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Applying for an MBA at or even after 30 years old is a viable option. Age does not form a critical factor in determining the eligibility for applying to and chances of being accepted to MBA programs. Rather, B-schools specify minimum professional experience requirement as a criterion of determining eligibility for application to MBA programs. However, as by 30+ years old you will have taken on important personal and professional commitments, you must consider such factors as opportunity cost and ROI, duration, personal commitments, career scopes, etc. before you plan to apply for an MBA. Refer an MBA admissions consultant to understand the best MBA option for 30+ years old professionals.
Age is never a limitation to an individual’s ability to learn and improve their skill-set. You can apply for an MBA, irrespective of your age. While B-schools offer a wide variety of MBA programs, you must take into account certain factors prior to deciding upon the particular MBA program suited for 30+ individuals.
MBA after 30+: Which Factors to Consider?
Any executive employed in a significant leadership role and desirous of taking a break from his/her professional life is only willing to accelerate his/her career progression. However, at 30+ years old, you need to take into account a number of factors when you decided to pursue an MBA. You may be bound by numerous financial responsibilities, including that of your family, and you may have location preferences. It is not easy to leave your job and get back to academics and if you are planning for an MBA at 30+ years old, you must be prepared to make the career leap.
Time
As it is said, time is of the essence. At 30+ years old, you must have attained 6+ years of professional experience. It is not an easy task to leave job and take up your books. Simultaneously, you will want to get back to the professional front as soon as possible. The global 1-year MBA programs provide the best support in this regard. A fast-paced and intensive program helps you acquire the necessary training in the basics of business management and return to the industry as a dynamic and confident leader. Technically, the 1-year MBAs, 11 – 14 months in length, only cause you to take a break from your job. However, if you are constrained by personal or professional commitments and cannot attend a full-time MBA program, you can opt for the weekend executive MBA, the part-time MBA, the online or distance learning MBA. These programs allow you the flexibility to complete the course at your own convenient time and pace: thus, you can complete your MBA in 3 to 4 years.
Curriculum
The 1-year full-time MBA curriculum offers you intensive learning in the basic business management principles along with the option to receive in-depth training in your preferred discipline. Most B-schools tend to merge their classes in the core disciplines for both 2-years full-time MBA and 1-year full-time MBA. Besides, you can avail of wide ranging experiential learning scopes such as international study trips, projects, etc. The distance learning and online MBA programs provide you with all the study resources and you are needed to attend virtual classes. Besides, you are also required to complete all assignments and projects. Importantly, with the part-time MBA you can simultaneously apply your learning to strategize and solve business problems or create opportunities.
Internship Scope
None of the MBA programs provide internship scopes to its students with 6+ years of experience. If you command considerable experience in your industry and function, you will not require an internship to acclimatize with the professional world. You are only opting for the MBA to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of the nuances of business management.
Peer Learning and Network
Irrespective of the age at which you apply for the MBA program and the experience you command, you cannot disregard the importance of peer learning and networking building. Studying and partaking of projects with a cohort representing diverse culture and industry significantly helps in developing perspectives. While the full-time 1-year MBA and part-time MBA allows you scope to imbibe learning from the peer group, you get limited chances to develop deep industry networks.
Career Support
Only the full-time 1-year MBA program offers you robust career and placement support. As you are required to leave your job to attend the program, you are empowered with sound advice and guidance of the respective B-school’s career support cell. On the other hand, professionals availing of the part-time/weekend/online/correspondence MBA do not require career support as they keep to their full-time professional commitments.
Career Options
There is no dearth of opportunity for MBA grads aged 30+. However, you must not consider a change in career track following your MBA. The accelerated MBA programs are designed on the idea of you being well-acquainted with your specific domain and hence only strive to equip you with the comprehensive business management knowledge, necessary to transform you into a dynamic industry leader. Hence, if you have spent significant years in the professional sector and feel that your career growth has plateaued, you can opt for an MBA.
Cost
You can avail of the learning and experience of the full-time 2-years MBA program at almost half the cost if you apply for the 1-year full-time MBA program. Barring the accommodation and related cost (for international students), the full-time 1 –year MBA program will hardly cost you more than USD 100,000. Similarly, the part-time or online and correspondence MBA options will cost you ~ USD 110,000 for the whole program.
Scholarship
As with all full-time MBA options, the 1-year MBA programs provide good scholarship options. Further, you can also avail of the various grants or private loan options if you are applying for the 1-year full-time MBA. The part-time or online MBA options do not allow you such scholarship benefits and you are expected to bear the complete cost of your program as you will be drawing your salary while completing the MBA curriculum.
You can opt for the full-time 1-year MBA or the part-time/weekend/correspondence/online MBA options depending on your time and personal/professional preferences. However, if you are looking for robust skill-enhancement training, experience-building, and peer learning scopes, you must apply for the full-time 1-year MBA program. The fast-paced learning module will train you in the necessary business management principles and ensure your employment at a senior leadership role. The part-time/online/correspondence MBA programs are not particularly for 30+ years old executives. These are comparatively easier programs that do not conduct rigorous admission procedures and also do not warrant similar exposure and experience as a full-time MBA program.
Applying for an MBA is a serious decision, and despite your age and commitments, if you have taken the decision to opt for an MBA, it is strongly recommended that you select full-time programs to make the most of your investment, in terms of time and effort.
