Too young for MBA?

I am currently 23, a year out of school and considering enrolling in a full time MBA program at 25. Is this too young of an age to be pursuing a MBA full time? I am currently in a Finance & Accounting development program in the banking industry and would like to make a switch to consulting/ibanking. Thoughts?

 

it's a tough sell to employers without 24 months full-time job, that I can guarantee you whether you get in or not.

Things that can overcome that problem, is Ivy/Stanford tier undergrad.... Top named employers and experience.... good GMAT.... basically you got to be at the top echlon of resume except that shorter resume

 

I'm in my early 20's and applying after two years of consulting experience.... I guess I'll let everyone know how it goes.

"I'm at a loss, he was part of that whole Yale thing... Well, I think, for one, that he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot of cocaine... You know, that Yale thing."
 

There are three challenges to applying young.

  1. Getting in
  2. Fitting in
  3. Finding a job while in school

The last is the one I'd be most concerned about. Firms have a hard time justifying post-MBA pay for a candidate with limited work experience, even if it's consulting. I'm at a T2 consulting shop and we definitely are biased against top MBA candidates with under 2 years of experience. You have to be a 2+2 quality candidate to really mitigate that (i.e. top UG, top grades, and top employer post-Grad). If you're not, I'd wait the extra year. It makes all the difference.

Bear in mind that some schools are also biased against reapplicants. You need to make big strides between years 2-3 if you got dinged at your top schools and are reapplying. HBS is notorious for this. Sure that early acceptance has a higher ROI on paper, but there are a lot of intangibles at play.

 

If I understand you correctly you would apply with roughly two years of work experience and matriculate with 3. That is at the younger/less experienced end of the class. It's not impossible, but it's also harder than applying with more work experience, which usually tranlates into more impact, responsibility, leadership, and achievements.

You will need to show:

  1. You have accomplished in 2-3 years what most applicants take 4-5 to accomplish.
  2. Excellent academics.
  3. Clear career direction
  4. Fit with the program.

I also suggest that you focus on programs that trend a little younger. If you have the stats, Stanford immediately comes to mind.

Finally, as someone else said, if you think you're ready, apply. In the worst case, you'll just reapply the following year.

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting
 
Hank4321:
I appreciate the insight. I am looking to stay in the midwest and Ohio State & IU really stand out as top choices for me. Again, based on my experience is this a long shot? I would be applying with 1 year of experience under my belt

Simply i say you'll be fucked doing that. No competitive resume means leftover jobs and not what you aiming

 

Hank4321,

Based on the class profiles for both Ohio State and IU, they are pretty typical in terms of the experience/age of class. You would have the challenges that others and I mentioned in earlier posts. Could you surmount them at Ohio State and IU? The only way to find out is to apply. I don't think you would be wasting tour time as long as you have the other elements that these schools are going to look for.

I can't say if they are long shots without knowing more about you.

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting
 
Most Helpful

I also did an MBA a bit young, and I regret it. I suggest you do not do so. I went when I was 25 and it was still too young.

Why?
1) you have a chance to explore more and have more unusual experiences before you "settle in" to a post-MBA career track. No more chance to go teach English in Japan/China/Korea after MBA. No more chance to (insert cool travel idea here) 2) you will be competing for jobs against other, older, and more experienced applicants and you won't be as well suited, and you will blow your bite at the apple. 3) why not go start a company, and learn those lessons? Once you've saddled yourself with $100k+ of debt it will be harder to turn down that big post-MBA offer to pay that debt.

Wait a few years, do some interesting stuff, then consider MBA. And maybe you can join a company that can pay for it, or you can go part time The whole taking on $100k+ of debt is not something that should be done without very deep consideration, and not something a 23 year old should do.

Want to prove you have the finance chops? Do the CFA. Much cheaper, somewhat quicker, and can be done alongside other pursuits.

 

Although I agree with points 2 and 3 I'm not sure why having the opportunity to do something cool but completely irrelevant is a selling point here. OP is clearly motivated to switch industries and probably has no interest in wasting time.

I do agree with you though in that he shouldn't do an MBA at a young age but it does sound like he does have relevant finance experience, at least compared to most of the people trying to rebrand themselves from BO. Personally I'd try to apply for unpaid internships in banking then try to leverage that for FT interviews if money isn't a problem.

 

I guess it also depends what you want to do. But for the rest of your life you will be stamped with the brand of a single school.
If you go early, you won't get into as good a school as you could later, if you waited a couple more years. Wait a bit, and go to a top tier. And then get a top tier job. Don't be impatient. Go do something you enjoy first.

 

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