Age related rumors and dilemma during MBA admission at HBS

Victory_GMAT wrote:I've heared from some people that no matter how good your score and MBA admission profile is, HBS prefers people around 23-25 and if you happen to be around 29 then it will make you little secondry in comparison to a candidate with same profile but younger age? Is this true??

Actually the average age of the class of 2013 at HBS this year is 27. HBS is getting older again even with 2+2! I'll be matriculating there this fall and I'm 30. Sure, they like young kids but it's all about the story you're telling.

Victory_GMAT wrote:I've heared from some people that no matter how good your score and MBA admission profile is, HBS prefers people around 23-25 and if you happen to be around 29 then it will make you little secondry in comparison to a candidate with same profile but younger age? Is this true??

I've been told by multiple admissions consultants that 28+ is generally too old for HBS; however, it depends on your work experience. For example, 28+ in finance appears to be a a near impossibility, while 28+ post-military, or traditional manufacturing/ops job is doable.

I'm told the bias against older finance kids is that they tend to be more skeptical of professors and less impressionable. They also, for one reason or another, did not follow the 2 years investment banking / 2 years PE path which is viewed as a fast-track finance career.

Having said that, a guy I worked with last year got in at 28/29 from finance, but he had some ridiculous life experiences.

This is something that is of concern to me also. A younger avg. age is fine but what I would like to know is that what is the max. age they take and what are those profile types?
Also, how much of a factor is age in other top B-schools in US?

Surev wrote:This is something that is of concern to me also. A younger avg. age is fine but what I would like to know is that what is the max. age they take and what are those profile types?
Also, how much of a factor is age in other top B-schools in US?

There is no max age and a school would not set one as that would be age discrimination. However, an older applicant does have the burden of having to explain why an MBA makes sense at this later stage of their lives. There are plenty of people in their 30s in all the top b-schools and some in their 40s but they are in the minority and coming from backgrounds such as military, manufacturing, etc. Some schools do value experience more and their age skews a bit older. Booth and INSEAD come to mind as two top schools that appreciate older candidates a bit more.

While I understand that there wont be an official cut off age for any school, what I was trying to check was what are the chances for someone reaching mid 30's in HBS or other top schools. you have already answered that. Thanks for that.