Calling ALL Admitted CBS Folks - Class of 2018

I started my background check Dec. 29 and it's still not done.

That is not too cool. I have been waiting for mine for over four weeks now. They asked me to provide one piece of information, then went silent a couple of weeks ago. I think it taking more than a month is excessive.

I suppose no news is good news.

I got an email from CBS with this:

"Re Vera Verification Confirmation

Dear MBOUTDAT,

I hope this finds you well. Your Re Vera verification has been successfully completed. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rachael Lubetkin
MBA Admissions"

Maybe check your spam?

I submitted my ReVera form in mid-Dec and have yet to hear back from either them or the school. I know the check started as HR at my company informed me she'd been contacted. I guess no news is good news.

Hmm, I tend to think we are just way out in front of the deadline and they have thousands of these things to do. I know some schools require the $75 package and set the expectation that the process will be completed in 2 to 4 weeks. Maybe they get priority? I don't think there is anything that you can read into it taking a long time in terms of there being cause for concern.

But I have no factual basis for this other than reading stuff online.

I have this feeling that my check is actually finished but Columbia either hasn't finished reviewing the info or just hasn't gotten around to sending me the "you're done" email yet.

I was also asked a question by re vera (basically, my HR department refused to disclose salary despite me saying they could and I had to provide paystubs instead) and a rep from re vera said that my employment verification was finished and that Columbia would let me know when the process was completed. I also have a feeling that employment verification might be the only thing that gets checked by re vera based on 1) the contract and 2) the price we paid.

But I have no factual basis for this other than reading stuff online.[/quote]
I have this feeling that my check is actually finished but Columbia either hasn't finished reviewing the info or just hasn't gotten around to sending me the "you're done" email yet.

I was also asked a question by re vera (basically, my HR department refused to disclose salary despite me saying they could and I had to provide paystubs instead) and a rep from re vera said that my employment verification was finished and that Columbia would let me know when the process was completed. I also have a feeling that employment verification might be the only thing that gets checked by re vera based on 1) the contract and 2) the price we paid.[/quote]

You are probably right, except I am sure Re Vera does a criminal background check, DMV check, and verifies your undergrad degree and grades too. I do think the hold up may be on Columbia's end -- I think they just sent out a bunch of interview invites, and I am sure the staff is really busy with actually making admissions decisions...

Just curious -- is anyone questioning wether it is worth applying for the need-based scholarship? Meaning, I am guessing there is a point at which one's annual income exceeds what they would consider.

For example, last year I did OK, but the year before I made a career change and only made ~ $55k.

Does anyone else have a similar concern?

Yeah, I don't know if I'm going to do it or not. At Connect 1 they implied in the financial aid meeting that $80k was a lot of salary for a need-based saying something like "i would never tell anyone not to apply, you never know, you could have made $80k last year but have $60k still in student loans so all situations are not equal"

Yeah, that doesn't sound too promising. I am guessing if you made over $80k, don't have studen loans or a significant amount of other debt, and have some money in the bank you are s.o.l.

Thanks for sharing. Just out of curiosity, I was a little surprised by some of the questions. Like it asks about how much family money you have access to and to disclose all of your retirement account amounts. I suppose you can be audited or something by the school if you are not forthcoming about all of that stuff? I wonder if anyone has gotten in trouble for hiding their true financial situation?

First part- Yeah, I'd imagine anyone coming from consulting/banking/PE/LDP's is SOL barring some crazy situation. Seems like need based would go to military, marketing, TFA, and the like.

I'm not sure, I'd imagine they are just expecting you to be truthful because they don't ask for any proof. If you are caught lying, I think you'd have to pay back the aid $$ you got.

Just curious, has anyone who submitted to Re Vera Services a while back and not heard anything considered sending them a note to get a status update?

Wildabout - I initiated the Re Vera process on January 13 and got confirmation on February 18. This roughly one month timeline is consistent with what others have seen. If yours is taking longer than that, I would not sweat it.

Cool, thanks for letting me know...

I considered it but we were asked to not contact Re Vera or Columbia to ask so I refrained. Maybe if I still haven't heard anything in like April, I'll send an email to Columbia.

Anyone (or anyone you know) heard about the merit based aid?

People have heard. I'm sure amounts will still go out but they've definitely done an initial notification to more than a couple people.