Calling All CBS 2011 Applicants!!

As i said before, 22 is the graduating age in US. Not in India. In India, people generally graduate by 20. Max 21. And thank you, what you said made sense. Let me see how else i can make my profile a bit stronger.

Here is something that comes to mind. You say you have good grades, good gmat and good work experience. But you mention nothing about community involvement or outside activities. Maybe you have them maybe you don't, I have no idea. Regardless, you profile is nothing special. That is not meant to be a slight. There are just tons of people that are qualified and its the outside things that separate those that get in from those that don't. The tech guy that also started an NGO or that ibanker that has been participating in Big Brother Big Sister for the past 3 years in his "spare" time.

Something else could be the fact that you are applying from India, which from my understanding is a super competitive pool of applicants. Or the fact that you have a law degree, I've heard schools generally shy away from JDs, granted yours is from India so I'm not sure if that matters. Your essays could have played a factor too. The tone of your posts has a sense of entitlement, did that come off in your essays? I obviously haven't read them so I have no idea how amazing or cookie cutter they were. Basically there are tons of reasons that you could not have been admitted and its hard to really get into why with the limited amount of information you gave. I realize that it must suck to not get in and I'm probably destined for a similar fate but bschool really is just a crap shoot.

Did anyone get an invite to the Columbia Woman in Business event? Any idea how useful and informative this event will be?

I got an invite, but I'm all the way in CA. I have done a visit with a student and attended both on-campus and off-campus events, so I think I have shown my interest in the school. I'm trying to decide if one more event will be any more informative.

I dont know where people get the idea that schools shy away from JD's... I think, from my own experience, a JD from T10 law school totally enhanced my chances. It's after all a harder degree to get.

I definitely agree that business school acceptance CAN be a "crap shoot" sometimes. If you get rejected and another gets accepted, it doesn't mean at all that that person is better than you. Maybe they just could afford to spend $5000 for an admissions consultant to go through 14 revisions of all their essays, and you couldn't.

The only thing fair I guess is the GMAT. But even that isn't fair, for those who aren't good at test-taking, can't afford a course, etc.

Or accept the fact that your steller attributes resemble the other 5000 people that apply for the 500 spots. Not everyone will get in and people need to realize that they can only accept so many. MBA admissions is a highly SUBJECTIVE process.

Congratulations!

Didn't you mentioned that you received the call two Fridays ago?

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Congrats on the acceptance! I too was deferred at Columbia and am waiting on a final decision. Just curious if you communicated with the adcom at all while you were waiting? Any information that you can share will be greatly appreciated.

So first off, I hope you have written them another essay, that goes over all your updates to your application that you may not have gotten the chance to tell them before. I would highlight any professional updates especially (if say you got a promotion, more responsibility, ANYTHING that will show your leadership abilities and good track record). Also, if you haven't already done so, I would try to go visit the campus. I was able to do so in Nov, so that was another point I touched on in my update letter. Really this is your best chance to grab their attention again, so sell yourself!

I did wind up getting a follow up interview with an AdCom member, which I'm sure was vital to my getting accepted. I had a great conversation with her, we spoke about my work, why I wanted to go to CBS, New York, really just a nice chat and she got to know me better than just on paper.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!

Congrats Cidney!

I have applied to Harvard, Wharton , Booth and Kellogg in Round 2 and was planning to CBS as safe option? Do you guys think its too late or I have a decent chance?

My profile is - 27/M/710/Indian / Working in US (Management consulting) for 5 yrs /Undergrad at IIT 8.38/10
Decent extracurriculars

To be frank, I don't think CBS is a "safe option" for anyone (and has a lower acceptance rate than some of the schools you listed). However, this question has been raised and it seems there is no definitive reason to think it is too late to apply, aside from no opportunities for merit scholarships. If you can put together a strong enough application, then CBS still accepts people at this point, for sure.

applying after Jan 5 to CBS is akin to applying 3rd round to schools with decision rounds. they read in order it comes in.

applying 3rd round anywhere is hardly a safe bet; definitely not at CBS.

Columbia is not a safe option for anyone unless you're an absolute rock star. Their acceptance rate is lower than every school on your list except Harvard. For regular decision, the acceptance is closer to 10%. VERY tough to get into. A lot of people i know at booth and kellogg were actually dinged at columbia.

I agree with all of that... but just wondering where you got the 10% from? I assume it's lower than ED, but I never saw that figure.

I did some research on the net and found that TOEFL is big deal for
CBS this year. Given that TOEFL scores take 25 days to arrive after
taking exam and only then application is considered complete for
review is a new insight . I think I am going to postpone CBS
application for Jan 2012 admission and start praying for
Harvard/Wharton/Chicago/Kellogg interview calls.