Ask Columbia GSB Admissions

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:52 pm

Ivan91 wrote:

Hey Columbia MBA,
I would like to know what does Columbia think about applicants that participated in Student government during undergrad. Can this boost the application ? What about being an SG president ? Also, on the website it is stated that the only international students that may be waived from the TOEFL requirements are the ones who studied in a country where the official language is English. How about studying in a non-English country, in an American university abroad, entirely in English ?

Hi Ivan91,

Thank you for your question. We ask for undergraduate extracurricular activities in the application. We take into consideration all XCs as part of the holistic review process, but there isn't a metric for how this can "boost" an application.

As for the TOEFL you must meet all requirements that we list on our website to receive a TOEFL waiver. We are unable to make exceptions. Visit http://ow.ly/84pOn for further information.

Good luck!

syalaman · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:03 pm

Hi GSB Admissions,

As my understanding is working in a big firm is better for an MBA admission than at a smaller company (less than 200 employees).
I work for a small company and intentionally declined the opportunity to work for bigger ones because it would give me more responsibility, ability to interact and understand the management's strategic moves in improving the firm.

If I was working in a big firm the admissions committee knows before hand about more about me as the interviewing or working for a big firm itself sets a standard. My assumption it is harder for the admissions committee to judge the potential a candidate working in a smaller firm and his contribution.

Is my assumption correct, if so how do I working in a smaller firm compensate for it.

I appreciate your time and effort.

Thanks,
Suresh

Cheetos1 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:58 pm

Hi Matt,
I have a few questions regarding the application. I am really hoping to get some direction from you on the following items:
a) I went to a 4-year public university in the US. However, I took two courses (English I and II) at a community college. These two courses are reflected on my University's official transcript as transferred credits along with the letter grade. Do I need to report this community college as a separate college attended? Also, would you require a transcript from this community college?

b) Financing section - I saw your comment above regarding this section. I do not have any sponsorship or any scholarships in hand. However, I do plan to apply for the scholarship money in the Spring. Should I include what I am "hoping" to receive in scholarships/loans or what I am "expecting" to receive?

c) Internships during college - I have four years of work experience but I have worked in the same job since college. Should I list internships during undergrad as separate work experience? Or is it better not to mention those?

Thanks for being patient with my questions and thanks for helping me out!!

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:18 am

syalaman wrote:

Hi GSB Admissions,

As my understanding is working in a big firm is better for an MBA admission than at a smaller company (less than 200 employees).
I work for a small company and intentionally declined the opportunity to work for bigger ones because it would give me more responsibility, ability to interact and understand the management's strategic moves in improving the firm.

If I was working in a big firm the admissions committee knows before hand about more about me as the interviewing or working for a big firm itself sets a standard. My assumption it is harder for the admissions committee to judge the potential a candidate working in a smaller firm and his contribution.

Is my assumption correct, if so how do I working in a smaller firm compensate for it.

I appreciate your time and effort.

Thanks,
Suresh

Hi Suresh,

Thank you for your question. We do not have a preference for type of work experience or size of company. We admit students from a variety of work experience backgrounds.

Good luck!

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:22 am

Cheetos1 wrote:

Hi Matt,
I have a few questions regarding the application. I am really hoping to get some direction from you on the following items:
a) I went to a 4-year public university in the US. However, I took two courses (English I and II) at a community college. These two courses are reflected on my University's official transcript as transferred credits along with the letter grade. Do I need to report this community college as a separate college attended? Also, would you require a transcript from this community college?

b) Financing section - I saw your comment above regarding this section. I do not have any sponsorship or any scholarships in hand. However, I do plan to apply for the scholarship money in the Spring. Should I include what I am "hoping" to receive in scholarships/loans or what I am "expecting" to receive?

c) Internships during college - I have four years of work experience but I have worked in the same job since college. Should I list internships during undergrad as separate work experience? Or is it better not to mention those?

Thanks for being patient with my questions and thanks for helping me out!!

Hi Cheetos1,

a) If the grades are on your degree granting transcripts you do not need to send separate transcripts.

b.) If you do not have scholarships awarded to you do not include this information.

c.) Your internships should be listed in the optional essay.

