Columbia

"Basic questions (30 min) - walk me through your resume - startup questions - why MBA/why now/why Columbia - how will you contribute at CBS - how did you contribute in your community - TMAT teamwork with peers - then time for me to ask questions (15 min)"

"Since Interviewer was recent grad, interview was very structured with standard questions. Was friendly and smiling but asked many pressing questions. First she said she would be asking a few questions, and in the last minute I can ask her any questions. Gave introduction of herself as well. Walk me through your resume. How did your undergrad prepare you for your current role? Why MBA and Why CBS Why now How will CBS help you fulfill your short-term goals Tell me about something you are particularly proud of in current role Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone What is your leadership style and tell me about a time you had to adopt the leadership style Contributions to CBS Any other clubs you would love to join Any questions for me"

"Hey ya’ll, Got done with my interview. 40 mins. Alumn’19. Conversational. 1. What’s up? Chit chatted a bit about CBS taking off ED 2. What did the family member tell you about CBS 3. Why CBS? 4. Goals? 5. Plan B of goals and MBA 6. What other schools? 7. Fav footballer? Chit chatted about football and why it’s not soccer. About Messi, PSG and ‘dor. 8. A college extracurricular 9. Contributions to CBS 10. How do companies in India work organisationally? 11. How do will you lead learning teams with diverse personal goals 12. Discussed about a location in NY 13. Anything you want to share? 14. Questions for me?"

"1. Why MBA, Why CBS, Why now 2. A time in conflict 3. Career goal 4. Plan B 5. Clubs you wanna join 6. Why co-found XX(on resume) 7. Question for me"

"Had my interview with a very recent alum. He introduced himself and then the process. Very informal and conversational. Following questions were asked: 1. tell me about yourself 2. walk me through your resume 3. why mba, why now, why cbs 4. how would you contribute to cbs (on campus and then post MBA) 5. which opportunities at cbs do you intend to take part of 6. how do you plan to get into your desired post mba role if your target organization types dont normally come to campus (I shared Plan B voluntarily) 7. What is your role in a team (I assumed this meant how i work in a team and how that would look like at cbs) 8. An extra curricular not on CV"

"I was asked 3 questions: -Why MBA? -Why CBS? -Behavioral on teamwork and a follow-up on how I would take my experience/example to the CBS classroom and clubs. The interviewer was extremely friendly and conversational. I was surprised I was asked so few questions, but we expounded a lot on each question. They did an excellent job of sharing their own CBS experience and relating to the questions they asked me. This first part took about 45 minutes. The second part was me asking questions. I asked 3 questions, and we talked for another 25 minutes. The overall interview was definitely longer than I had expected (about 1 hour 10 minutes), but I really enjoyed the experience. By self assessment, I am likely a borderline candidate in my application bucket, but I am excited to see how this turns out."

"Interviewed with an alumni. Scheduled on 9/22 and conducted on 9/26. Day of Debrief: It was pretty straightforward: 20 mins of background overview, why MBA / career goals, why Columbia,... and then 10 mins of me asking a handful of pretty straightforward questions... BUT I don’t know how well I sold my career goals, so I’m overthinking. My interviewer was from a completely different industry and asked about why I couldn’t do what I wanted to without the MBA. I’m already in my desired post-MBA industry but looking to do the MBA to excel/advance in specific roles, so I explained that the MBA would help me do that by citing specific CBS offerings... and then when asked about backup plan, I explained I could stay in my current role and learn and grow from there but I’m looking for the MBA to do the internships in-semester and during the summer to pivot a bit functionally... but because our industries and functions are so different, I don’t know how much I sold the "advancement" story... I felt like a "pivot" would have been easier to have explain because it’s just a "i literally need the MBA to get this job," but that’s only kind of the case for me... Later, when I got the admissions call, the AdCom member asked me how it went and I was like "oh, it was good - we were from different industries so I hope I explained my career goals well." And then they said "[The alum's] feedback was nothing but positive," and that I was accepted so hey! all's well that ends well."

