30 year old with military and civilian WE
Hello everyone,
I spent 5 years as an officer in the army, as well as 1.5 years after I got out doing the same thing I did in the army for a private government contractor company that worked with the military overseas - contract was only 18 months.
I will be 30 upon matriculating at a school. I have a 720 GMAT and 3.7 gpa from HSW undergrad. My question is whether my age will be an achilles heel when I apply? I am targeting mainly schools in urban centers (especially NYC).
I know 30 is on the older side, and I am not applying to school immediately after having left the service. How much should I be concerned about the age issue? Thanks for your input.
Hi jtim12, any of these discussions helpful:
More suggestions...
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Thank you for the links, I looked through them but could not find any specific info on the age issue.
Frank Slaughtery youre up
won't be an issue - military guys tend to be a bit older (29-32) when starting their MBA from what I saw at the school i went to (non H/S M7)
As people stated above, not an issue at all. All the military guys are going to be a bit older than the average student.
AF vet here. I was 31 when I matriculated into b-school at HSW (w/ a much lower GPA than yours, btw).
I'd argue the school pref isn't for age so much as it is 'career experience,' so I don't think they admit/deny on age alone, but instead yrs of work exp. relative to your competitors. At 30, your distance from the mean age of other military applicants is likely ~ 0.
So, with respect to competitive advantage vs. achilles heel, I think you're essentially on-par w/, say, a 27 y/o IB/PE applicant (that is, right at the sweet spot).
Thank you to everyone for your input - it's very helpful. I will likely go to business school overseas (UK) for a complete career shift with the intent to stay overseas. I was particularly interested in Asset Management or IB. Would my age (32 at graduation) be an issue with employers in those sectors overseas, while also considering my US military background?
Depends on the school as not all schools are equally “open minded” when it comes to this, as well as on the rest of your profile but I would say that based on what you are writing (and we are assuming your profile is competitive otherwise) it should not be a huge issue in this case. When we are talking 35 + it starts to become an issue in the US but even then European top schools are fairly accommodating in many cases so you still have a few years to go before you really need to worry!
Omnis iusto saepe animi. Aspernatur doloremque aut sed recusandae. Et blanditiis et unde magnam quibusdam. Quis aliquam debitis aspernatur nihil. Ut sit quia veniam exercitationem reiciendis ea rerum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...