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Am I too old for business school?

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Am I too old for business school?

by bootstrapping » Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:44 am
  • I am 35 years old
    CFA/CPA
    15 years of experience in accounting for the financial services industry (mixture of Big 4 and SEC reporting for top tier investment banks)
    GMAT: 720, 94 percentile, 44V, 45Q, 5.0 Writing, 7 IR
    3.8 GPA from a regional college on an academic scholarship
    Majored in Accounting
    Strong recommendations
    Lots of extracurricular activities
    Blemishes: Laid off twice. Once during the financial crisis. Second time, officially for headcount reduction, but unofficially for taking the last part of the CFA exam.
I discovered the CFA program late in my career but I found the topics extremely interesting and I wanted to move my career closer to the capital markets. A full-time MBA program would be the easiest way to transition my career. Despite advice that I was too old to apply to a F/T MBA program, I applied last year anyway. I wanted to give it my best shot and have no regrets. I applied to Columbia and NYU. Personal reasons require me to remain in this area. I was rejected by Columbia 2 weeks after I applied with no interview. I received an invitation to interview from NYU within a month but was rejected 2 weeks after the interview. I thought the interview went well at NYU but I guess I didn't do a good enough job selling my career transition plans.
  • Am I too old for business school, even EMBA? What about P/T?
    Which programs would you suggest for me?
    Will it help me reach my career goals?
    Any other advice for reaching my career goals?
Any advice would be helpful! Many thanks in advance!!!
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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Thu Jul 03, 2014 3:42 pm
I think there are different questions you should be asking yourself. I can see how from your perspective you would prefer to go to one of the top two full-time MBA programs in New York City to facilitate a career switch. However, the full-time MBA programs are more competitive. So, if you are not competitive for the full-time MBA programs would Columbia's Executive MBA Program or either NYU Stern's Part- or Executive- MBA programs help you make the switch over the full-time MBA programs for less prestigious programs in NYC. So, in doing your due diligence, contact Stern's Career Center for Working Professionals (CCWP) - https://www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partner ... fessionals - and Columbia's EMBA Career Management - https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs-a ... management - to really kick the tires on the degree to which they will help you in this transition. Ask if the current policy on NYU Stern part-time students allows them to interview for full-time MBA positions.

Two years ago, I had a 29-year old client who wanted to go to a full-time MBA program - she was rejected by Duke's Full Time MBA Program, yet accepted to Wharton's Executive MBA Program. In a perfect world, she would have rather attended Wharton's Full Time MBA Program but she was not competitive for it. I do not know the overall strength of your candidacy, but attending NYU Stern's Part Time MBA Program might be better for you long-term than attending say City University of New York, Baruch College MBA or a comparable local New York City program.

FYI - For a primer on Different MBA Programs refer here - https://www.mbaprepadvantage.com/blog/di ... ram-types/

Good luck,
Michael Cohan
MBAPrepAdvantage Founder & AIGAC Board Director
305-604-8178
www.mbaprepadvantage.com

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by ivyctor2010 » Sat Jul 05, 2014 8:21 am
You have candidly discussed your profile.You have gone great lengths to give yourself every chance that you have. with years of experience and exposure, Adcoms would be very wary of your career goals and your aim at a transition. MBA is an investment not only for you but for the Adcom as well. Their perspectives are important and how you convince them of your goals are of paramount need.Hence you can have a detailed discussion with the B School on why your candidature was rejected.As far as the programs are concerned, you should look at EMBA options of the top ones in the geography you wish to stay on, rather than looking at full time programs of second rung B Schools.Consider this - With your experience, you should be pretty poised to take advantage of connections and networking even in an EMBA program to land you a role of your choice.
All the Best
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