Calling All CBS 2011 Applicants!!

The rolling process is way more than a bit frustrating ( ), it gets a little less painfull the second time or at least that's how I feel right now.



On this forum I think we've all shared infos and thoughts that helped throughout this process (which as we all know is quite hard to go through), I think we don't need any of this around here.

anyone got an invite to interview yet?

I understand that most of the people on this thread went under review close to June 1st, I still believe that it takes a little longer to receive invites...

I've also noticed that in the new Apply-Now page they do not give a time limit to review apps (it was 12 weeks for RD and 8 for J-term), given that they've opened so early ED it may take a little longer to hear back from them, but I'm just guessing.

Hold tight...

Yeah, I thought so too.. but still couldn't help asking the question. Felt the wait is growing more unnerving.

Count me in for jan '11 entry.
Working on my application now, hoping to submit by the end of the month...
I'm also having trouble with the second essay!

I am currenlty deciding whether to apply for Jan 11 intake of ED Sep 11 intake.

Is it be reasonable to say that applications for ED Sep 11 intake would face less severe competition than applications for Jan 11 intake?

I remember someone asking this question at the Information Session that I went to and he really pushed the AdCom for a straight answer.

She didn't budge.

I believe her answer was along the lines of apply to the stream that makes sense for your career goals. So, if you're a career switcher, you'll need to come up with a strong reason to apply for J-Term and forego the internship. Likewise, if you are being sponsored by your company and returning to your company upon completion of your MBA then you'll need a good explaination for applying to ED in your essays.

This makes sense to me and if (more like when) I get dinged from Columbia, the last thing on my mind will be "damn, I should have applied J-Term instead of ED", it'll be more like "damn, I should have developed more substantial ECs that I cared about and could take leadership roles in".

Oh yeah, sign me up for ED for roll call purposes.

Completely agree with SteveFaulkner, I think that the difference between ED and J-Term has nothing to do with one being more competitive than the other. Instead I think that it makes quite a difference if you're planning September to go for ED instead of RD, there the competition is way more severe (in the RD I mean).

If I apply to J-term now and get accepted, when would I begin? 2011 or 2012? 2012 right? Are the J-term applications available now? If so, are they rolling like the ED applications?

Their site seems to imply 2011.



Yes, it looks like it is available and judging by last year's thread it looks like rolling admissions.

Hi,

Thinking to apply for CBS in ER, after GMAT retake in August.

I'm a career-switcher moving from technology to strategy consulting (industry-wise). I'm well-aware that CBS is best known in finance, and 50 % of the graduates end up in the finance industry. But according to my understanding, consulting is also modestly represented among the CBS graduates (22 %).

Would it be disadvantageous for someone non-finance to apply for CBS? Or could my background/interest work an advantage making me stand out among the candidates pool?

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

I think that your working background is just a component in the overall process.

I'm an applicant myself but what I'm pretty sure I understood is that what really matters is how you fit with an institution such as Columbia, how you're able to prove it through your application (with essays, tests and so on) and how committed you are to enroll.

Guys I am currently working on the Columbia application and run across the letter of recommendation section. It looks like they are a set of 9 questions to be answered. I was wondering if one should just answer those specific questions or actually provide a full letter or both.

Can anyone help provide some insights?

Also would this kind of question be okay to ask the adcom?

I have no idea how that works but probably the more your recommender writes the better it is, but I'm really guessing. Asking adcom would make sense.

Any movement for people already under review?

i believe my recommenders just answered the questions, but i don't see how also having a letter could hurt (as long as the questions are also answered). worst case scenario, the adcom decides not to read it and your recommender wasted a bit of effort writing the extra letter.

if you do decide to call admissions to ask, i'd be curious to hear how they respond.

The directions in the document provided by CBS to recommenders state:

"Please enter your responses in the allotted space below. Once you have completed this recommendation, please log into the recommendation website and upload this document in the ‘Questions’ section."

This seems pretty specific, so I'd imagine it's best to follow the directions and just answer the questions.

That's not how I meant it - I wrote that message before we started disagreeing about GMAT scores.
I was genuinely curious about your profile - it's always exciting to learn that people have interesting stories to tell.