Too Old for Elite MBA?

Absolutely not. On the contrary, most schools will look favorably on your work experience.

In addition, some companies send their senior management to high-end MBA schools. One manager I worked with was 54 when he went to Standford's MBA program. The company paid his salary, his tuition, housing cost, and provided a daily per diem. He was gone for 4 months or so. Sweet deal!

njk wrote:

Absolutely not.

[quote]NotToLate wrote:

In addition, some companies send their senior management to high-end MBA schools.

One manager I worked with was 54 when he went to Standford's MBA program. The company paid his salary, his tuition, housing cost, and provided a daily per diem. He was gone for 4 months or so. Sweet deal!

I gather you mean Stanford, and you're referring to an executive MBA program. These are great money-makers for business schools, and are great perks for key managers. However these programs are really a different product from regular two-year MBA programs.

yeah, that sounds like an executive program. But some companies do encourage and pay for a full blown MBA. My neighbor is getting his at night at Kellogg (northwestern). I think it will take him about 4 years, but it is free for him. You can't beat that. He is about 34.

Yeah, I'm thinking about the conventional 2-year full-time MBA.

Great advice so far. Any dissenting opinions?

I don't see why it would be a problem. As I'm sure you're aware, some doctoral programs may be uneasy about taking on a student who is getting a late start on a course of study that may take seven years to complete before he emerges as a full-fledged academic or professional, but I don't see why that would be an issue for a two-year MBA program.

Any top program is going to want to know what you've been doing, what you're adding to the mix of students, and what your motivations are for heading in this new direction.

I'll dissent.

First, you may find that two years is a very long time to be away from work. That's fine if you changing careers and need to re-establish yourself with an internship, but it may not be necessary in your case, and it's an awfully long time not to be drawing a salary. Next, MBA students are getting younger. That doesn't necessarily impact the quality of your education, but some of the intangibles will not be as useful for you. For example, it sounds like you will be way ahead of your classmates when looking for a job, as you have much more experience. Therefore, you won't derive much initial value from networking with them, as your relevant contacts should be at the executive level (or technical equivalent) already. Also, recruiting is built around candidates for entry-level MBA positions, so many of the opportunities will not be suitable for you (again, unless you are changing careers). Finally, the social scene may revolve around activities that single 28 year olds find enjoyable (alcohol) but 36 year olds find tiresome.

Take a look at Sloan Fellows at MIT or something similar. It's a well-regarded one-year program, and the class is made up of people with similar credentials as yours. While you won't be part of the mainstream MBA class for two years, you will get to take many of the same courses. There are some impressive graduates of the Sloan Fellows program.

Finally, despite all of the above, you still can't really go wrong with a two year MBA from a top program. I don't know anyone who has regretted it. It will open many doors for you. However, if you are established in your field and don't want to go into i-banking or consulting, an executive program may be a better fit.

Wow.

Thanks for a great dissent!

I've done quite a bit of research on MBA progams, but hadn't heard of the Sloan Fellows program until now. I will definitely look into it.

Your points re: the age and experience gap are well-taken. My main concern is that I'm viewed and utilized mostly as a "techie", but feel that (and have demonstrated in the past outside of my current profession) I have strong leadership skills and would like to utilize them. I don't want to get stereotyped as a tech-guy that doesn't understand the business side and won't "get a seat at the table", per se. I enjoy the tech side of my work, but am also very into the challenge of developing and implementing strategy.

Thanks again for you opinions.