Hey kprabhala.mba--

We actually disagree with some points in that post you cited -- but we also would caution you against expecting an easy path to admission to a top F/T program at age 40. There are always exceptions, and pretty much every school has at least one or two outliers on the age spectrum. However, the average age at most US bschools is around 28, and this has even been decreasing in recent years (it used to be 29). HBS, which has for several years now been the "youngest" MBA program, has an average student age of 26 (it's ticking up slightly at HBS).

Think about it this way: If everyone else is in their 20s, how comfortable would you be in the classroom?

There are a bunch of reasons why the schools prefer younger students - we actually went into this last year on our blog in this article:

https://essaysnark.blocked/2011/08/ ... -game.html

This article has a discussion of the ROI and discusses the "older" candidate profile a bit:
https://essaysnark.blocked/2011/06/ ... art-5.html

As you suggested, the EMBA is probably the right track for you to pursue. You'd be in a classroom of your peers, and the best news is that it's almost always much much easier to get into an EMBA program, even at the very best of schools.

We also offer a bunch of other options that "older" candidates might consider here:

https://essaysnark.blocked/2011/08/ ... idate.html

Now, to directly respond to your question: NO. The schools do NOT "eliminate prospective candidates just based on age." Absolutely they do not do this. But, they WILL often expect an older candidate to have EVEN GREATER evidence of leadership and achievement - because you've got a longer career built up, they will likely expect to be "wowed" to an even greater degree than they already would be.

And, you'd need to express in your essays why now is the right time. It becomes a bit more complicated to do the pitch.

We see candidates of all ages get into bschool but there are more hurdles when you're outside the traditional profile, and this age factor certainly can play into things.

Hopefully this gives you some new perspectives!
EssaySnark