Hi Guys,
I am from India and had attended the information session at The Claridges Hotel in New Delhi yesterday. Thought I'd put across my thoughts on the experience I had
It was a fantastic session. I attended Wharton's in Delhi last month which was disastrous and between Wharton and Columbia, as I wish to apply to one 'Finance' school, Columbia would definitely be my preferred choice. Just to clarify that this decision is not based on the 'quality' of the session's logistics (eg: venue, accessibility etc.) but the 'quality' of the experience overall. Wharton had lousy alumni and hosted their session in a very downtrodden venue and it was COMPLETELY opposite for Columbia. There were 2 alumni from Columbia who were present for the session and one of them was completely outstanding - I mean you could hear him and feel the kind of difference a world class MBA makes to you. Further, answers from the admissions representative Jenniffer LaRusso, and the alumni were excellent! No meandering responses and very candid. My biggest apprehension about Columbia was how it is more of a commuter school, but the alumni (the guy I mentioned above who was very impressive) answered them really well and addressed concerns. The other alumn came from a family business background and took the J Term, so helpful to have an alumni from both type of full time offerings at Columbia.
Jenniffer explained very well about the rolling admissions process, the fact that if the adcom feels you need to be evaluated against a larger pool, how they shift your application from ED to regular, also about the waitlist and all other aspects of admissions. The crowd that came for the session was much better well informed and very smartly turned out. Saw many folks coming in dressed in business attire (I went in business formals straight from office) unlike Wharton where most looked like they had bunked an engineering class at an Indian engineering college. Dressing isn't really a concern area as such, but it does look nice if you come prepared in semi formals atleast, especially when the session is being held at a prominent 5 star hotel in the heart of Delhi for one of the world's best business schools.
All in all 1. Highly Informative 2. Well Conducted 3. Excellent alumni interaction 4. Gave me much much more confidence about Columbia as a target school
16 Jul 2011, 13:28
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