "OLD" age and it really should not be yours to judge.