Columbia: Calling all applicants - Class of 2016

Hello guys!

just to be sure. Reapplicants only need ONE recommendation letter during this new process, right?

The new website doesnt have this information now, and AdCom hasnt given an answer to me.

Your help is greatly appreciated!

What new process are you talking about? Nothing has changed about how Columbia is doing admissions. They did get a new website which is nicer but the process is the same, and the application is very clear:



EssaySnark

PS: Welcome to GMAT Club!

Thank you for your answer!

That point is confusing me a little bit. When they say "one additional recommendation", they mean that i need to ask only ONE recommendation letter this year, right? and not three.

Thanks again!

Right, just one!

Just saw this little piece on one of CBS's professors - by Social Media Portal.
If you are thinking about doing social media/advertising at CBS you might want to take a look at this.
May lead to some good material for your essays.

https://www.socialmediaportal.com/Profil ... chool.aspx

Juancito, EssaySnark is right. I asked an Adcom about this via email earlier in the summer and they assured me just one recommendation.

so i applied 7/23 and got notice today of denied w/o interview. 750 gmat and 3.7 gpa. on to the next one . . .

Ouch, Swoosh617, that's a real bummer. Your stats are impressive. Columbia cares about the career goals a lot and a complete guess is simply that those maybe weren't presented in as compelling a way as they needed to be (we see that frequently). The good part (?) of the ED app is that you heard back in plenty of time to regroup - an expensive learning experience perhaps, but you can still do a bunch of Rd 1 apps so you're ahead of the game if you look at the big picture.

Still. That hurts and we know it. Sorry to hear that decision. You clearly have a lot going for you so don't let it get you down.

EssaySnark

Thanks EssaySnark. For what it's worth to others, a quick two second reflection of where I think I fell short:

I'm on the younger side, 24 and have worked for a small hedge fund in LA for a little over two years now. I want to continue working as a buy-side analyst for a more prominent firm and eventually become a portfolio manager and particularly with a Value Strategy firm. So naturally, Columbia had the two things I needed to advance 1) the value investment education, and 2) the network to hedge funds and peer professionals, (all about proximity to experts in this field). Even though I stressed this in my essays, I think, like Snark said, I the lacked the "compelling" aspect to it. I have to go back and review what I could have changed, what i should have overemphasized/underemphasized, and hopefully the upcoming applications will be better. I also think I lacked the "awe-inspiring" quality. If the adcom reviewer was thinking about the candidates in his head, she would have thought about the "out-of-college CEO," "consultant from Country A, now working in Country B," etc. I don't think she would have been able to put that two-word label on me because I didn't have a story that I portrayed.

Also a point to add: I didn't believe it at first, but I do think you get a much better idea of putting together a strong application after your first one. Just the thinking about the whole thing, and looking at the other five schools that I'll be applying to, I feel like the story/theme is much clearer in my head versus what was shown on the Columbia app. If I get denied from the remaining five schools (all of which should be tougher to get into), then I'm still feeling pretty confident about reapplying to Columbia next year.

If you want to PM us with your Columbia essay 1, we can give you a quick thumbs-up/down on whether the goals themselves were "compelling" enough.

You might simply be hitting the age thing though - Columbia generally does like to see a bit more work experience.

I submitted my CBS app last week, but one of my rec is still not in....is it going to look sloppy on my part? I know Columbia has no deadline, but wondering if it can hurt me?

I honestly don't think it can hurt your application. The submission of a rec. is the duty of your recommender since he accepted to write it, not yours - I wouldn't worry about that if I were you.

Can some one please post the recommendation questions with added constraints like the word limit etc
Thanks

They're posted on the Columbia site:
https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs-admissions/mba/admissions/application-requirements#6

The whole letter should be under 1,000 words.

EssaySnark

So after a pretty insightful back-and-forth convo that I had with EssaySnark through PM, here's some takeaways that I think could help some of you applying:

Most of the convo was about that first essay involving your post-MBA goal. I made the mistake of assuming that since the short-response question was asking about the short-term goal, that I would spend the entire essay talking about my long-term goal. The advice I had gotten previously was to talk about where I wanted to be at the peak of my career. The problem was that adcom generally looks for applicants that have a realistic idea of where they want to be 5-8 years from now and how an MBA will take them there. My essay must have been confusing because I spent too much time talking about where I wanted to be 15-20 years from now, without ever stating that that's the time frame i was speaking towards. It made it sound as if I would be running my own investment management fund before I was 30, which painted a pretty unrealistic picture in the eyes of adcom.

If anything, I should have at least built a clear roadmap between where I am now and where I will be at my peak, but the majority of the essay should have been about where I see myself in those middle years.

Has anyone gotten accepted or denied post-interview for ED yet?

I applied 7/10 got my interview invitation 8/1 and interviwed 8/14. I'm pretty anxious about getting a final decision so I can either relax or move on.

Hi Lamba,

On the first page of this thread, it says there's been one gmatclub member acceptance through early decision so far, and that it was four days ago. I myself applied 7/19, got invitation on 8/12, interviewed on 8/20, and was notified that feedback was delivered on 8/21. I thought my interview went very well, and I really enjoyed meeting my Ambassador. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm optimistic.