Columbia 2013 (CBS) - Calling All Applicants

The first 50 minutes of the interview went fine. While the questions were tough ("give me a ballpark estimate of how many brand managers get hired every year" "Besides the six companies and three industries you mentioned that use brand management, what other companies recruit at Columbia for your desired field?").

I was answering them pretty well, I thought. But near the end the interviewer asked me how I chose him as my interview contact. I replied that I followed the instructions on Columbia's letter, which was to contact the first person on the list of three. He became visibly upset at this and told me that I had done it wrong: rather, I should have done research on all three Ambassadors and chose my contact that way, as in business you're supposed to vie for every advantage. I replied that while I agree in theory with that, I wasn't about to try and cross the admissions committee on this. He noted that someone he interviewed just the week prior had done this very thing, and had chosen him because they had a lot in common.
Then he started lecturing me about the importance of seizing the advantage in networking, noted that I'm competing against my fellow students "including the guy with two years' of experience at McKinsey who is just interviewing for fun, but who looks better on paper."

He then asked me why I was applying so late and to so few schools. I replied that I had applied to five schools and submitted my application to Columbia on November 20. He said that was too late and to too few schools, and didn't seem optimistic about my chances of getting in.

Honestly, none of his advice was bad or unwelcome (though I still disagree about not following Columbia's instructions), but the tone of the conversation took a very negative turn near the end. I'm not sure if I was unlucky, if I said the wrong thing, if he was trying to push my buttons or that's just his manner.