Columbia 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Updated the timeline file after Monday's blood bath.

Added some charts.

Hope everyone finds it useful.

This is my very first post... and I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by the level of activity on this thread! Congratulations to all those who have been admitted, best of luck to those who received interview calls/are waiting for a decision and my heartfelt support to those celebrating "month-versaries" (I sincerely hope you guys get an interview call (and more!) as I know how it feels... I was in the same boat as you all last year!)

Moving on to the point, I just wish to add my two cents (only for ED applicants) ... Basing it loosely on the stats compiled in the excel sheet available on this thread and "details" of CBS' admission process as described by the AdCom in an interview-based article, I draw the following conclusions:

Process as described: Each application is reviewed by atleast 2 separate people and ANY one reviewer can call the applicant for the interview; After the interview, the application undergoes another review -- I assume that this post-interview review is done either by the Reviewer 2 (if interview is issued by Reviewer 1) or by Reviewer 1 or 3 (if interview is issued buy Reviewer 2) {this part is not entirely clear} -- and then a consensus is required before any decision is rendered. (Of course, senior AdCom members would be reviewing all potential admits).

Assumption: As we are already in November, I assume that AdCom is flooded with apps and is working at max. capacity. Let's say there are 2 - 3 reviewers for each application (plus senior AdCom Members).

Inferences: Based on trends, I think CBS AdCom targets max 2-weeks** for each review. Hence many that have received interview invites from Reviewer 1 have done so within 2 weeks - ultimately, it depends upon how quickly the app is reviewed by Reviewer 1. If one has not received an interview invite within around 2 weeks, then maybe Reviewer 1 has not issued an interview and that the application is queued with Reviewer 2. Now, its up to Reviewer 2 to issue the interview or stamp the app with the dreaded ding.

**I say 2-weeks as I think this is the internal upper limit (broadly) for all process steps -- a) We are encouraged to complete our interview in 2-weeks b) Interviewer is required to submit an evaluation in 2-weeks c) most decisions are announced within 2 weeks after completion ... notice a trend here?

Speculation: All those waiting for an interview for around a month may safely assume that their app is with Reviewer 2 and maybe he is backlogged with work... thus the decision is may not yet have been made. However, I do agree that it's logical for dings to be given out in batches as I am sure they need to be "signed-off" by a senior member before being e-mailed and I don't really see this senior person reviewing them one at a time (but then again this is mere speculation!).

Potential Impact on Application Chances: Perhaps, those who are invited by Reviewer 1 stand a higher chance than those rejected by Reviewer 1 and instead invited by Reviewer 2. To improve their chances, I would imagine that such candidates invited by Reviewer 2 need to perform better in the interview to "change" Reviewer 1's mind (or) convince Reviewer 3 (if any) (referring to the article - a consensus is required before any decision is rendered). This just seems logical, however, it completely goes against what CBS states i.e. "interview timing has no bearing on the application decision".

Again, all this is just mere speculation and I take no responsibility for how anyone uses this information.

Bottom Line: NEVER lose hope... there is always a chance that someone will say YES before they sign-off on a NO.

That's all folks!

Just got the call. I'm in for J-Term. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting. It's tough, and I hope adcom makes it worth everyone's wait!

Good read about the culture at CBS.

https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2011/11 ... er-school/

And who said you couldn't bs these interviews?

I think the CBS-process lesson-learned is: expect an invite/ding/acceptance at any time. We all tried to find the right timing/day of the week, etc. and we failed.
I applied on 10/3, and started preparing for my ding about 2 weeks after that. By this week, my e-mail checking obsession had honestly faded as I was sure they weren't going to issue an invite after 5 weeks (though many current CBS students had told me they waited over 5 weeks for their invite).

I was on my way back from a Tuck visit, at a gas station in NH, when the e-mail was there on my blackberry. Started shaking. Threw my blackberry and grabbed my i-phone to access the app link. I half-glanced and saw the words "interview".

Lesson learned 2: Don't lose hope. As someone else said, "you ain't dinged until you are".

Ok. A simple "wrong" would have been fine.

Agreed. I got an interview invitation today at 4:50EST, more than 5 weeks after submission!
I was feeling like I should get started on my R2 applications this weekend, too.

