Hi , I am preparing for the CAT exams this year . I am 33 years old. Now , one thing that’s bothering me is whether its too late for me. I welcome suggestions regarding this . Its a very competitive world out there so how far promising my car…
Hi ,
I am preparing for the CAT exams this year . I am 33 years old. Now , one thing that's bothering me is whether its too late for me. I welcome suggestions regarding this . Its a very competitive world out there so how far promising my career will be even if I eventually crack this exam , that's the dilemma I am in. Do advice.
Hi,
To the best of my knowledge, there was no age limit till CAT 2005 and admissions to IIMs, so hope it remains the same way next season too.
Also, with your given experience (10+ years), I believe getting call from IIMs should be possible witheven a decent performance in CAT (Around 94 percentile). So, there is no need to ace the test as others around here strive for 99+. :smile:
Also, with the substantial work-ex that u may have, applying to a foreign B-school makes a lot more sense than an Indian B-school for learining experience and networking possiblities they offer.
Hope it has helped u clear certain apprehensions.
PS: Moving this thread to an approprite section, Career Discussion.
Hi ,
I am preparing for the CAT exams this year . I am 33 years old. Now , one thing that's bothering me is whether its too late for me. I welcome suggestions regarding this . Its a very competitive world out there so how far promising my career will be even if I eventually crack this exam , that's the dilemma I am in. Do advice.
it is not late...i am sure u must have read abt Mr. Surya Prasad who graduated from IIMA this year. he had more than 20 yrs of work exp. i think that says it all.
and as rightly pointed out by @reachmonil, applying to foreign B Schools makes sense. u can apply to ISB or for the PGP Ex progs in the IIMs
cheers
amit
i think you are going down the wrong track.
think logically
1 do i need an MBA at this stage of my life?
2 if yes , then from india or abroad?
3 if india , then iims or isb or other colleges etc/
once you have found out what you really want do some research on the it to see if thats what you are gonna get at the end of the course.
Hi ,
I am preparing for the CAT exams this year . I am 33 years old. Now , one thing that's bothering me is whether its too late for me. I welcome suggestions regarding this . Its a very competitive world out there so how far promising my career will be even if I eventually crack this exam , that's the dilemma I am in. Do advice.
Hi ,
I am preparing for the CAT exams this year . I am 33 years old. Now , one thing that's bothering me is whether its too late for me. I welcome suggestions regarding this . Its a very competitive world out there so how far promising my career will be even if I eventually crack this exam , that's the dilemma I am in. Do advice.
You had better be damn clear about your career goals. Even at 27, they look at you as if you are too old and expect you to have planned your career at micro level and to be coming to study with a very specific purpose.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for the suggestions . I would like to add some little more information about myself with the hope that it will all the more help in giving suggestions. I am presently a class 1 government officer with 8 years of working experience and is slated to become a part of top level government bureaucracy in the future . I AM 33 YEARS OLD . Does this matter ????
hey,
age is not a hinderance for a person to CAT. it does 'nt matter whether ur a 20 yr old (i startd my mba as a 19 yr old) or a 33 yr old. as long as the institute ur applying to believes dat u are management material i dont c anything really stopping u.
and trust me with ur kind of work ex its almost guaranteed dat any prestigious b school will admit u (presuming u meet their cat score requirements).
XXX
Life's Good
P.S- in my b-school (which is a top 10 insti) the oldest person is a 31 yr old doctor. there are 4 other people in a 180 stronog batch who are in their 30's. in some other b-schools this no. is even higher. so chill.... and go ahead with the cat. Best of luck
hey bashis,
just one more thing.... ur career prospects are not killed coz by ur age..... infact with ur kind of work ex u can infact insist on a certain minimum which u ave in mind with whichever company or sector. dont worry.....
the only issue which is discouraging would b hanging out wit freshers such as myself who knew only the bare minimum about various industries..... otherwise life should b a roller coaster 4 u from here on.
xxx
Life's Good
well i think thre's no age bar to sit for CAT xam....also i believe dat if u have d spirit and zeal to go ahead and study further u should make a move in the right direction...thre's no limit to d knowledge u can gain...b it 20 yrs 30 yrs or more..
as monil pointed out ur work-ex wud surely b an advantage...but u shud decide urself whthr u wud hav d time to study for d entrnce xam along wid ur wrk.
i wud like to discuss here...hope d thread owner wont mind...dat shouldnt thre b an age limit set for taking d CAT xam?also d no. of times one can appear for it?
