“Can I get in to a top full-time MBA program if I’m over the age of 30?” If you’ve started researching the typical profiles of candidates accepted to the world’s top full-time, two-year MBA programs, you might have heard the pervasive rumor that “If you’re older than 30, don’t bother applying to a top-15 MBA.”  This advice is directionally correct, but it also NOT a set in stone rule.

In a hurry? Here’s the Lab’s advice, distilled:

• “Number of years of work experience” matters more than chronological age
  • People who more easily get accepted after age 30 might have done other things in their 20s, such as military service, pursuing a PhD, or simply taking longer to graduate from college… so frequently, when they apply, their “number of years of full-time work experience” is still within the typical range.

• “What counts as ‘old(er)’ in the typical applicant pool?”
  • If you’ll have more than eight (8) years of post-graduation experience upon enrolling, you’ll be on the older end of the typical distribution curve for MBA students (average about 5 – 6 years, with +/- 2 years in either direction). More than ten years of experience is firmly in the “older” camp.
    • • I base this not only on “gut feel” from my 20+ years helping people get accepted, but also the fact that Stanford pushes / encourages applicants with 8+ years of experience to instead apply to its “MSx” program is another good hint.  As is the fact that the part-time programs that publish class profiles tend to have students at around the 8+ year mark (sometimes 10 years, 13 years, or more!)

• “Why is having 10+ years of work experience considered to be such an obstacle? After all, like a fine wine, my managerial leadership skills have only improved with age!”
  • ALAS, this is part of the problem — many (not all!) applicants who are 10+ years into their careers tend to fall into 2 buckets (exceptions explained below):
    1. “Too accomplished to benefit from the MBA”: If you are already very senior, then will you learn a lot of useful stuff from your much younger classmates? Will you attend the parties / social events that are vital for building that all-important MBA network? Will the corporate recruiters not be interested in hiring you for their typical post-MBA jobs?
    2. “Not accomplished enough to have a promising post-MBA trajectory“: Since schools are seeking today’s applicants which will become tomorrow’s illustrious alumni, they tend to favor people who have been “rockstars” in whatever environment they’ve been in.  If a candidate is in their mid-30s, in a career that has sort of stalled at a company that doesn’t seem very open to giving that person high levels of responsibility or shiny, cool assignments… then the admissions office might wonder if they’re better off placing their bets elsewhere.
       • Between the two, it’s better to be MORE accomplished, vs. LESS so (for the top-10-ish schools, at least) 

• “Which older applicants tend to have the most success in the process?”
  • Military candidates; candidates who were involved in a long-term other educational path (assuming that path doesn’t contradict the need to get an MBA): in these cases, the candidate had multi-year commitments (commitments that might be very beneficial for their post-MBA careers — e.g. members of the military have excellent leadership skills; someone with a PhD in neuroscience or robotics could use that background for an interesting business career in that industry later). 
    
  • International candidates: In some parts of the world, folks don’t even consider going for a graduate degree until they are older — it seems to be a cultural difference between their country and the U.S. For that reason, I’ve sometimes seen more success for candidates from other countries who are older vs. from the U.S.
  • Sponsored candidates: This is when a candidate’s employer is 1) paying for the degree and 2) promising employment upon graduation. For example, I’ve seen several candidates from Asia in particular be sponsored by their elite employer — but before the employer decides whom to sponsor, they require a certain number of years of previous service to the company first. These tend to be larger companies, such as consulting firms, banks, large electronics manufacturers, petroleum / energy companies, etc. 
  • Entrepreneurs / Family Business folks: If the admissions office doesn’t need to worry about post-graduation job-placement, then this can, frankly, help a ton. Given that the all-in costs of a full-time, two year MBA program are currently around $250,000, then at least if you have a high-paying job to go back to, then that relieves concern on the admissions reader’s side. (put another way, are you essentially “self-sponsored”?) 
  • Exceptional leadership accomplishments: This is when someone’s professional accomplishments aren’t merely “strong”, but they make a reader sit back and go: “WOWZA…!” Think: managing a P&L of $100m+,  leading a division of a organization with hundreds of people, launching a new office for a large multi-national… or being a stand-out in the military, non-profit, or even scientific research space (that latter one still needs proof of people-leadership skills though, which can be tricky)
    • • I will say, unscientifically, I’ve noticed this tending to favor non-US candidates, since in some other cultures there seems to be a stronger idea around “being ready” for the MBA

• “What are the concerns of the admissions committee with a candidate with over ten years of experience applies?”
  • They are thinking about you in TWO key periods of time:
    • During the program itself — alas, in the past, some OTHER older candidates have sort of ruined it for the rest of y’all, by saying things like (I’m paraphrasing):
      • “It’s laughable to me that I’ve got a 26-year old who’s never run anything in their lives lecture ME in Leadership Class about how to lead a team!”
      • “This framework that the professor is teaching? BAH! I’ve got more hands-on experience and I can tell you that newfangled, theoretical ideas like this don’t work.” 
        • • In sum: “These classes have been a waste of my time!”  (people who are already “set in their ways”, or won’t respect having someone 10 years younger than them pontificate on a subject they [frankly] know nothing about) 
      • “Oh no — ANOTHER happy hour? Maybe doing shots or keg-stands at 2 am on a Wednesday is appealing for a 28-year old, but neither my liver nor my sleep cycle can handle this at my age… wait, did that classmate of mine just VOMIT into the kitchen sink? Gross….!”  (guess where that all-important networking at a FT program happens, friend? Hint: NOT AT THE LIBRARY)
        • • In sum: “This EXPERIENCE has been a waste of time, socially! So much for building that super-valuable network!”
            • * Side note: to be clear, there are many other ways to socialize in business school that don’t involve late-night parties, there ARE other people in the program who, e.g. have children and an early bedtime… but just realize that you will probably be in the minority? 
    • After graduation:
      • “Umm, why would I accept these post-MBA jobs, at this lower level of responsibility and (possibly) lower level of compensation?”
        • • Corporate recruiters at MBA programs will probably NOT make an exception and bring you in at a higher level — you’ll be competing for the same “Associate” level role as everyone else
            • • If you’d like something higher, then you’d effectively be on your own for recruiting (the famous “networked job search”) — definitely possible, but the Career Services Office might not be able to help you much? 
          • Even if you are WILLING to take an “Associate” level position, you might NOT GET it
            • • While employers can’t overtly discriminate, the fact is, the older you get, the less mental stamina / energy you have (I regret to inform you), and for the very-demanding jobs, they’re not going to want to have to deal with people who can’t stay up until 2 am or hop on a plane on a moment’s notice because their toddler has a cold. 
          • Even if you ARE willing to take and ARE able to GET an Associate level position…
            • • … you MIGHT NOT DO WELL IN IT, COMPARED to the 29-year olds with no families, fully-firing neural mitochondria, etc..
                • • “But Maria, I want so badly to go into banking / consulting since I want to one day make a ton of money… I promise I won’t mind working 80-hour weeks! How bad could it be? Sounds kind of fun in fact, ha ha!”  Fair enough, but in order to reach those very high-level, very highly-compensated roles, you’ll need to be better than your younger peers at the same level. Do a LOT of research on the companies you apply to — maybe look at the ones that would prioritize rain-making (bringing business in) vs. face-time / model churning at the lower levels
                    • • This ^^^ to me helps explain why the former members of the military do better in MBA admissions at an older age. Work ethic? CHECK! Happy to follow orders / not refuse to come in on Thanksgiving? CHECK! Ability to lead others? CHECK!