"SO I interviewed today, and it was pretty straightforward: 20 mins of background overview, why MBA / career goals, why Columbia,... and then 10 mins of me asking a handful of pretty straightforward questions... BUT I don’t know how well I sold my career goals, so I’m overthinking. My interviewer was from a completely different industry and asked about why I couldn’t do what I wanted to without the MBA. I’m already in my desired post-MBA industry but looking to do the MBA to excel/advance in specific roles, so I explained that the MBA would help me do that by citing specific CBS offerings... and then when asked about backup plan, I explained I could stay in my current role and learn and grow from there but I’m looking for the MBA to do the internships in-semester and during the summer to pivot a bit functionally... but because our industries and functions are so different, I don’t know how much I sold the "advancement" story... I felt like a "pivot" would have been easier to have explain because it’s just a "i literally need the MBA to get this job," but that’s only kind of the case for me..."

"Timeline: Dec 20 - Application submitted Jan 5 - Invited to interview Jan 13 - Interview Jan 18 - Feedback submitted Jan 19 - Admitted by phone Very pleasant and conversational interview. I was a bit surprised that the interviewer (recent EMBA alumn) had thoroughly read my resume and reviewed my LinkedIn profile, so instead of doing an intro/walk me through your resume, we just dove right into it. Questions included: 1. Short/long term goals 2. Why CBS/EMBA 3. Why now 4. 3 words to describe yourself 5. What is your personal motivation/philosophy that has gotten you to this decision/these goals (a question to reflect basically on the why you are who you are) 6. Asked about motivations moving from geo to geo/role to role Interviewer was very candid and emphasized questions were to determine fit rather than solely understanding accomplishments he could get from reading my resume. For each of my questions, I peppered in examples of professors and alumni I'd spoken with, news/videos and quotes from the dean, info sessions I attended, etc. I focused my questions on areas I was genuinely interested in and got tips and advise from his time in the program. Great experience overall."

"I just finished my Columbia early MBA Interview this afternoon. I submitted my application on 3 Sept and received an invitation to interview on 6 Oct with an alumnus. The session was conversational and warm. • Walk me through your cv starting from undergraduate. • Short/long term goals? • Why Columbia? • What information sessions did you attend? • Which of the alumni, professors or current students did you speak with?"

"Timeline: Applied - 08/06 Interview invite - 08/27 Interviewed - 08/30 Feedback submitted - Within 30 mins Admitted - 09/01 This thread helped me a lot in the past few days so thought I would share my experience. Got the email inviting to interview from Columbia and they had already set me up with an interviewer: an Alum in about his 50s from the PE and corporate restructuring industry. The interview was over zoom. We briefly said hi in portuguese and my interviewer quickly switched to English. He explained to me how the conversation was to be broken down: Part 1: questions for me; Part 2: questions for him; Part 3: Other business related topics if there is time. Part 1 lasted 15 minutes: 1) Tell me about yourself 2) Why CBS? 3) What other schools have you applied to (to which I answered "Only CBS" which he called suicidal). 4) Tell me about the VC industry in Brazil 5) How active is your firm in managing portfolio companies? He then announced the end of this section and asked if I had any questions. I felt slightly worried because there were still 45 mins left in the allotted time but I realized that the interviewer enjoyed talking about himself, so I started shooting questions about his career, MBA experience, working alongside x, y and z (notable businessmen in Brazil). He mentioned several times during the interview that the process was very tough and that I should not take it personally if I get rejected. I tried to show him that I was confident without sounding cocky. I think it worked. One tip I would give, especially with older alumni, is ask them for tips and advice on what courses to take and where demand is concentrated in the business labour market. I think more experienced guys love to be asked questions about their opinion on things kind of like in a mentorship capacity. At the end of the 1h, he said that he would recommend me and that he thinks the school would be smart to let me in, but reiterated that it was a competitive process and that I should not feel too sad if I don't get in. 30 mins later I received a notification that he submitted his review and just 2 days later got the email from admissions. For anyone applying to CBS, I would HIGHLY recommend submitting as early as possible, due to the rolling admissions. Happy to answer any questions."

