older applicant advice with strong app story

[delsiva]

I'm 33 years and am considering applying this fall to enter a MBA program in Fall 2011. I have an undergraduate degree in political science/economics with a 3.6 GPA from UC Berkeley, a graduate degree in public policy from the University of Michigan with a 3.8 GPA and 9 years of full-time work experience (mostly consulting domestically and internationally in the political/social sector) and want to make a career switch into finance in emerging markets given my strong background in political/social risk. I understand that Harvard and Stanford have and are trending toward younger applicants (mid-20s or below) and that these two schools would be a long shot for me - is this true? If that is the case, Columbia, Wharton and Chicago would be options but will I also be dinged for being an older applicant at these schools? I have a strong story to tell about why a MBA now and will have very strong letters of recommendation. I look forward to your advice.

[Scottie@VeritasPrep]

Your age should not be a deterrent to applying especially if you can clearly articulate your short and long-term goals as well as you logic for changing careers at this point. Your experience can be a valuable addition to an MBA class. However, you must strike a balance between demonstrating how your wealth of experience can contribute to a class and being open to learning new things from your classmates. Check out this link for an interesting article about the HBS and Stanford trend towards younger applicants: https://www.bschooladmissionsformula.com ... -stanford/.