Calling all Columbia Applicants for 2009!

Given that we are starting to have the 2009 group, I wanted to start the 2009 group for Columbia!

Please feel free to post reports and statistics based on your research..

Good Luck!
*******************
ED Stats
Applicants: 25
Admitted: 2
Dinged: 11
Waitlisted: 0
Deferred: 0

ED Applicants
loathetheapps - admitted
TienyChesney - admitted
sterny - dinged
GK_Gmat - dinged
ryuguy904 - dinged
happybunny - dinged
TheFreedomAngel - dinged
sng - dinged
PalmettoRU - dinged
GoBruins - dinged
VISHGOEL - dinged
solaris1 - dinged
IHateTheGMAT - dinged
cs11 - dinged
llest - dinged
WillAsher - dinged
sondenso
fatb
deckardbr
YihWei
redbeanaddict
fooFighter
anadimisra
mashi
filmcity
gpulluri
CompanyMan
*******************
RD Stats
Applicants: 34
Admitted: 0
Dinged: 0
Waitlisted: 0
Deferred: 0

RD Applicants
jjright - Interview 01/07/09 Admitted Withdrew for Wharton
foodstamp - Submitted 12/15/08 Interview 01/06/09 Admitted
AZCFA/pguard - Submitted 01/06/09 Interview Admitted Withdrew for Chicago
arshia22 - Interview Admitted
praz - Submitted 10/30/08 Interview 01/09/09 Waitlist
js594 - Interview Waitlist
yaazol - Submitted 01/20/09 Interview Waitlist
sonibubu - Submitted 9/5/08 Interview 01/22/09 Withdrew
isa (fka AC) - Submitted 11/24/08 Interview 01/08/09 Dinged
AdamH83 - Submitted 11/26/08 Interview 01/06/09 Dinged
bostonsparky - Submitted 11/28/08 Interview 01/07/09 Dinged
oziozzie - Submitted 12/26/08 Interview 01/26/09 Dinged
liquidice - Submitted 12/29/08 Interview 01/30/09
MBARunner - Interview Dinged
smokedpotatoes2 - Submitted 01/07/09 Interview Dinged
agold - Submitted 01/05/09 Interview Dinged
Sleepy - Interview
MBAAspirant2008 - Interview Dinged
bsd_lover
LeftOut - Dinged
yellowjacket - Submitted 12/20/08 Dinged
levfin2003 - Submitted 01/03/09
labomba - Submitted 01/05/09
dglasser - Submitted 01/05/09 Dinged
suntaurian - Submitted 01/06/09
fugo - Submitted 01/06/09 Dinged
tarunmalik - Submitted 01/07/09
leonidas - Submitted 01/07/09
Mclaughlin - Submitted 01/07/09
gboi - Dinged
latetotheparty
balboa
gregory - Dinged
DanielPlainview
walker

Good stuff, sterny! Get that ED app in as soon as they start accepting them! Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Thinking about it although given the huge numbers of ex-bankers who are going to be applying I dont know if it makes sense for a 'career changer' from MC to finance will find the going easy at Columbia. The allure of going back to NYC is certainly strong (lived there from 2000-2001).

Sterny - happy to exchange notes if interested.

I'll be applying to Columbia ED also. Hoping to get my app in by 9/1.

Program: MBA FT
Area of interest Post MBA: Investment Management (buyside equity research)
GMAT: 740
GPA: 3.24 overall, 3.6 last 2 years. Business Major, Finance Concentration
School: Solid private school (20-40 rank)
Work experience(WE): 4 years at a business valuation firm where I price private companies for a variety of purposes
Nationality: American
Age: 26 now, 27 at Matriculation
Gender: Male
Extra-curriculars/community: Leadership in alumni association (led teams, ran an event), mentoring undergrads

Thanks djhouse!

One of the questions I had was if the Columbia essays change over the years..for all of the 2008 applicants - did the essays change since 2007?

I am currently working on the 2008 essays and hoping that they don't change much!

Also - when does the application usually come out for Columbia?

Interesting viewpoint sms332..

I would however think that going INTO finance should not be affected as much as people coming OUT of finance. As you said, given the ex-bankers who apply to b-school might increase, most of the bankers are anyway looking to move into PE or MC or VC, so the pool of people coming out of banking jobs would probably increase.

On the flipside, people transitioning to IB from MC or Eng. should probably be around the same (maybe even lower given that the market may have scared off some folks from banking)

What do you think?

hmmm interesting perspective .... I am willing to be convinced either way. The opinions thus far seem to have been, 'it is tough to break into finance without any finance background to begin with, a lousy market is not going to help matters' or 'if a recruiter has to choose between X and Y from similar schools and with similar upside, why not choose the one with first hand experience in the area'.

The kicker in all of this of course is the state of the market come 2011, and finer minds than mine have no clue as to where it is headed.

There will always be places for smart, intelligent people. However if the whole point of the MBA is to faciliate the career change (a big component of my interest) than exit options or lack thereof should play a role in that decision.

BTW - I have a very similar profile; Indian, male, Big4 (DT, PWC, EY, KPMG) Mgmt Consulting, 26 at mat., etc, etc .. so I am trying to suss out the situation as well.

Haha, I am in the same boat as you then sms! Willing to be convinced either way..

