MBAPrepCoach wrote:
AjaxFan That's awful, I'm sure you are absolutely gutted. And the fact that you took the executive assessment tells me that you were pinning all of your hopes on Columbia , so even more so.
Questions I would have. Did you apply a bit too late for your particular ethnicity group when most of the seats were taken for people with that profile?
The next question would be did you rely on impact in your essays or more so prestige. A lot of applicants think prestige matters when it's really about delivering examples that show how you've made a business impact. So really offering examples of leadership teamwork and problem solving - and the metrics impacted by that should be in your resume.
And then the next question would be, what about your goals. Are your goals realistic for your background, are you recruitable? Are your goals clear, so that if you were to set foot in Columbia right now would you know how to leverage alumni to make it happen?
AjaxFan wrote:
I just got rejected, absolutely devastated. I am not sure what more I could have done.
I took the EA just for Columbia, and got 166.
UG & Master's from top UK universities (one in the world), GPAs roughly convert to 3.7 and 4
3-4 years experience in International Development, including as a diplomat and worked in 6-8 countries.
I spent ages crafting the essays, even went to their London event, really heartbroken because I had given it my absolute all.
I didn't actually.
The essay on a leader, I chose a journalist who also works in development and tried to use the qualities he showcases to demonstrate my own take on leadership.
My goal is to set-up an international development business, and to continue to help the poorest out of poverty. I said what I wanted to do and it involves two business strands but basically attempts to solve a particular problem in the space, which I've identified through my experiences.
The why Columbia; I talked about the Tamer Center and how it call help me towards this, including particular extracurriculars and how they contribute to my ability to better deliver the intended services, as well as picking out certain modules on the course and linking it back to the business.
I literally spent hours on every essay crafting them to be consistent with my passions, which has always been international development.
I think Columbia or not; other schools or not, my goal won't change. I don't think I'll reapply to Columbia in any case, I think I received bad advice along the way and I had taken the EA just for them and the score was such, it won't improve.
You're right that I may have applied too late on 1st January, but I had quite a big health problem in my life and I had only just moved back to Europe in July. I didn't think applying before the merit scholarships deadline would be too late, but seems like even that could be!
My resume has been structured how it would be for MBB; strong focus on numbers, action words to start every line. I would be happy to send it to you in a private email if you're interested.
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