ColumbiaMBA wrote:
sdd996 wrote:
Hi,
I applied this past January but was unfortunately not accepted. I plan to reapply early decision this year because Columbia is my top choice. I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering them:
Do you have any advice on what Columbia looks for in reapplicants that might be different from that of other programs, or any areas of the reapplicant application where Columbia may weight as more important than others?
The website mentions that reapplicants need to submit one new letter of recommendation. Can this be from someone who wrote one of the letters of recommendation the previous year?
Can an applicant submit new versions of the standard application essays if they feel they will be better than the originals?
Additionally, and unrelated to being a reapplicant, could you provide an estimate as to when you expect the 2013 application and essay questions to be available?
Thanks
Hi sdd996,
Thank you for your interest! I am sure you have seen the reapplicant list- www4.gsb.columbia.edu/mba/admissions/applynow#reapplications - be sure to follow these steps once the application is available. Keep in mind the application process is holistic so there is no specific weight given to any part of the application.
Your recommendation should be new. You should not use the same recommenders. We have access to your previous application as a reapplicant so we ask that you provide new recommendations from someone new.
You are welcome to answer essay questions in addition to the reapplicant essay, but you are not required to do so and this is not expected.
The application for ED should be available sometime in early June.
Best of luck!
Thanks for the quick reply! Just two quick follow up questions.
On the topic of the recommender - One of my recommendations last year was from my supervisor. They are still my only supervisor, and the person who would be able to speak best to my improvement over the past year. My plan was to ask them for a completely new recommendation, focusing more on my growth in the past year than years prior. The only other type of person I can think I could ask would be a manager I worked with for a project or two, and are not familiar with the rest of what I do or my growth. Is it still preferred/required to change recommenders in a case like this?
On the essays - I definitely understand the concept behind only requiring the reapplicant essay. However, my natural worry is that if my application (and essays) were not sufficient to get me accepted last year, and these essays will be used along side the new reapplicant essay, won't whatever criticisms or flaws in my past essays still appear now, and therefore hurt my application? Do you find many
accepted reapplicants only submit the new essay, or do they rewrite all of them?
Thanks again!