Older candidate evaluation request

[comebackkid]

Age: 39 (turn 40 10/23)

GMAT: 770 (first take)

UGPA: 3.1 - Indiana University - Bloomington, Economics 1992: mitigating factors = managed a family owned car care center (full service car wash, meineke muffler, jiffy lube) in Chicago full-time throughout entire undergraduate as a result of a family tragedy - commuted 4 hours to Chicago Thurs-Sun every week

W/E: nontraditional career tract ~ 160 months as small business entrepreneur: successfully started and operated multiple successful small businesses in two sectors: retail and financial services (mortgage banking) - multiple patents pending related to technology mentioned below

Plans after MBA: start a vertically integrated mortgage company, leveraging proprietary software and a low-cost pricing model made possible by technological advantages to disenfranchise the dominant mortgage broker (think hybrid of Carmax and Dell).

Alt Transcript: currently taking calculus and stats - will have As in both

Schools:

Wharton
Stanford
Michigan
Duke

viable?

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear comebackkid,

I think you are a viable candidate and should have some interesting experiences to write about in your essays. My only thought is for you to consider doing an executive program rather than a full-time program. With the amount of experience you have, you might find the executive program to be a more enriching experience as you would be in class with your peers versus the majority of the class being between 24 and 30. The business knowledge you would gain is the same as the full-time program, but class discussions and teamwork with others with 10+ years of experience might be more beneficial to you. If you really want to do the full-time program, I think that is an option for you, but you might want to explicitly address why the full-time and not an executive program in your applications.

Best of luck,
Lisa

[comebackkid]

Thank you, Lisa. Would you think it too much a stretch to apply r3 or should I wait and apply r1 next fall?

[Lisa Anderson]

You can always apply R3 and see what happens. If you are not successful, then you can re-apply R1 of next year. It depends on your risk tolerance, but I think you might be able to get in R3 if you have good essays, recommendations, and interviews.

Good luck,
Lisa

[comebackkid]

Hi Lisa,

I am expanding my school list and would appreciate your thoughts on my candidacy as relates to Kellogg. I completed Finite Math for Business, College Algebra, Business Statistics, and Business Calculus with As in all.

After meeting with both a consultant and a partner at BCG I have decided on a career change. The partner did not seem to believe my age would negatively affect my candidacy for employment with top 3 B/B/M so long as my grades in bschool are top bucket.

Does, in your experience, Kellogg welcome students with my profile? In other words, it seems H/S are biased against older candidates (well, at least as old as I am) and I cannot decipher whether Kellogg has a similar bias given their entering class profile statistics only provide an age range for the middle 80% of the class and not the entire range. Schools such as Michigan, Wharton, and Dartmouth have entering students up to 43 years old - any direction you can provide here would be appreciated.

Corey

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Corey,

I have not heard that Kellogg has a bias towards more experienced candidates. However, as I stated previously, it will be important to address why you want a full-time program in your applications. Schools are not biased, per se, but there is evidence that applicants with 15+ years of experience find executive programs a better fit. Likewise, your job search will not mirror yourfull-time program classmates since you will be above the average experience level. Thus you will be doing more networking and not be as active with campus interviews as the jobs posted on campus will be for folks with 3-7 years of experience. If you have a solid rationale for a full-time program, then I think you should apply to the schools you feel are the best fit for you.

Good luck,
Lisa