Mr. Touching Down

Let me say right off the bat that I am really impressed with what you have achieved, moving up from a small town airport operation to one of the busiest in the world. Managing teams of people in what is undoubtedly a stressful environment where the safety of others is paramount is a big and important job. Clearly, you’ve done exceptionally well at it. Your background as an air traffic controller and manager certainly takes you out of the high pile of consultants and bankers at Harvard Business School. But I am not all that optimistic about your HBS chances. Why? If accepted, you would matriculate at the age of 31 which is on the high side for Harvard. Once you hit 30, the odds quickly diminish for an admit to HBS. The average is 27 so you would be four years above the average. Only 7.2%, or 67 students in the Class of 2017, the last time the school revealed detailed age info, entered Harvard’s MBA program at age 30 or above. Many of them were military veterans who completed their required terms of duty. Your basic stats–a 3.3 GPA and a 700 GMAT–also are well below the class medians at Harvard. Those three strikes don’t put you completely out but they make the odds very steep. You would really have to make a highly compelling case based on your story, your leadership abilities and your future goals. It’s possible but not likely. Your chances at Wharton, Columbia and Chicago Booth are obviously much better. And you may want to consider London Business School given your interests in finance and, I presume, your location outside the U.S. Good luck to you. You will be getting into a great MBA program and it will allow you to fulfill your dreams. It’s just unlikely that it will be Harvard.