Welcome back to MBA Myth Busters: the series in which we review and disprove the popular myths surrounding graduate business education.
Myth: Top MBA programs are not for professionals over the age of 30.
This is untrue—candidates over the age of 30 are more than able to secure a place at a top business school.
In fact, many business schools are looking for candidates to bring a sizable chunk of work experience with them. Most MBA students at top schools tend to have between three and six years of professional experience before entering the program. According to Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2023, the average MBA student had over five years of work experience.
These average years of work experience increase when you look at part-time programs (six years and seven months) and executive programs (14 years and eight months).
With more than these five or six years (which a candidate over 30 is likely to have) comes extra examples of leadership, problem solving, analysis, impact, interpersonal skills, motivation—and all the other skills that indicate future success in an MBA program. Plus, candidates over 30 are also more likely to be in the financial position necessary to shoulder the programs’ hefty costs.
These factors disprove the myth that applicants over 30 will not be able to secure a spot in a top MBA program.
That said, there are a couple of things for candidates of this age to consider.
Considerations and How to Mitigate Them
In Episode 72 of Clear Admit’s “Wire Taps”—our podcast in which we discuss real MBA applicants’ strategies—Graham Richmond and Alex Brown consider the profile of a 31-year-old candidate. While both Graham and Alex agree that the candidate likely has plenty of evident impact in the workplace, relevant skills and ability, they describe a possible hesitation on the part of the admissions committee when considering such an applicant.
This hesitation, they explain, comes down to the possibility of a “goals-driven ghost;” a term to describe an older candidate that moves through their MBA with head down and career-progression blinkers on; focusing on the educational experience, but neglecting the social, extracurricular, and collaborative parts of the program. While this by no means applies to all candidates, it is something that the admissions committee will be wary of.
In addition to this, Graham mentions a possible—though unspoken—concern amongst employers and admissions committees that older graduates will hold less enthusiasm for the occasionally-gruelling working hours of immediately-post-MBA roles than their younger counterparts.
To combat these potential biases, Graham and Alex recommend that older candidates:
- Demonstrate their willingness and ability to engage fully with all aspects of the MBA program of their choice.
- Prepare realistic and specific post-MBA goals.
- Search for schools that are more inclined to take in candidates with higher levels of work experience (such as Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, or Pennsylvania Wharton).
- Spread applications across a range of schools at different calibers, increasing the chances of first-time application success.
