Calling Columbia applicants for 2008

Ok, I just got the call today! I'm in! Go Columbia!!!

I submitted on Jan 9th, but was waiting for my 2nd reco for the longest time. Recommender sent it in a couple weeks ago. App still says incomplete.

Just got back from NY last night; Columbia Open House was Thursday and Friday, and it was great! There were 250 accepted students there, most of whom were ED applicants and committed to Columbia. I did meet 3 people who are RD accepted applicants (I'm sure there were more, but I did not come across them) who are deciding between Columbia and Kellogg and/or HBS. No information was given regarding avg. GMAT or number of applicants. Linda Meehan said that info will be given at Orientation. She did give some other meaningful stats regarding the diversity of students--such as nationalities, work experience, and achievements--who have been admitted. They are forming quite the class!

Of course, when I go to NY it is the coldest days of winter thus far. I was freezing, but I got used to it by the end of the weekend. The Columbia campus is amazing. It really has that college campus feel. When you step on campus from 116th you are immediately taken out of the city and put into a bustling university. I like knowing that I can go from college campus to the city just like that (*snap fingers*).

The activities that they had for us facilitated a lot of mingling, which was great since the majority of Open House attendees will be attending Columbia in the Fall. They broke us up into Clusters, and we did some getting-to-know-you activities, as well as attended a mock course together. They also had events hosted by Bloomingdale's and Deutsche Bank, and they brought in Charles Strauss, the former CEO of Unilever and CBS alum, to speak to us.

I was also fortunate enough to meet the GMAT Clubber and fellow Columbia admit, Businessdoc. Good to put an actual person with a handle, impressive background, and heck of a GMAT score. I hope to meet some other GMAT Clubbers come August!

If you have any questions regarding Columbia, I would love to answer them for you. I really got to experience Columbia from another perspective at Open House, and I could not be happier with my decision to apply and matriculate.

From what I know, Columbia is very favorable to reapplicants, I don't think age will matter either. Just improve upon your application as much as possible, so that when you write your reapp essay you can go into detail on how you're a better applicant this time around versus the last. I don't know you're GMAT score, but if it is below their average it never hurts to bump it up.

EDIT: Just looked at your profile, you're GMAT is fine!

They are the most reapplicant friendly school. Just make sure you apply ED as a reapplicant.

Yes, those were the other questions that I was asked. However, she didn't fire off questions at me, it was more of a conversation. Make sure you turn the interview into a conversation. I think, above all, they want to know that you are a genuine and interesting person who they can converse with. People have a million different yet reasonable answers, but it does not matter what you say if the interview is not enjoyable on both sides of the table. And, if it is enjoyable then the interviewer is likely to provide positive feedback back to Columbia.

dinged. it's hard to believe that i went 4/5 receiving interviews and then 0/4 on admits. congrats to those who made it.

Admitted to Columbia and will be matriculating!

I'm a bit tentative about posting on forums, but I found the GMATclub community extremely supportive during this long, difficult journey. Even though I have posted very little, reading these message boards always lifts me up. As living proof that getting off the waitlist is possible, even in this difficult year, I'd also like to provide support for those on the waitlist.

I applied relatively early in the RD cycle and was waitlisted at Columbia in late February after what I thought was a successful interview. After several months of unanswered emails to my waitlist manager (I tried to minimize these to significant work and educational updates), I finally received an email from him requesting a phone call. We had a great conversation, and I definitely felt he was on my side. He suggested I reach out to the dean of my specailization and set up a meeting. I thought it was 50/50 that he would agree to meet with me, but, to my surprise, he responded within 48 hours and we set up a meeting for the next day. We had an excellent conversation, and when I stopped by to say hi to my waitlist manager, he informed me that they had already spoken about me. Three days later I received the status update - Accepted!

As a now veteran waitlister (I was on 3 different waitlists), here are a few tips for those still in the waitlist cyle or members of the Class of 2009 who may find themselves in this situation. Of course, these are just from my experience and may not be applicable to everyone.

1. If the school gives you a contact, use them as a resource, they are most likely your biggest advocate on the adcom.
2. Take risks (within reason). Don't be afraid to put yourself out there to show the adcom and faculty how much you want to attend their school. I don't think expressing interest can ever hurt you, as long as you're genuine and not too over the top.
3. If you can get to campus - go! - and try to set up meetings with students and professors in the track you'd like to pursue. I had spoken to several students in my area of interest before my meeting with the dean, and they were extremely helpful resources - I came armed with great questions and examples of job postings in the area I'd like to pursue.
4. Stay positive, but have a backup plan. I decided that if the waitlists didn't work out, I would keep my job and pursue a part time degree that would still help me gain relevant skills and potentially move to the next level in my field. By having something to think about other than the MBA, I was able to put it out of my mind for the short term while staying excited about my long term goal.
5. Have confidence in yourself and your abilities and stay positive! The most important thing I learned from this experience is that it isn't always about you. When I spoke to my waitlist manager, I expected him to point out some glaring errors in my application. I signed up for two quant courses figuring my GMAT score wasn't enough to compensate for my lack of quant background. That wasn't the case. There was nothing wrong; the waitlist decision was beyond my control...but the admit decision wasn't!
Good luck to those still waiting. Hang in there!

me on the fence !! so watcha got bradha ?

crap - it was $5000 last week when I logged into the app system. Sneaky of them to increase it by 1 Grand on a weekend - now 2 more months of bread and water to get $1000.

What kind of ideas do people have for this essay (For those of us who haven't had any entrepreneurial experience)?:

The entrepreneurial mindset is an integral component of the Columbia Business School MBA. Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity (Recommended 500 word limit).

I am wondering if I should focus on opportunities that highlight my entrepreneurial spirits (Albeit weakly) or opportunities that I captured much better (At work - although those may not have much to do with entrepreneurship). I am obviously leaning towards later.

umm interesting question !

I guess this question can be paraphrased to - any interesting instances when you had taken the initiative to do something about a situation and the outcome of the same (shud b successful)

Also, do u have the other Columbia essay questions ? looks like we need to start on the app to see them ! or am i missing something ?

I am applying for the January start program. Do I still count ?

What's your definition of entrepreneur? Depends on how you define it will be important. Innovating a new process and implementing it to improve something can be considered entrepreneuric? Especially if you were trailblazing a new path? I think that the there is more to being an entrepreneur than jsut the common view....

Anyway, I'm in at the ED.. wish it was still $5000..... another $1000 is a bit taxing. Maybe they're doing this to gauge the commitment of ED applicants.... probably improve yield?

Well, you are welcome (Only because you love bsd so much. I was using netbsd on an IBM Z50 last year .. but moved to a traditional laptop with Ubuntu eventually).

Aren't you from down under? Then are you planning to go back there after the MBA? I ask because it appears to me that internships are very valuable to internationals hoping to start working in the US after the MBA.

You are spot on (both about bsd and down under).

I feel that internships are a guaranteed way of MBA school to ensure that they place their students into a job, it seems to help MBA schools in terms of getting their statistics up.

I personally don't place too much value in it, I think those 3 months are better spent speeding up the degree.

changed to $6000....money grabbers!

I am in for ED, however I am a re-applicant. So, I just have to work on one essay and a new recommendation.

Review starts on Aus 15th, when are most people planning to turn in their app? Ideally, I would like to turn it in before 15th.