32岁离开中国到美国读MBA是不是太晚了？

howardhu35

You apprarently misunderstood edwarxu's words. He is saying a job in China with annual pay about $60-70k, that is pretty decent.

Certainly you may end up with a low pay job in US after MBA.  But you can still stwitch job.

Somehow I feel you are not ready for MBA, not because you are too old, but because you are a very very cautious person.  That is not a bad trait, but makes you more difficualt to deal with unexpected risks.

edwardxu

Chasing dreams:

Have you ever talked with someone who is doing finance related research or right now is pursuing a PhD in finance? Do you have an idea about what their typical background and working experience is? I don’t know much about this. If you don’t, I would suggest you talk with people to get some ideas. Also, about intelligence, you know everybody in top schools is smart. Maybe your GMAT score is at top 2%, but remember average GMAT score for top b-schools is over 700. Your top 2% would probably become top 40% here. As you had given up this plan, we won’t spend much time to discuss it.

Return of an MBA is quite ambiguous. So I just limit our discussion to base salary right after school. In the U.S., consultants, bankers and also PE/VC jobs could get a base salary around $100K right after school. For other jobs from top b-schools, the average base salary is around $80K-$90K in the U.S. There is no such information about top MBAs return to China, but I guess a reasonable number (not consulting or banking job) would be around $70K. I’m not sure, but you certainly cannot expect the salary level in China could compare with that in the U.S. If you think it is too low, well… think about long-term return and career development

Everybody is unique, so don’t expect everyone graduating from top b-schools could get a six figure salary. And age is definitely a consideration of recruiters.

BTW, it is not easy to find a PE/VC job right after a b-school, even for Americans. Only 3% or 4% of b-school graduates land a job in that industry. Comparing with 50% of consulting and banking, it is relatively low. And they like ex-consultants or ex-bankers. A typical way of getting into a PE/VC firm is first land a job in consulting or banking then after 3 or 4 years, you are bored, burned out or forced out by “up-or-out” policy, you get into a PE/VC firm.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-1-22 3:09:48编辑过]

chasing_dreams

Thanks a lot to you, edwardxu and howardhu35, etc.

Am I ready for MBA? No, to be honest I am not. And I really appreciate you to point out this problem again. Just 1 months ago, I left China and had no any idea about MBA not because I knew little about MBA  but because there were many reasons that made me decide to go to Europe and apply for a master in financial economics. Recently, I've had time to think about my future and heard much advice from some friends. You know, it is not easy to reach a disicion because I am not single and I am responsible for my family, my parents and my wife, etc. I really hope to get more information about these matters.Thank you.

I am just hesitant whether or not I should take GMAT for the second time because I know many applicants of topMBAs have GMAT scores nearly full mark (hope to get some advice). I took GMAT for only 300-hour preparation with a very bad English foundation and some teacher in New Oriental School told me it is not easy. The original purpose is to apply for master in Europe.If I planed to apply MBA in US, I would have try my best. If everything else is the same, especially a 3.0—3.2 GPA, is it very very useful to have a higher GMAT score as someone said? Maybe I am confident overmuch about IQ or logic reasoning but that is my final advantage from a child till now even if comparing with everyone I ever met.

Before, a friend here said to me that language would be the most difficult problem to me in the future and I designed a plan to improve my English. However,if age is a another problem to me, it is difficult to solve it. Then what should I do to complement this disadvantage?

I think I should not give up this desicion but I really should know more about it.

Is is convenient to contact all os you using a email or something?

Thanks.

edwardxu

Chasing_dreams:

You must be kidding. Your GMAT 750 is more than enough for any top 10 b-schools. Don’t waste your time on GMAT. Low GPA? You have more than five years of working experience, so admission officer won’t pay any attention to this. And most likely, they understand universities in China are using totally different system to measure academic performance. If you could tell a good story, top 10 b-schools are not so difficult for you. In all my previous notes, I didn’t talk anything about how to get in. What I was talking is all about post-MBA. It is about your goal and career development.

