Columbia 2013 (CBS) - Calling All Applicants

For those of u that interviewed - is there a need to bring a copy of my résumé?

Yes, definitely. The person I interviewed with did not have a copy and had not reviewed my app/resume previously. Your resume will help guide the discussion.

I'd bring two. One to keep in front of yourself and one for the interviewer.

Thanks guys! Ok one more question -- I have an interview this week and we're getting lunch. What's the protocol for paying for lunch - am I supposed to offer to pay? Am I supposed to accept if he wants to pay? Not appropriate for either? I've never done a lunch interview..

In the interview instructions, it said to email a copy of your resume to the interviewer so I did that prior to our meeting. From the instructions: "Once you have successfully agreed upon a time, date, and place for your interview with one of the above Ambassadors, please enter the date of your interview here. This will complete your interview scheduling, and will automatically generate an email to your interviewer to allow them to enter feedback. At that time, please email a copy of your current resume to your Ambassador, as Ambassadors do not have access to any part of your submitted application."

I also brought a copy to the interview just in case she needed a print out, but my interviewer had a copy with her.

Thanks guys! Keep us updated! Best of luck!



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Interesting, mine had no note about emailing the resume to the ambassador. It also didn't mention contacting the ambassadors in the order in which they were listed. Odd that different people receive different instructions. Either way my interviewer expressly asked in our email exchange that I bring a resume. Was planning on it anyway but makes sense.

It appears Columbia keeps tweaking the application a bit as time goes on. Mine said nothing about emailing your ambassador a copy of the resume and explicitly stated to start at the top of the list and move down. So clearly they are getting feedback about what is and isn't working and trying to make updates to the instructions accordingly. I would bring a copy of your resume but depending on your interviewer's style you might not need it. I didn't email my interviewer a copy and the interview was so laid back he never asked for a copy or asked me to walk through my resume. We just talked about the school, what I want to do with my life, why Columbia would help that. Then he talked about his experiences for a bit and we wrapped up the interview. Until he mentioned the list of questions the school emailed him I was actually getting nervous that he thought I just wanted info about the school and he wasn't conducting an interview for me.

Interview is done. Super laid back, and included very candid dialogue about my interviewer's experience at CBS. The questions were standard - Tell me about your job, working in a team experience, why CBS, what about after CBS, contingency plan if you don't get in. I appreciated the candidness of the interview. Now all that's left to do is wait..

On a separate note, I received notice last week regarding a full ride to Notre Dame. I wanted to pick GMATclub members' brains on this. I realize ND is not regarded in the same caliber of schools as CBS, Duke, and Kellogg (my other options, if I am accepted), however, is the difference enough to justify $100,000 in student loans when I could be going to ND for free? ND was not my top choice by any means but I will definitely lose sleep over this decision if I don't receive a similar scholarship at other schools. If it helps, I plan to go into general management and strategy post-MBA.

Would appreciate any thoughts.

Congrats on the full ride. My thinking is this. I plan on going into consulting post MBA and was wondering what I would do if I got a full ride at NYU vs Columbia (if I got in). I think I would still go to Columbia. Call me a sap but I would go to where your heart is - when I close my eyes I envision myself on the 1 train and getting off at 116th street. I understand that scholarships are important but we are going to made enough money to pay back our loans within a few years of graduation, regardless of where we go.

Go to the best school possible. Unless its H/S/W and one of them gives you nothing and the other gives you $20k.

I tend to agree with urarunner, but make your own call. Take a look at each school's employment reports and consider if you can get in with the companies you want to be in with in the roles you want on the other side. On the money side, $100,000 is nothing to sneeze at, but if you make $15k more coming out of Columbia than out of ND, that means your first few raises out of school will be on that figure too. For instance say you make 100k out of school at ND or 115k out of Columbia, if you get a 3% raise each year, 5 years out of school you will have made about $80k more with that Columbia degree.

The numbers are rough estimates and make a lot of assumptions, obviously, but I think the logic makes sense. Long term I think the prestige difference between Columbia and ND pays for itself.

Just got the call - I'm in!

Application submitted: Jan 8th
Interview Invite: Feb 1st
Interview: Feb 12th
Feedback submitted/application complete: Feb 22nd
Admitted: March 4th

Now to make a decision between Stern and CBS...eek!
Goodluck to everyone still waiting!

Whoa - 6 business day turnaround. Nice! Congrats!

Just curious, but it there a particular region you are looking to work in? Notre Dame has some very nice inroads into some big name midwest firms like Target and has a huge network to boot; however, I don't think Notre Dame carries nearly as much weight on the coasts. If you really want to work in the NE, I'd definitely hold out for CBS.

Definitely would be sticking with NE (New York specifically) post mba. I see the logic in holding out for CBS and to be honest I'm not sure I could do 2 yrs in South Bend :-p I am hoping I can potentially receive a decent combination of merit-based and need based financial aid which will make this decision easier.

Dinged! I got the email yesterday around noon.

Applied 1/8
Invited 2/3
Interviewed 2/19
Feedback submitted 2/19
Decision 3/4

I was tepidly optimistic after my interviewer said he thought I’d be a great fit for CBS and would be recommending me, but that's obviously just one piece of the puzzle. I'm not sure what my decision would have been between Haas and CBS, but since my focus is Tech/Entrepreneurship Berkeley feels really natural for me. Congrats to all the admits and best of luck to everyone still waiting!

Does anyone know if its easier to get into CBS J term? I missed the Jan 10th deadline and now contemplating on applying for the J-term in June?