Calling all Columbia Applicants for 2009!

Guys ... need help

This question is to all the indian applicants. Did anyone take the TOEFL ?

I did not .. I submitted my application without the toefl scores.
My medium of instruction in undergrad was English and I have been in the US for 2.5yrs now, so I was under the impression that I was exempted from the TOEFL requirement. This was inpart because TOEFL was exempted for me at every other school that I was applying to .. I failed to check the instructions for columbia.

I guess I would wait n watch ...

Good seeing terp and ihatethegmat at the LA event tonight.


Couple of juicy little statistics.

Class entering 2008 (these were just published tonight, although djhouse reported numbers a few weeks back that didn't include j-termers, I believe).

Applications received - 5,999
Received Interviews - 46% (this was announced, not published)
Admitted - 908 (15%)
Enrolled - 722 (79%)

Ave GMAT: 710 (announced)
GMAT 80% - 660 - 760
GMAT Range - 570 - 780
GPA 80% - 3.0 - 3.8


Also, apparently ~1,400 apps were submitted in the last week prior to the RD "soft" deadline (which is Jan 7 this year). Pays to get your app in early.

So 1 in 3 applicants interviewed received offers of admission? Getting an interview isn't such a big deal then? Or am I reading this wrong.

I would estimate approximately 150 people showed up to the LA event. Approximately 40 of them raised their hand when the Adcom asked who is going to be applying ED. We had seating for everyone - but you could tell it's going to be a competitive year.

Hi RyGuy,

Thanks for posting the c/o 2008 stats. Columbia actually published them on their website a week ago though. Did you notice that women comprise only 32% of the class? Doesn't that make you sad? I think we were at 33-35% last year and now we've taken a dip. I was really hoping that we'd get into Harvard or ::gasp:: Stern percentages regarding the women ratio

You've got the whole city of New York in front of you. What is there to complain about again? Are you afraid that the Columbia Women in Business Club is going to explode because there are a whopping 10 less potential members?

At the LA one he did say that 100% of the women was in the Women in Business club.

Where was everyone sitting? We should have had our GMAT Club badge on.

Yes, deathly afraid! j/k, I know that a couple percentage points don't matter much to some but most top b-schools would kill to get their women percentage up even 5%. It's just incredibly difficult to attract that caliber in that volume. For me at least, I would be much happier having close to 4 out of 10 classmates female (almost half!) than the current less than one-third. You're right about the whole NY options thing but that's a side bonus. I still care about the profile of my actual class.

Sorry if I came off as complaining- I was just trying to bring up an interesting fact that was left out of your stats. I like to think of it as merely bemoaning the current state of affairs that brings me to tears.

I view it as a normal and small fluctuation in class years/profiles - not a material difference. I am not very worried.

I'm with you on that Tieny, I'd like to have as diverse a class as possible myself and if CBS can fill 40% of its class with qualified female applicants, that would be great. And I don't mean this facetiously at all. More women in class are going to make business school a better experience overall, not just make the social sene more "'interesting."

However, school reputations for being "women friendly" almost make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Prospective female applicants see there's more women at Stern, and so perhaps they apply in greater numbers to a school like Stern. As a result Columbia's female enrollment dips even further.

I'm sure Columbia's street perception as a Finance powerhouse probably turns some women off as well. On the other hand, NYU has very strong connections with the Media and Luxury Goods industries which probably earn it a few more brownie points. Therefore, I don't see Columbia matching NYU in terms of women students as a % of the total class anytime soon.

Soni -

I don't know how often you check the CBS thread but I have an interesting stat for you from the LA info session. The admissions officer said they have received 2 (yes 2) RD applications so far. So you are literally at the top of the RD pile.

It sounds like the LA info session was more interesting than NY's.

haha thanks for the update. Don't know if I should be excited or nervous.

Did you also ask about how many EDs in?
Just curious....

Hey,

Just read on BW forum that someone who applied for J-term had received an interview invite. I guess we will have to wait till they finish the J-term admissions before they start looking at our applications. I submitted mine on Aug 25.

Question:
My recommender used the recommendation template made available thru the website----I learned that the questions on the template are for J-Term. Not sure why they uploaded J-term template for september ED, but this pisses me off. My recommender obviously followed the questions on the template, hence, did not answer revised questions for ED. . .

Anyone in the same shoes...?

So - someone on Businessweek is reporting receiving a CBS interview invite on September 5th! S(he) submitted August 13th and went under review August 15th. This year apparently the application system only offers up names of alumni and their e-mails, no other background information on interviewers.

Ryguy and Tieny - you're next.

ZOMG!