There shouldnt be any age limit for pursuing education. learning is a non ending process and that's how it should be looked at. Quite a few People retire from their professions and then take up education - which they could not earlier in thier lives. it is a common trend abroad. But not so much in India.
As for number of attempts at CAT, makes no sense at all as it is an ever changing paper. The paper pattern changes every year and each time it is as if you are writing for the first time.
Passion to achieve and determination is more important.
Freshers would mind coz their competition is going to increase ;-)
As for number of attempts at CAT, makes no sense at all as it is an ever changing paper. The paper pattern changes every year and each time it is as if you are writing for the first time.
Passion to achieve and determination is more important.
Freshers would mind coz their competition is going to increase ;-)
With candidates like MVK Surya Prasad (22 years of workex, IIM-A) being offered the post of a CEO of RPG group, I don't think b-schools are gonna put down any age limits any time soon. Admitting people with greater workex is a great way to push up their average salaries easily and to attract companies looking to fill their senior manager posts.
If you're young at heart, willing to sit in classroom for long hours again, do assignments et al then why not? If MBA(from anywhere) fits into ur framework then just go for it. You're 33 so obviously you've seen the world and unlike young people you won't be running for a plain lucrative career with lots of money, isn't it?
Life is a nested loop of ifs and elses.
Hi Bashis
If you have the zeal and the commitment then nothing is gonna stop you. I had met a guy during my VGSOM's gd/pi who had 17 yrs of work ex and yet was so enthusiastic to do an mba. You should have a clear idea as to why you want to do an mba at this stage of ur life(which i'm sure is gonna be the 1st ques in ur pi). Also in some interviews they might try to stress you on why mba at this age like i had in my imi's interview. I'm 25 yr old and they told me that by the time i pass out i'll be 27 yr old and if they select me then the avg age of their batch will increase 
??:. I tried to reason out that their is no specific age for learning,blah,blah and ultimately i was selected. So just have faith in urself and all the best for ur preparation.
well as stated above by many fellow pgites there is no age limit fr appearing in cat bt u should be looking at the other problems which u might be facing like an obvious question "y now??" also another may be to cope up with ur career after u r done with ur mba.. as u must be expecting a handsome increase in that pay check of urs where u may have to compromise looking at th competition. if u r ready fr th challenges then y not. And one more thing u must read n know bout mr. surya prasad tht can be a real inspiration for u. best of luck.
Bashis,
You can definitely go ahead and do your MBA. I donot intend to criticize anyone but noticing some of the replies like "be clear whether you want to do a MBA" ," may be the interviewrs will screw you" i want to say that you are in a better matured position both in career and age to judge things. A 33rd year old, who is in a high governmental position, i hope doesnt make a wrong choice in going for a MBA. It may be us, at the age of 21,22 or even persons with experience of just 1 or 2 years who are more in a unlikely position of "why MBA" except for "Money" and "Brand". In US the average age of a person who does his MBA is 27-29. If you get through a Harvard,Kellogs MBA at the age of 23 you are a weird lost guy in the corporate world. Global renowned schools place a lot of importance on Work Exp for admission.Work exp is very important and thats where our IIMs are lagging on the global stage. I am not saying that our IIM grads are not getting 200 grant salaries. Its not the salary but the experinece you need to back up in the corporate world.
I can give you a live instance. My father is working as a GM(HR) in a Automobile company in Vizag(Visakhapatnam). One day he got a call from the GM of Corommandel ferilisers in the same area asking him whether he knows any potential HR managers for his company because they were facing labour problems. My father then asked what happened to the IIM and XLRI grad they recruited 1 year back( with "Salaries" of 8 and 6 lakhs respectively"). He replied they were kind of inefficient in handling the labour problems( its in the HR area) because they had no experince before. I am not generaling this for every IIM and XLRI. There are a lot of good MBAs from our IIMs. By the way the automotive company was set up by a Kellogs MBA grad(with 7 years work exp). My father introduced to him when i wanted to do my MBA immediately after my Btech. He narrated his tale. He got into IIM-C in 1982 after his Btech just like many of us today. He was not comfortable during the class discussions because most of were around 26-27 with work exp( though the situation is quite different today_ with almost half of the candidates without workexp). Incidentally he got a admission in Michigan State for MS and left his MBA in the middle. He finished his masters , worked for 7-8 years and then applied for Kellogs( the best B-school in the world) and got admitted. He felt completely different when he was in the school as he was surrounded by real industrial guys contributing valuable knowledge to the class. Each had a different perspective to share. There were doctors,Science, Engineers, Atheletes, Arts people. He says only one thing the value to a MBA class is not the professors or the school but the candidates. I can go on and on with his insights but i dont have patience to type. That made me to change my decision.Right now i am taking a course in Tepper B-school( sorry for the late introduction by the way i am doing my MS in Mechanical at Carnegie Mellon) that has MBAs, Engineers and Designers working on a project for a company. I never learnt so much my entire life that i have learnt this single semester. It provided me to think in the perspective of different disciplines which many of our indian students will be lacking in their education. Thats where these americans score better .
