How old is too old for PhD?

[teardrop]

I keep hearing that anything beyond 25-26 is too old and schools may not accept you even if you are good? Is there age cutoff?

[JKRIS]

I think that would be discriminatory. But I reckon if you have not been actively involved in reseach OR if you have not been taking classes recently than you are probably considered a more risky candidate. And this factor might be correlated with age.

[reactor]

it just gets harder to justify being out of school and coming back.
I had a colleague who was ~40 and was doing PhD in Finance, he already had a PhD in Physics and some publications (in physics).

[sting54911]

I think it completely depends on you and your motivations for graduate study. Personally, I think that if someone has been out of bachelors for about 2 years and then is coming back because they missed the intellectual challange in industry, and/or realized that academia is their calling, then it makes them a stronger candidate. Personally, I am 29 and I will be starting the Phd in the fall. I know people who were as old as 38 and starting a phd after a number of years of work. It's harder to get back into full time academics the more you are out of it, but also, you are more serious about your education, I think as you get older.

[jackson23]

Agree

[vagabond_shoes]

I am 27 and will be starting the PhD next fall. I believe perhaps more than 30 is not so usual. I also think there is an age difference between americans and internationals. Americans usually go directly from BA to graduate school and are in average probably younger than internationals who (like me) go for an MA before. Plus in the US a Bachelor's degree takes 4 years or so. In other countries (like mine) it takes 6.

[vagabond_shoes]

Like the following one

[vagabond_shoes]

Sorry computer messed up

[VeganHead]

I am 31, and will be 32 by the time I enter PhD later this fall semester. I have been in industry for almost 7 years. As an immigrant, I graduated from my undergrad institution at 25 which I considered late compared to my contemporaries, so I settled in a professional life with steady income and all that jazz. The last 3 yeas, when I went back to school for a terminal MS degree (paid for by my company) I found the passion I once felt but passed up too quickly. I emerged myself in research, which was not required for my MS at all, and absolutely loved it.

I don't believe there is an age limit in getting accepted to PhD, nor I believe age translates to the ability (or inability for that matter) of an individual to do well in PhD. It's the passion, determination and the willingness to take risks and to weigh the trade-offs (including a huge paycut after 5 years of education provided I will be lucky enough to land an academic job after that) that return students need to do well in grad school.

All the best.

[Ivo]

I am almost 27...guess it's not too late for me to start my PhD even though i do have worries about the future....I mean I'll be out at the age of 33 or something with no family etc. On the other hand, if you feel motivated enough you might do your PhD at whatever age. I don't think they would impose limits on age.