I want to apply for Columbia Business School's January-term 2023 but not very sure if I'm fit for that. Basically I don't want to change industry. I work in HOng Kong for several years in hedge fund and investment bank (equity research) as an equity analyst. I want to find a job in the same industry after graduation, perhaps in US or China. And I think J-term fits me because I can save nearly 9 months vs. August-entry term. I'm now 31 years old. Even if I can successfully get in CBS in January 2023, I'm 32 by then. Obviously I'm a bit concerned about my age. But I'm not sure whether January-term really fits me. Since I don't have any network, never studied or worked in US before, even if I don't switch industry, the J-term can help candidates like me to find a good job in New York? Will recuiters consider J-term and normal term in the same way? Any one can give me some advice?

Thank you so much for reading this.

I don't understand why you need an MBA, or a fulle time MBA in particular. Can't you find work in your existing field? Then maybe get an EMBA part time?

[Edited by Duncan on Feb 05, 2022]

I don't understand why you need an MBA, or a fulle time MBA in particular. Can't you find work in your existing field? Then maybe get an EMBA part time?

Hmmmm. Well, I can totally understand why you would be cautious. I assume you know that many J-term people do find summer internships. That said, Columbia has really grown and mutated so much over the last decades: it's a school for consulting and tech as much as -- if not more than -- finance. I'm not sure if the shorter J-term has implications for the length of the STEM post-study work period. It's also a little unclear to me how well CBS has placed foreign students into US jobs in recent years.  These things might be unclear to you too. 

My gut says: if they will 'prepone' your seat and bring you into the August intake, that will be better and give you vital extra time for networking, internships, projects and informational interviewing. If not, I would still trust my gut and think that the January intake would work well *if* you take the time now to revise the core topics to make the A and B teams as easy as possible for you. I think still works better than, for example, taking a MIF.