Baruna_singh wrote:
I have a 620 gmat (Quant 49; verbal 26). I have a MS from Virginia Tech and B Engg.
I work in Supply-Chain management domain within distribution functional area.
Do you guys think I have a chance of getting accepted for January program.
What all I am expecting from columbia is to provide me contacts so that I can approach CEO of companies by just knocking at the door.
Pls advice.
I have received some PMs regarding the Columbia January Term program and decided to respond to them in this thread. Please note that a lot of information in this post has been extracted from Johnny’s blog:
https://j-term-johnny.blogspot.com/
but I have also added the new information based on my own experiences.
First, I did not apply to the J-term program initially. I actually applied to Columbia’s ED. However, by the time I got admitted to ED, I was already admitted to INSEAD for its Jan 08 term and had already paid $6,400. Since my post-MBA goals constituted working in management consulting or for industry, a 2-year program totally lost its attraction. I am an older candidate (33) and therefore wanted to start my program as soon as possible and INSEAD Jan program was a perfect fit but now Columbia J-term also seemed like a really good option because it would let me start the program in Jan. Therefore, I told Columbia about my INSEAD admission, elaborated on the need of switching to Columbia’s J-term program, submitted a new application, paid $250 fee and was able to finally switch to the J-term program. I saved one full year by doing so and it was really important for me. Please note that you cannot switch your starting date automatically. You need to take risk by resubmitting your application. For me the risk was minimal because of INSEAD's admission.
Now let us talk about the J-term program. Again, majority of information below is coming from a CBS alum who posted at Johnny’s blog but I have added my comments in black.
First, although known as an accelerated MBA, Columbia J-term MBA is not an accelerated program (except it allows you to start in January instead of September). It is a regular 2-year MBA in terms of its academic depth (17 months or 4 semesters - just like any September MBA program).
(I agree with CBS alum's observation. Folks who want to save time should keep this factor in mind. CBS J-term is not quick like INSEAD (10 month) or Kellogg/Cornell’s accelerated programs (12 month). CBS J-term program tuition fees are same as its September term whereas Kellogg and Cornell programs are less expensive than their 2-year programs. For career switchers, I liked the fact that CBS J-term is a longer program because it allows you to take more classes, gives you more time for networking/recruiting and also helps recruiters establish more trust in your academic abilities versus a 10-month or a 12-month program. I always found INSEAD 10-month program too fast. But it is just me)
Second, unlike Cornell or Kellogg’s accelerated MBA program, the Columbia’s J-term program is not separated from its September class. J-termers start in Jan but then catch up with their September peers by taking classes in the summer and in coming September, everybody (both J-term and Sep class) merge together as one class and take electives for next 9 months or so as well as participate in recruiting events together. Plus, if you can exempt some of your core classes, you can start taking elective classes with Sep class as early as Jan.
(Please also make a note that for last 5 years, lots of companies also come to CBS in summer to recruit specifically Columbia J-termers. Last year, GE, Bain, Citi, JP and many other top employers showed up in summer)
Third, it should be noted that when Columbia Business School releases logistics related to its latest class (GPA, age range, GMAT etc), those numbers pertain to the full class (J-term and Sep). See the link below.
(711 students include both Sep-term and J-term students. Usually Sep-class has 500-530 students where J-term has close to 180-200 students)
https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mba/admissions
Same concept applies to CBS’s placements reports. CBS has to report placement statistics for the full class including J-term and Sep. See the following link:
https://www.columbia.edu/cu/business/car ... entreport/
What it means that CBS admission folks has to keep the standard of its admissions’ criteria same for both Jan and Sep class to ensure that overall logistics of the incoming MBA class as well as placement statistics of the outgoing class remain as high as possible. It means that both Sep and Jan terms are equally competitive from admittance standpoint (although a lot of folks speculate that Columbia ED could be little easier to get into because of the $6000 bond whereas Regular decision may be the hardest one to get into).
(Baruna, I think your GMAT score is little low and you should consider retaking GMAT and score at least 670 with a balanced score - at least above 70% in both sections)
Fourth, recruiting wise, let me categorically state that for management consulting jobs, internship is not a requirement by any means. For instance, top management consulting firms recruit more students from INSEAD (over 70% are career switchers) than any other B-school and INSEAD does not have any internship (
I concur with CBS alum considering that I was an INSEAD admit and had access to their incoming class database). For industry related jobs, there is no need of internship either. For financial services related jobs, internship does play an important role especially for career switchers. But I do know many J-term folks who successfully transitioned to IB jobs as career switchers. Obviously, they had to do more leg work.
(Here is what I have found out for this year. This year, there were over 30 J-termers who were seriously looking into I-banking jobs and 18 got offers from IB. I would also like to state that majority of students at J-term also switch their careers, regardless of what they said in essays)
Fifth, I don’t know why but somehow in my class of 06 (again, this info has been provided by a CBS alum on johnny’s blog), I found Columbia’s J-term folks more interesting, diverse and much more international (I am an international myself). Most of them were aspiring entrepreneurs with very interesting backgrounds. Whereas, my September class was filled with more traditional students (engineers, IT, finance). However, J-term also attracts a lot of high achievers who want to switch their career but they do not want to wait till September.
Sorry, for a long post but I hope it will answer a lot of questions.