Sign in with Google
Sign in with Apple
We get no shortage of inquiries about Columbia Business School from applicants. You would be surprised, however, by how many applicants don’t really know the school before they apply. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Columbia applications.
How do you know if Columbia really is a good fit for you? And, perhaps more importantly, how do you know if the Columbia admissions committee will decide that you’re a good fit for the school? Today we look at four things that set Columbia apart from other top-ranked MBA programs:
A Range of Excellence
While certainly Columbia is known for finance — after all, value investing was invented here — it also has well-regarded faculty from, and deep connections to, media, real estate, marketing, and other fields.
Value Investing
A cornerstone of Columbia’s finance program is the Value Investing Program in the Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing. Perhaps the most famous value investor in the world is Warren Buffett, a graduate of this program. The basic approach of value investing is evaluating fundamentals against market price to determine intrinsic value for a long-term buy-and-hold strategy. The Value Investing Program is only open to MBA students, with a competitive application process for admission. The advantages? It’s taught by more than 25 investors who serve as adjunct faculty. Students also benefit from an impressive roster of guest speakers, and invaluable mentorship and recruiting support. About 40 students are selected based on interest and “aptitude” for investing as expressed in an application essay, mandatory interview, and a two-page writeup of a proposed long or short investment. Many classes in the Value Investing Program require students to pitch ideas, usually multiple pitches per class. This type of hands-on training — and the exposure students get to marquee Wall Street firms – puts Columbia’s Value Investing Program in a category by itself.
Master Classes
These project-based electives are superlative in terms of offering the ability of second-year students to roll up their sleeves and apply what they have learned. This is one element of Columbia’s focus on combining theory with practice.
An Accelerated Option
Columbia is the only full-time day MBA program in the U.S. that offers two intakes, September and January — and the J-Term allows students to progress through in the quickest possible time, at just 16 months end to end. No other American business school makes its same full-time MBA curriculum available in such an accelerated format. If you’re interested in accelerated MBA options and want to study in the U.S., Columbia is a must for your short list
Ready to sign up for a GMAT course ? Enroll through GMAT Club and save up to $180 (use discount code GMATC10)! Take a look at our course options in some of our most popular cities: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and make sure to check the Veritas Prep blog for daily articles.
