What’s The Best Age To Do An MBA? 6 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Apply
Is there an ideal age to enrol in an MBA? We find out from admissions staff at top business schools like Berkeley Haas and HEC Paris
©MonkeyBusinessImages—Does age matter when you apply for an MBA program?
People may say that age is just a number, but there’s no denying that it impacts MBA applications.
According to the latest data from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)—owner of the GMAT admission test—only 11% of GMAT test-takers who were intending to apply to full-time MBA programs in 2017 were over 31. Most applicants, according to GMAC, fell within the 25-to-30 age bracket, and indeed, this is reflected in the class profiles of the world’s top schools.
Looking at the top-10 US schools as listed by the Financial Times for which data is available, the average age of full-time MBA students is 28; 29 for the top-10 European and Asian schools.
Does age matter when you apply for an MBA program? What makes age 28 so magic?
Here are six questions you should be asking yourself if you’re wondering whether you’re the right age to be undertaking an MBA:
1. How mobile is my career?
The first thing you should consider is that MBA admissions teams aren’t looking for a specific age—they’re looking for a broad type.
“You’ll see many full-time MBA students in their mid-to-late-twenties,” says business school admissions expert Barbara Coward. “And I do think that’s a good age, because you’ve had some years of work experience but may have the flexibility for a new career path that you may not have later.”
This flexibility comes from the fact that, at 28, most...
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