I hope this helps!

Cheetos1 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:01 pm

ColumbiaMBA wrote:

Cheetos1 wrote:

Hi Matt,
I have a few questions regarding the application. I am really hoping to get some direction from you on the following items:
a) I went to a 4-year public university in the US. However, I took two courses (English I and II) at a community college. These two courses are reflected on my University's official transcript as transferred credits along with the letter grade. Do I need to report this community college as a separate college attended? Also, would you require a transcript from this community college?

b) Financing section - I saw your comment above regarding this section. I do not have any sponsorship or any scholarships in hand. However, I do plan to apply for the scholarship money in the Spring. Should I include what I am "hoping" to receive in scholarships/loans or what I am "expecting" to receive?

c) Internships during college - I have four years of work experience but I have worked in the same job since college. Should I list internships during undergrad as separate work experience? Or is it better not to mention those?

Thanks for being patient with my questions and thanks for helping me out!!

Hi Cheetos1,

a) If the grades are on your degree granting transcripts you do not need to send separate transcripts.

b.) If you do not have scholarships awarded to you do not include this information.

c.) Your internships should be listed in the optional essay.

I hope this helps!

Matt,
Thank you so much. That was extremely helpful. One last question, I am having trouble uploading my transcript into the system. It's a pdf file which exceeds the recommended size limit. Is there a way around this? Should I e-mail my transcript separately to the AdCom?
Thanks again for your help!!

Cheetos1 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:52 am

Matt,
Please ignore my above question. I figured it out and just hit submit on my application. Thanks again for your help. Happy Holidays!

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:15 am

Cheetos1 wrote:

Matt,
Please ignore my above question. I figured it out and just hit submit on my application. Thanks again for your help. Happy Holidays!

Great! Have a Happy New Year!

coreaspirant · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 2:25 pm

Hi

I applied to CBS in last week of November

I haven't received any correspondence from CBS till date. It shows my application is Under Review.

When can I expect an interview call , if any?

If I am not selected, will the status change to rejected, waitllisted, etc? If yes, how much time does it usually take?

Thanks a lot

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:00 am

coreaspirant wrote:

Hi

I applied to CBS in last week of November

I haven't received any correspondence from CBS till date. It shows my application is Under Review.

When can I expect an interview call , if any?

If I am not selected, will the status change to rejected, waitllisted, etc? If yes, how much time does it usually take?

Thanks a lot

Hi coreaspirant,

The applications for RD went under review in December. Once your application is under review you should allow between 8-12 weeks for review. You can receive a decision or an interview invitation at any time. If you want to know your status you can login at any time to view this.

Good luck!

charu115 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 15, 2012 8:42 am

Hi

I am an international applicant and wanted to know whether submitting the application by January end is considered too late for international applicants?

Thanks
Charu

fcvald01 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:41 am

I posted a new subject on accident, meant to post it on this forum, here is my question...

I have a question about graduate school gpa. I graduated undergrad with a 3.51gpa with a bachelor's in International Economics. I went directly to law school and graduated with a 2.8gpa. I am sure you are familiar with law school's and their strict bell curve. This unfortunately lands most students with a C average.

Does admissions place more weight on the undergrad GPA? Will it also consider the low law school GPA? (Please note that I passed the bar and am a licensed attorney in my state).

Thanks,

gabypaun · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:43 am

Hi Matt,

I am an international applicant and I would like to know, if having my own business for almost ten years can be considered as work experience? After graduating Computer Engineering(5 years), I start my own company(international road transport and forwarding goods).

Taking this in consideration from who should I ask for recommendation letters?

Thank you,
Gabi

PTK · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:20 am

Hi Matthew.

Thank you for helping us with the application questions.

I have few questions to you:

1. As you see I was rejected by CBS. Is it possible to have a formal/informal feedback in any form of what could I improve in my application to be a stronger candidate.

2.What is the tuition cost of J-term program?

3. What is the admision rate for students applying for J-term and why you dont post a separate statistics, including that of post MBA-employment and average saalries.