Let’s clarify something I said. Age might be a problem only if you want to:

1. Earn an immediately pay back right after b-school.


2. Make a dramatic change in both your job function and industry.


3. Apply for a labor intensive job.

And age is NOT a problem for you to get in or to handle workload in b-school. But you have to make it clear why you want an MBA? What’s your goal? How could you leverage your MBA to develop your career? These are basically essay topics for most of the b-schools. Attending b-school is a big commitment in terms of money, time, and career changes, especially for old guys, who don’t have much time to waste. Any bad decision could be very costly.

chasing_dreams

edwardxu，other friends

Really appeiciate you for your time and patience.

I think at this time I know much from you and other friends in CD forum. As a friend told me, I will apply for TopMBAs just like Worton and MIT, and at the same time I will study hard in the business school in North Europe and try  to get a financial economics PHD degree in top US universities. If one of these dreams come true firstly,  I will do my best for it. Now I think the mot important thing for me is to review all the mathmetics courses that I learned in university to prepare my study in financial economics. Furthermore, I need to practice my English because I have put it off for about 8 years and I will take Toefl  for the second time(last time I only got 617+5.0).

Several weeks later, I will come back here. If I have new questions and if you , all of my friends, are here at that time, let's meet again.

Thanks.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-1-22 7:20:50编辑过]

shanghainoon

以下是引用edwardxu在2006-1-21 12:04:00的发言：

Do you mean you are 32 now and you are considering an MBA abroad or you predict that when you get in you will be 32? This is different. Because you have to spend one or two years to get in, actually you will be 33 or 34 when you get in. That’s a little bit too old. And you will be 35 or 36 when you graduate. I have to say age is a big issue here. You cannot simply ignore it. I'm not discouraging you, but believe me, it is tough.

Before you make your decision you have to ask yourself several questions.

What is your objective to get an MBA?

If you want to go back to corporate world, maybe it is a good idea. If you want to get into banking or consulting, don't count on it. Most likely, you won't get into investment banking or consulting. Because these are labor intensive industries, those firms don't like people over 30. You still believe you can compete with twenty something people, but those managers or VPs in consulting and banking don't think so.

Are you a career switcher?

If yes, then it could be tough. You are already thirty something and you want to change your career to a new industry or new job function. It is not easy to convince recruiters. This is still possible, but not so easy. You have to go extra miles to reach your goal. And finally you have to either go back to your old industry or old job function. It is unlikely you could switch both industry and functions at the same time.

What is your expected return of your MBA?

Basically, the return of your MBA (at least for the immediate pay back after graduation) becomes lower and lower as you become older and older. As I mentioned in the first question, the possibility of old guys to get into high-paid consulting or banking job is quite slim. In the long-run, it is still possible to have a high return. However, please imagine this. When you graduate, half of your classmates land jobs in consulting or banking with salary around $100K. But you only get an offer with salary around $80K. How do you think about this?

Think about your career development. Don't pursue an MBA for the sake of MBA.

I'm talking about general situation, so please don't argue with me by giving some specific examples. Every rule has some exceptions. If you believe you are exceptional, just go for it. But ironically, if you are truly exceptional, why do you need an MBA? Geniuses, such as Bill Gates and Michael Dell don't need education.

Very insightful and helpful, edwardxu.

Just curious, are you or were you an MBA? Do you learn this from your own experience? Thanks.

Sting

楼主的困惑也正是我的,看来在这里我已经得到解答了,不虚此行啊,和楼主共勉吧

davidli8888

以下是引用Swinerton在2006-1-21 11:17:00的发言：

Chinese put too much on age. When I came to Sates for my first Master's degree, I had plenty of old American classmates. I once asked one of them why he wanted to get a graduate degree. He told me: I am just 45, I am still young!!

If you mentally think you are old, you are physically old even you actually are only 26 or 27

If you mentally think you are young, you are physicall young even you are 40 or 50.

If you have dream, go and chase it!!! Chaseing dream doesn't only belong to young kids!

Attitude and perspective matters. Appreciated!

cheungmyao

受益匪浅，谢谢各位！

atmanzzy

EdwardXu厉害,有见地,英语水平更是不一般.