My data set since this is my first post:

ED - International
Submitted: 10/3
Under Review: 10/5
Invited to Interview: 11/10

Folks,

This is an awesome forum that I have been following passively for quite some time. I dropped off after I got the acceptance call coz I went all hysterical . Things are just returning to normalcy now and I thought I should post my timelines (in the hope that they would be helpful). So here goes -

09/21 - App Submitted
09/23 - Complete
10/04 - Invited to Interview
10/12 - Interview
10/14 - Interview Report Complete
10/26 - Accepted!

For those who are interviewing/waiting - Good luck and hang in there! Thing will go well!!

Quick Question: Is there a forum for accepted students? I have a few queries around the Admitted Students' portal and wanted to catch up and compare notes with a few other folks. Any pointers?

Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school. Back to school. Back to school. Well, here goes nothing.

Hey guys, I've been mostly lurking in here for quite a while. I got the call today after a few weeks of nervously checking my e-mail constantly. For all of you still waiting, I wish you the best of luck!

Submitted: 10/5/11
Invitation to interview: 10/18/11
Interviewed: 10/26/11
Application complete: 10/28/11
Accepted: 11/11/11

Are you only emailing the 3 people that popped up on your initial log in to the system?

The system will allow you to cycle through a total of 9 interviewers. I had the same problem but re-read the instructions on the pages when you first sign-in to the CBS interview pages. I re-inputed my area and slightly expanded my radius and was able to get new people. After failing to hear from the first 3 people, I re-emailed my first 3 prospective interviewer and emailed my next 3 all at once (separate emails of course). I heard back from 2 people the next day and selected the one that I wanted to interview with. I also emailed the alum that I did not select and told her that I appreciated her response but a prior interviewer had just contacted me and scheduled a time. She told me to call her if I had any questions and to email her about my impression from the interview - which I did.

If you have gone through all 9 of your interviewers then I am really sorry that you are having that difficulty. Hopefully CBS will be able to help. I would be concerned that they would make you interview with a student via Skype. Maybe that would be better for some applicants but I would be anxious doing a phone interview.

Got call from Mary Miller today! Been waiting for a whole month since interview completed, and finally relieved..
Wish all the people waiting luck! Just hang in there!

Timeline:
Submit: 9.21
Interview invite: 9.28
Interview: 10.17
Interview complete: 10.18
Second Interview by phone: 11.16
Accepted:11.17

The waiting is finally over. Admitted Early Decision this morning!
Thanks to everyone on this thread for keeping me sane the last few weeks!

AmericaninAsia- You're next, keep the faith!

Timeline-
Submit: 10/5
Interview Invite: 10/13
Interview: 10/31
Interview Complete: 11/2
Admitted ED: 11/21

Congratulations everyone who got calls and all the best to everyone awaiting calls. I got my acceptance call today, 3 weeks after my interview!!

Timelines:
Submitted – 4th Oct 11
Interview invite – 26th Oct 11
Interview – 31st Oct
Complete – 3rd Nov
Accepted – 21st Nov (ED)!!!!

Posted a while back about a call from Admissions. I was expecting it to be "the call" but unfortunately they really did just have a few more questions for me. Anyway, it's all good now because I got the real call yesterday.

Submitted: 9/26
Under Review: 9/27
Invited to Interview: 10/12
Interview: 10/21
Complete: 10/28
Accepted: 11/21


It was a long wait. Good luck to everyone!

Good luck to everyone applying RD. I just completed my RD interview (applied late September, interview notification on 8 December), where questions were similar to what the ED's were asked: Why Columbia, why now, leadership examples, curriculum preferences, personal conflict example, ethical conflict example, alternative (re: back-up) career plans, career goals, etc. As was the case with most applicants, my interviewer was very professional, open and honest. He left me with a good impression, both of the Columbia program and my own chances for admission (though he rightly noted that, with so many competitive applicants, admission is always far from certain). The most valuable things I did to prepare for my interview were to: 1) Speak with current students & alumni about the program; 2) Really understand Columbia's brand and curricular offerings; 3) Know my own story (provide a narrative to your resume and MBA decision); 4) Have good questions for your interviewer.

I hope this helps, and again, good luck to all my fellow RDer's out there.