4. Do you generally encourage reapplicants? and if yes, why?, if previously the candidate was rejected and he/she does not know the reason for rejection?

thank you a lot.

regards,
your rejected applicant,
PTK

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:15 am

charu115 wrote:

Hi

I am an international applicant and wanted to know whether submitting the application by January end is considered too late for international applicants?

Thanks
Charu

Hi Charu - Thank you for your question! This is not too late to be considered. It is always in the applicants best interest to apply as early as possible with rolling decision, but our class will not be closed at the end of this month.

Good luck!

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:16 am

gabypaun wrote:

Hi Matt,

I am an international applicant and I would like to know, if having my own business for almost ten years can be considered as work experience? After graduating Computer Engineering(5 years), I start my own company(international road transport and forwarding goods).

Taking this in consideration from who should I ask for recommendation letters?

Thank you,
Gabi

Hi Gabi,

Thank you for posting. We consider all types of work experience. As for recommendation letters a client or a partner at your firm could be used as a recommender.

Best of luck!

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:23 am

PTK wrote:

Hi Matthew.

Thank you for helping us with the application questions.

I have few questions to you:

1. As you see I was rejected by CBS. Is it possible to have a formal/informal feedback in any form of what could I improve in my application to be a stronger candidate.

2.What is the tuition cost of J-term program?

3. What is the admision rate for students applying for J-term and why you dont post a separate statistics, including that of post MBA-employment and average saalries.

4. Do you generally encourage reapplicants? and if yes, why?, if previously the candidate was rejected and he/she does not know the reason for rejection?

thank you a lot.

regards,
your rejected applicant,
PTK

Hi PTK,

I am sorry to hear about your decision. Unfortunately it is not possible to to receive feedback on your application. The Admissions Office understands well the enormous commitment of time and energy that applying to business school represents, but we simply do not have the resources to provide feedback to all of our denied applicants. Every year we have many reapplicants who are admitted to the program. All of the January stats are included in our posted statistics. The tuition rate is the same as well.

I hope this helps.

Chaolien · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:30 pm

ColumbiaMBA wrote:

charu115 wrote:

Hi

I am an international applicant and wanted to know whether submitting the application by January end is considered too late for international applicants?

Thanks
Charu

Hi Charu - Thank you for your question! This is not too late to be considered. It is always in the applicants best interest to apply as early as possible with rolling decision, but our class will not be closed at the end of this month.

Good luck!

Hi Matthew,
I will apply by mid February. Based on the deadline for regular decision I think my application will still be considered for the August 2012 entry, right? Does the admission committee have different criteria for applicants applying at this time? Do the applicants need to explain why they apply late in the process?

Thank you for your time to answer our questions.

ColumbiaMBA · **Posted:** Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:27 pm

Chaolien wrote:

ColumbiaMBA wrote:

charu115 wrote:

Hi

I am an international applicant and wanted to know whether submitting the application by January end is considered too late for international applicants?

Thanks
Charu

Hi Charu - Thank you for your question! This is not too late to be considered. It is always in the applicants best interest to apply as early as possible with rolling decision, but our class will not be closed at the end of this month.

Good luck!

Hi Matthew,
I will apply by mid February. Based on the deadline for regular decision I think my application will still be considered for the August 2012 entry, right? Does the admission committee have different criteria for applicants applying at this time? Do the applicants need to explain why they apply late in the process?

Thank you for your time to answer our questions.

The criteria does not change for applicants. If you want to explain why you applied at this point in the process feel free!

Good luck!

pcwcecac · **Posted:** Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:34 pm

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your time on this thread. I am looking to apply next cycle. My background is research-centric. Moreover, I've worked exclusively for the public sector (Fed and then the Treasury). Even though the subject matter of my work experience might be of interest to those in the private sector, I do not have direct exposure to businesses and thus am not familiar with decision making at the firm level (with the exception of reading about it in economic literature).

I wish to transition from a research career to one that is more action oriented. I believe going through an MBA program is a very good path. I am thinking about ways to promote my previous experience such that it would be relevant to business schools. How should I go about this? What are some natural questions that you would ask a candidate with my background?

Thanks again for your time.

Peter

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