These are my opinions and not to criticise anyone.
There is no age limit for CAT... and there should not be one. Recently there was a news coverage which spoke of a 70 something man taking the 12th std exams. Knowledge knows no age barriers. And it's never too late to do anything. Remember, Khushwant Singh ventured into journalism at 55 ( yes 55 !!).
The IPS officer (prakash) who graduated from IIM A this year is a case in point. Workex is important, and the business schools equip you with the tools that will assist in a managerial job. This thing about career goals is bullshit. 90 % of the junta give shape to their career only during the course of their professional life. And it is appalling to note that 66% of the intake into IIMs comprise of fresh grads.....and i am surprised that the wise men in the interview panel accept their 'career goal' answers as a valid arguement to get into the IIMs.
The IPS officer (prakash) who graduated from IIM A this year is a case in point. Workex is important, and the business schools equip you with the tools that will assist in a managerial job. This thing about career goals is bullshit. 90 % of the junta give shape to their career only during the course of their professional life. And it is appalling to note that 66% of the intake into IIMs comprise of fresh grads.....and i am surprised that the wise men in the interview panel accept their 'career goal' answers as a valid arguement to get into the IIMs.
There is no age limit for CAT... and there should not be one. Recently there was a news coverage which spoke of a 70 something man taking the 12th std exams. Knowledfe knows no age barriers. And it's never too late to do anything. Remember, Khushwant Singh ventured into journalism at 55 ( yes 55 !!).
The IPS officer (prakash) who graduated from IIM A this year is a case in point. Workex is important, and the business schools equip you with the tools that will assist in a managerial job. This thing about career goals is bullshit. 90 % of the junta give shape to their career only during the course of their professional life. And it is appalling to note that 66% of the intake into IIMs comprise of fresh grads.....and i am surprised that the wise men in the interview panel accept their 'career goal' answers as a valid arguement to get into the IIMs.
Age limit 4 CAT R U KIDDING MAN!!!!!!!!:wow:
there is no age limit 4 talent :satisfie:
certainly not 4 desire 2 learn:satisfie:
physical fitness never had held dominance over will power & determination.
PROTIMA BEDI STARTED 2 learn KATHAK DANCE at the age of 28.:wow: 
AND SHE MANAGED 2 excell in it!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT HAS AGE ANYTHING 2 DO WITH PERFORMANCE.
THINKING OF A AGE LIMIT FOR CAT ENTRANCE TESTS WOULD B A CATASTROPHE
A SIN PAR REDEMPTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND SHE MANAGED 2 excell in it!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT HAS AGE ANYTHING 2 DO WITH PERFORMANCE.
THINKING OF A AGE LIMIT FOR CAT ENTRANCE TESTS WOULD B A CATASTROPHE
A SIN PAR REDEMPTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi everybody,
here comes the old man talking about age limit. I am 41 years old. I am preparing for CAT 2006. I am in state government job, teaching Economics to undergrad for 13 years.
I dont earn enough (about 20k per month with a family to support) to seek a foreign MBA or even ISB. I also had a disdvantage of knowing less. A few months ago I did not know that CAT do not have age limit. It was the Surya Prasad story which inspired me.
I admit that a larger part of my active life is already lost, but should I lose the rest of it just because I am too old ?
I guess What I have lost in age is not all lost in terms of my attitude and aptitude. I am still alive, and just want a career change to see some better aspects of life interms of more money and more job satisfaction.
I guess I would like to get as much as from life as I can at this stage.
Two thing I wish to know;
First, in case I succeed, would it be worth leaving a stable (low paid) govt job with pension benifits to start a new career at the age of 44-45 then?
Secondly, being studied always in mediocratic institution, I wonder whether I should try to switchover to management or try myself in economics (in management institution)?
I guess many of the younger lot know much more than I do about a career. I would like to know ther opinion.
Obviously I wish that there should NOT be any age limit for CAT.