"1. Walk me through your resume (follow up questions like what do you do at your current company? Could you elaborate more about one of the achievement that saved cost on your resume?) 2. Why MBA? 3. Why CBS? 4. Share a leadership experience? What’s your leadership style? 5. How do you contribute to your study group? 6. How do you contribute to CBS? 7. Why now? 8. You mentioned that you applied J-term, why J-term? 9. What’s your backup plan if you could not find job after graduation? 10. Any questions?"

"CBS interviews are with an alumnus. My interviewer has an amazing career in PE, all over the world, +10years since graduation and is someone really impressive, and yet he was very reactive although his emails were 1 line only. He started by introducing his career and how CBS contributed and contributes to his life and career. Then he asked me : -Walk me though your resume -What did you do during this job? I answered and continued to describe my experience -Why MBA? -Why now? -Why CBS? -What will you contribute to CBS? -Which other schools did you apply to? The interview was scheduled for 30 minutes, but it lasted 45min, with 25 for my answers and 20 for my questions. I tired to give clear rationals and tried to make everything as clear as possible as he is from a different industry. During the interview, I wasn't sure if I had done a good job, but at the end he seemed satisfied and pleased to have discovered something different. So don't over analyze your interviewer's reactions."

"Timeline : Applied - 08/31 Interview invite - 09/21 Interviewed - 09/26 Feedback submitted - Within 30 mins Admitted - 09/30 Was interviewed by a current student through CBS' online portal. The interview started off horribly as the interviewer could not hear me for the first 2 mins. But post that it was all smooth sailing. The questions were more or less related to my goals and plan and were as follows. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Leadership experience where I have taken initiative. 3. Why MBA? Why now? 4. Why Columbia? 5. What leadership roles will I take at Columbia? 6. Plan B 7. Some questions about my future plans. Questions I asked him - 1. I paid attention to details he told me about himself and asked him specific questions about his background and journey through Columbia and future plans. 2. What are the dynamics of the learning teams? 3. How has COVID impacted his MBA experience and what does he think will happen to our class? It was a light and smooth conversation. An acquaintance of mine is on his learning team and helped break the ice initially. Overall I felt confident post the interview. For fellow candidates I'd suggest to thoroughly understand Why Columbia is the best fit for you and articulate that clearly in your interview."

"Timeline: 1. Applied by ED deadline but put a hold on my application in anticipation of a higher GMAT score. 2. Received an invitation to interview 6 days after submitting my updated score. 3. Interviewed 12 days after invitation to interview. 4. Interview feedback submitted by interviewer 4 days after interview. 5. Received acceptance call 1 week after interview feedback submitted. Match: My first match was a recent grad that works in consulting and had been recently placed far away so I requested a new match and was paired with a very impressive grad from '95. The interview: My interviewer works in risk management and I work in biotech, so I was nervous about the interview. I met him at his work a few minutes early and he took me to a small conference room. He started by explaining the interview process, which was nice. Questions he asked me: 1. Why MBA and not a PhD? (Very expected given my background) 2. Why Columbia? 3. What do I plan to do after Columbia? 3a. Who is the biggest player in this space? 4. What's my leadership style? 5. What's my plan B? 6. What questions haven't I asked you? His final question really caught me off guard! I had plenty of questions for him, but not questions for myself. I rushed into the interview because I felt behind in the process between the delayed GMAT submission and my first match falling through. I ended up doing fine with this question - I turned it to culture fit - but I was at a loss at first. Questions I asked him: I explained my background was very technical in the sciences and asked him what risk management was. I of course had researched risk management and knew the exact amount of risk that was in his portfolio, so I was able to chime in with more educated comments/questions as he explained the basics. The conversation then transitioned to world politics, which was more comfortable for me. We also talked about his daughter, who graduated with the same major as I did and works in a similar industry. I think this was a very lucky connection that helped us understand each other better. I ended by asking him for any advice and was really happy to hear his response. General notes/advice: My interviewer seemed pleased with my honesty - it seems he was used to people playing the interview game a bit too hard. Perhaps it was easy for me to be honest because CBS was my top school and I had really thought about everything before applying. I recommend making a list of all possible questions you think you might be asked and even questions you wish to be asked. I sent him an email thanking him later that day and he has forwarded me events at CBS that he thinks would interest me. He also sent a congratulatory email after I was accepted (I suppose they are notified by the school), and I expect to keep in touch with him moving forward."