I think however, that you are looking at it from a company recruiting standpoint, which I agree will be brutal for career changers (into IB) in this economy..I wonder if the bschool adcomm takes that into account thinking, "this guy is not gonna be hired by an IB given the economy.." and put that against us.

Being the optimist that I am though , I would think the adcomm would think - "Hey, the economy would be back up by the time this guy graduates in 2011, he's got a good shot!"

But thats just me lol

It would be interesting to see if the adcomm takes into account current market conditions and act like a potential recruiter for their applications.. any of the experienced GmatClubbers have any opinion on that?

Sterny,

When I visited campus they said they are changing 2 out of 4 essays - the dean's speech essay and the entrepeneur essay. The new essays are in the accelerated app that just came out (I haven't seen them because I am applying ED not accelerated). Accepted said they will post the new essays in a few days.

Thanks IHateGMat!

Do you know if the J-Term essay usually stays the same for the 2-year application as well?

He said they would almost certainly be the same - unless one of the new essays does not work out as planned. But since the ED app comes out in mid July I think its pretty doubtful they would make a change.

I don't believe they evaluate how realistic your goals are - they just want to see that you have goals and they want to see that they are clear, concise, and not totally out there (i.e. I plan to start a dial-up ISP that generates $2B within 5 years).

The add on what IHTG said, the essays in the J-Term app are usually the same as the 2-year because they are evaluated the same as 2-year students, except for whether or not they need that summer internship (for instance, career switchers are not good J-Term candidates). Until you get the essays for the J-Term application, just work on the WHY COLUMBIA essay; that will help you set the tone for the other three essays once you get those. For the ED application itself, that will probably become available mid- to late-July with the review period starting in mid-August.

I am feeling a lot of pressure to apply to Columbia ED. The employment reports are astounding - They consistently place over 100 students into IB/M&A year after year, even in years like 2002 and 2003 and they have no problems sharing this history with you. They place over 50% of their class generally (class of 500+) into the Financial Services industry.

I am just having a difficult time giving up the chance of admission at Chicago or Wharton, which are higher on my list, to apply to Columbia ED. I'm sure this is a common dilemna. Does anyone have any thoughts on it?

I'm not a big fan of the Columbia ED system. I've heard 50% of the matriculating class comes from the ED pool. It is very financially binding if you get accepted ED ($6000 up front payment before you even hear from other schools). CBS has been and always will be a financial powerhouse because of its Wall St network and its location.

Career switcher. I'm debating applying to Columbia in the RD round. About 65% possibility I will apply there, the school visit will make a huge difference.

Program: MBA FT
Area of interest Post MBA: Strategy Consulting (career switcher)
GMAT: 780
GPA: sub 3.0 undergrad, 4.0 grad - both Electrical engineering
School: Private school, ranked around 30
Work experience(WE): 7 years at matriculation. Sales, operations, and engineering experience
Nationality: Indian, U.S. citizen
Age: 30 at matriculation
Gender: Male
Extra-curriculars/community: President of local alumni chapter, active volunteer at adult literacy center, advisory committee to the board of adult literacy center

Yes, it's a very stressful system. On one hand, I have the expected increase in applications/competitiveness of admission pushing me towards trying to "lock in Columbia", and on the other hand, I know that I'd rather spend 2 years at Chicago or Wharton and that they would get me the same or better jobs.

RD seems very competitive at Columbia.

Program: MBA FT
Area of interest Post MBA: IB (career switcher), Strategy Consulting
GMAT: 710 - pondering over whether to give it again
GPA: 3.8 undergrad, Double degree - one in Economics and the other in Information Systems (Major GPA's both 3.9+)
School: Private school, ranked around 100 (but habitually in top 5 for Information Systems)
Work experience(WE): 3 years at matriculation. Consulting in Strategy and Information Security, etc Big4 Consulting
Nationality: Indian - lived alll over the world
Age: 26 at matriculation
Gender: Male
Extra-curriculars/community: A whole host of things in University - Founding president of Cultural Diversity Club (principal author of constitution), Revived Cricket Club from having its status revoked due to financial impropriety to captaining it to 2 intercollegiate trophies in 2005. Also received 'Sports Club of the Year Award in 2005' - this may sound trivial but believe me, it continues to be my most satisfying achievement in college and source of constant joy. Also led student run University Budgetary committee which doled out USD1MN+ (one of the few such structures for an UG institution in the USA) - fought a lot of tough battles and learnt a lot there
Kicker - I have fallen asleep at the wheel post university - need to get back on track with EC's pronto.

Everyone's concerns about ED are not unfounded. ED is only for applicants who have decided that Columbia is their first choice. If you have researched schools and have discovered that everything that Columbia offers fits with who you are and what you want to be then the rolling and early aspects of Columbia's ED round can be really appealing. This is how I saw it, hence I applied ED. If you like Columbia, but it might be your 2+ choice, or it is neck and neck with your first choice, then you are better off going RD. RD might be more competitive, but we're talking about 2 years of your life that could plot the course for the rest of your life. Don't go for Columbia ED just to get the application process over with quicker, do it because Columbia is where you want to go for business school.

For what reasons do people choose Columbia over Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, or Chicago? Is it purely based on proximity to Wall Street and the location in New York City, or are there other things that go into this decision as well?