In India, usually, students tend to complete their education entirely before embarking on their professional career. The concept of obtaining significant professional exposure and then going back to school in pursuit of a Masters program is relatively new in India but is gradually gaining popularity, and akin to the developed nations, this trend is here to stay and grow. According to statistics, over the last decade, a significant proportion of Indian corporate professionals have opted to garner crucial professional experience before partaking of an MBA program. However, professionals often tend to realize their need for an MBA after the age of 30, when their growth curve plateaus. The urge to enhance their skill-set and seek for greater growth, then, becomes an imperative need. Although there is no upper limit on the age for opting for an MBA, there are certain pertinent factors to be taken into consideration before taking the leap. A 30+ individual looking to pursue an MBA needs to consider the fact that at his/her age the opportunity cost is high, the risk appetite is low, and the personal responsibilities are on an increase.
Best MBA Options for Indians aged 30+
Discussed below, in decreasing order of recommendation, are the best MBA options for Indians aged 30+
1-year Indian MBA
Several of the IIMs, as well as Indian management programs, provide 1-year, full-time residential programs. The eligibility criteria of these programs mandate certain minimum years of work experience and offer the scope of studying amidst a cohort of richly experienced professionals. The advantages of opting for an Indian MBA are many:
Verdict: a strongly recommended option for candidates who do not desire to move out of India and incur the heavy investment of pursuing a global MBA.
1-year Global MBA
Normally, almost all of European MBA programs and only few of American or Canadian or even Asian MBA programs happen to be of 1-year duration. Such programs mandate a professional experience of ~7 years and the age of the class averages at 29 years. Further, these programs guarantee minimal opportunity cost and offer high brand value, worldwide. Moreover, as the student body is global and the feel of the programs is international, these programs allow the maximum international exposure. Owing to the fact that these programs command a long acquaintance with the universities, the ecosystem tends to be highly intellectually stimulating. However, pursuing 1-year global MBA from a European school can be critical as the European economy has been on the downturn for some time now and hence, employment scopes, especially for international students, are thin. Also, 1-year is actually not adequate tenure to acquire convincing management skills and international exposure. Even as 1-year MBAs do not generally provide internship scopes, career switch through such programs also becomes a concern.
Verdict: Only recommended for those with serious tangible skills, who only desire to enhance their career growth with an MBA.
2-years Global MBA
MBA programs, normally, tend to be of 2-years duration. Thus, almost all of the elite USA MBA programs and others are also of 2-year tenure; mandating 5 years of work experience as an eligibility factor. The average age of the class also figures around 27-28 years. These are the most renowned and globally top-ranked programs in the world, and carry the highest brand value, allow strong global networking scopes, and offer the most advanced curriculum in general management with the distinctive choice to select up to 2 concentrations. However, these programs generally tend to reject the applications of students aged 30+ because they realize that while students with 3-6 years of experience can easily obtain their respective desired profiles, it is difficult to help the 30+ aged candidates obtain such returns, post-MBA and the schools wonder if the 30+ aged candidates will be able to attune themselves to the classroom environment and compete with a relatively young crowd of students. Moreover, these programs are immensely expensive and of a higher opportunity cost.
To conclude, students who are eager to pursue top-ranked MBA programs, or acquire employment in USA, or shift their career should apply to these options. 30+ aged candidates will have to provide strong justification of their need for MBA late in their career, highlight meaningful career goals, and attain high GMAT scores to prove their academic mettle. The candidates must also take into account the necessary finances and planning.
Verdict: Recommended for candidates looking for a shift in role, relocation to USA, or strong brand value.
Part-Time or Online or Correspondence or Weekend MBA
Various big brands have the option of such degrees and the idea of having such brands on Resume is enticing, especially when they come without the need for leaving one’s job, at a reasonable cost, and mostly without the appearing for GMAT or CAT. Things that come too easy are seldom worthy. Practically, these are not MBAs but merely certifications- nowhere close in value to a full-time MBA, and provide no assistance in placements. Through these programs, one keeps studying a few things over the weekends or after office, clears multiple exams, and eventually gets a degree one day; but the change on one’s profile or career trajectory is insignificant.
Verdict: Not recommended; pursue this option only if your circumstances do not allow the flexibility to take a sabbatical and study full-time. Expect dividends, marginal, only in the longer run.
2-years Indian MBA
The Indian programs still following the conventional 2-years structure and admission through CAT should be avoided by Indians aged 30+. The average work experience of these cohort ranges between 0-1 years and the age is around 23 years. Thus, in terms of maturity and experience, an Indian student aged over 30 will feel like a senior citizen in the class, unable to identify with the maturity of the class and losing out on peer learning, critical to the entire MBA learning experience; an experience easily availed of when one enrols with a school accepting only experienced professionals. Moreover, as the companies look for no to little experienced candidates during the campus placement drives, it becomes difficult for experienced individuals, aged 30+ to acquire the desired middle management profiles.
Verdict: Not recommended.
Considerations such as the expenses of pursuing an MBA and taking a break from work and going back to school may force you to reconsider your decision. However, if you are seriously convinced that an MBA will boost your career, then you should opt for the program. Do not look for any short cuts, do not fall for the cheap options, rather work hard on earning a competitive GMAT score and apply only to the elite programs. Re-invigorating your business acumen amidst the stimulating environment will definitely reinvent the charm.
All the best!