"Timeline： Interview Invitation: 20 days after application submission Interview: 12 days after the invitation (used to be 9 days but the interviewer requested a last minute change) Interview feedback: submitted the same day after the interview Offer call: 5 days after the interview (incl. a weekend) I worked for a US firm but was in China at the time so I did the interview there. The interview happened at his office and scheduled for an hour. It turned out to be an hour and half (thus I assume we had a great chat)..I emailed my resume to the interviewer when I scheduled the meeting, but he didn't print it out on the interview day. So remember to bring a hardcopy in any case! 1. The interview started with a question about my current company, how its business doing in China, and if I have any business suggestions. 2. Walk me through your resume: he interrupted several times asking for details/follow-up questions. 3. What's my plan after CBS: short term and long term goals. I mentioned that I chose Jterm b/c I already have personal/family network in the industry, he challenged it and asked what are my competitiveness other than network. 4. I have listed several ECs (only the org names) I did back to college time and he also asked about them. So make sure you really know every word you said in resume 5. A little bit touch on why CBS 6. 3-5 adj. words to describe yourself with concrete examples We also chatted a bit about travel, my current company, common acquaintance etc. He mentioned several alumnus he knew in the industry I was interested in. In general, I felt like my interviewer is a serious and straightforward (but still nice) person. Prepared to get challenged and really know the sxxt you are talking about. Obviously I did ok here, and good luck to everyone else."

"Standard set of questions: 1. Self-intro 2. Resume questions 3. Why MBA? 4. Why CBS? 5. What are your short term and long term goal? 6. How would you differentiate yourself to achieve your short term goal? 7. What is your leadership style? 8. What are your strength and weakness? 9. How did you familiarize yourself with CBS? 10. Any questions for me? The interview ended in around 40 minutes. And then I asked her questions for another 20 minutes."

"Interviewed in New Delhi, India We met in the coffee shop of a centrally located hotel in Delhi. The interviewer had asked me to bring a hard copy of my CV The interview was fairly standard: 1) Walk me through your CV 2) Why MBA? 3) Why now? 4) Why CBS? 5) Which other schools are you applying to? 6) How will you recruit in India while studying in the US (my story involves me coming back to India immediately post my MBA) 7) Short term/long term goals? 8) Plan B? 9)What leadership positions will you take up at CBS 10) Give me your top 3 stock ideas (i work in public/private equity). He had a follow up questions on this 11) Any questions for him? He spoke about his experience at CBS. At the end of the interview he told me that he would recommend (i relaxed a bit after i heard this) The interview last about 30 mins and he took notes while i spoke."

"Interviewed today with a CBS's alum in São Paulo - Brazil and got no big surprise at all. You can see below a quick summary: * He asked standard questions: -Introduced himself (5 min) -Tell me about yourself and your career (10 min) -Why CBS/MBA/ and Why now? (15 min) -Plan B - Schools, examples, career goals, ... (10 min) -Any questions for me? - I asked him ~6 questions (15 min) * The interview was very open and casual. I didn't feel pressured at all. I emailed my resume to my interviewer beforehand, and he had printed it out, taken notes, and had a few questions written down that we talked about."

"My interview was with an alumni at his office. It lasted about 40 minutes. It was casual and more of a conversation than an interview. He asked fairly standard questions: -Walk me through your resume/tell me a little bit about yourself -Why CBS/MBA? -Plan B -Any questions for me? Much of the interview was on the last question above, and this gave me a chance to learn much more about the program. We talked about his favorite trips/professors/classes, etc. I emailed my resume to my interviewer beforehand, and he had printed it out, taken notes, and had a few questions written down that we talked about. After the interview, that night I got an email that CBS received the interview feedback and would be sending me a final decision within 2 weeks! My advice for people preparing for an interview is to do your research on CBS and understand how it can help you achieve your goals. I think many CBS interviews are similar to mine (relaxed/conversational), and so don't get too nervous. I actually even enjoyed the experience!"