The email below is from a reader who is applying to business school as an “older” applicant who just recently decided that an MBA is right for him. He’s looking for some ways to justify his “recent interest” in the degree, so I’ve tried to help him think through the issue. I hope I’ve given him the kind of response he’s looking for here…
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AK wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
You’re doing a great service to the applicant community by hosting this blog and honestly answering a lot of questions. I have one for you too: I’m a slightly older MBA applicant (will be 31 by the time I join, if I am admitted) and I’m wondering how to justify my recent interest in doing an MBA. I’m clear about my goals post MBA and long term – I want to stick to the tech/wireless industry and move into product management for the short term and start my own venture in the long term, again something that serves the wireless industry. Admittedly, I could have begun the application process even two years back, but I can’t discount the experience I have gained in the last two years. I’m not sure how the Adcom is going to view this. In the first 3 years after I started working, I never even thought of MBA – so I can’t honestly say that I’ve been thinking about it from my undergrad days or grad days. Only in the last two years I’ve seriously done some introspection and felt like I needed to unify my interests. An MBA degree, would allow me to do this, only I don’t want to make it seem like I never had focus. I do have strong extra curriculars, decent GMAT etc. The essays seem to be the bottleneck. I’m an Indian, graduated from one of the top univs in India and did my masters in EE, also from a top10 university in the U.S.. I’d appreciate any input, if you find the time. I am applying for Fall 2008. Thanks a lot.
Regards,
AK”
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My response:
AK,
Thanks for reading through my blog and reaching out for advice on your situation. You’ve asked a tough question for me to answer because I’ve never worked in an Admissions office before. I can take an educated guess at what might play out, but remember that it will still be a guess. It sounds like you’ve been worrying about the issue of your late decision to get an MBA, so maybe my perspective could help put your mind at ease a little.
My high-level perspective on your question is to not worry too much about your perception of applying to Bschool ‘late’. Although the average age of a Bschool student is 27-28, that figure is only an average, so there are more than a few who are both under and over that age. In my class at the GSB, there were several 30+ year old students and one classmate even turned 40 during our first year. And, while recruiting for my employer, I’ve met several other 30+ year old students from different Bschools, so you aren’t the only one in that age group entering Bschool. It sounds like you’ve got your short- and long-term goals pretty well defined in your mind, so you should think about how to make those goals clear in your essays and letting the Adcoms understand why you’re pursuing an MBA. I believe that the “WHEN” of your pursuit of an MBA is less important than the “WHY” of your pursuit, so I’d focus on the latter if I were in your shoes. Admissions officers see more experienced applicants all the time, so I wouldn’t think that they’d hold that against you. But, you might want to reach out to the admissions folks at your target schools to discuss this futher and get their perspective on it.
From what you’ve told me about your profile (incl. extracurriculars and GMAT), so, if I were you, I’d concentrate on putting together some kick-ass essays. Remember, one’s B-school application is made up of that person’s total package, so don’t let this issue of how recently you decided to pursue an MBA get you down. Again, I’ve never worked in an MBA admissions office, but I can’t see how they’d let something like that have a huge effect on how they consider your overall application package. Just stay “end-product focused” (as we often say at my employer), make sure you submit the best end-product as possible, and have faith that the rest will work itself out.
Take care and good luck with your MBA applications. Happy holidays!
-Marquis
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AK wrote:
“Hi Marquis,
You’re doing a great service to the applicant community by hosting this blog and honestly answering a lot of questions. I have one for you too: I’m a slightly older MBA applicant (will be 31 by the time I join, if I am admitted) and I’m wondering how to justify my recent interest in doing an MBA. I’m clear about my goals post MBA and long term – I want to stick to the tech/wireless industry and move into product management for the short term and start my own venture in the long term, again something that serves the wireless industry. Admittedly, I could have begun the application process even two years back, but I can’t discount the experience I have gained in the last two years. I’m not sure how the Adcom is going to view this. In the first 3 years after I started working, I never even thought of MBA – so I can’t honestly say that I’ve been thinking about it from my undergrad days or grad days. Only in the last two years I’ve seriously done some introspection and felt like I needed to unify my interests. An MBA degree, would allow me to do this, only I don’t want to make it seem like I never had focus. I do have strong extra curriculars, decent GMAT etc. The essays seem to be the bottleneck. I’m an Indian, graduated from one of the top univs in India and did my masters in EE, also from a top10 university in the U.S.. I’d appreciate any input, if you find the time. I am applying for Fall 2008. Thanks a lot.
Regards,
AK”
————-
My response:
AK,
Thanks for reading through my blog and reaching out for advice on your situation. You’ve asked a tough question for me to answer because I’ve never worked in an Admissions office before. I can take an educated guess at what might play out, but remember that it will still be a guess. It sounds like you’ve been worrying about the issue of your late decision to get an MBA, so maybe my perspective could help put your mind at ease a little.
My high-level perspective on your question is to not worry too much about your perception of applying to Bschool ‘late’. Although the average age of a Bschool student is 27-28, that figure is only an average, so there are more than a few who are both under and over that age. In my class at the GSB, there were several 30+ year old students and one classmate even turned 40 during our first year. And, while recruiting for my employer, I’ve met several other 30+ year old students from different Bschools, so you aren’t the only one in that age group entering Bschool. It sounds like you’ve got your short- and long-term goals pretty well defined in your mind, so you should think about how to make those goals clear in your essays and letting the Adcoms understand why you’re pursuing an MBA. I believe that the “WHEN” of your pursuit of an MBA is less important than the “WHY” of your pursuit, so I’d focus on the latter if I were in your shoes. Admissions officers see more experienced applicants all the time, so I wouldn’t think that they’d hold that against you. But, you might want to reach out to the admissions folks at your target schools to discuss this futher and get their perspective on it.
From what you’ve told me about your profile (incl. extracurriculars and GMAT), so, if I were you, I’d concentrate on putting together some kick-ass essays. Remember, one’s B-school application is made up of that person’s total package, so don’t let this issue of how recently you decided to pursue an MBA get you down. Again, I’ve never worked in an MBA admissions office, but I can’t see how they’d let something like that have a huge effect on how they consider your overall application package. Just stay “end-product focused” (as we often say at my employer), make sure you submit the best end-product as possible, and have faith that the rest will work itself out.
Take care and good luck with your MBA applications. Happy holidays!
-Marquis
To second what Marquis said, I started my MBA at age 35. You certainly aren’t going to be discriminated against because of your age.
I would say it gave me a huge advantage with my essays as I had plenty of life experiences to sort through and choose from. The same held true in classes, where I had much more to offer to the discussions that did classmates with less experience
Good luck!