Calling all Columbia MBA Applicants: 2020 Intake (Class of 2022)!

I'm starting to wonder who on earth CBS already has in their class that they're pushing all of these amazing people to other schools. Even on ClearAdmit, there are a lot of 730-750+ GMATS with high GPAs being dinged without even an interview. Even people with interesting backgrounds and diversity points to go with their high stats are getting dinged.

I have medium stats and was hoping my interesting background and wild-but-strangely-fitting path to MBA would make up for it, but this is starting to feel less likely every day.

@

Hey friend,

I would say my GMAT is comparatively weak, so Columbia was one of my big hopes. I reckon they have filled their seats on rolling admissions, and are looking for people who are ticking off certain quotas now!

Unfortunately, I clearly didn't meet the criteria.

Best of luck!

I hope I get into one of my other 4!

I'm so sorry for the heartbreaking news about Columbia. You are unfortunately in good company. Columbia has a very low acceptance rate. I'm wondering how old you are. (Given that you've already served as a diplomat, which likely confers more than the 4-5 years average work experience of CBS students when they enter the full-time MBA program). If you are older, strategic positioning is really important. If you'd like to apply next year, keep that in mind. The CBS re-app essay is pretty easy to complete relative to the first time around. It's basically just a 500 word essay that asks what has changed since your last app. My fingers are crossed for your other applications!

Very sorry to learn about this disappointing news. But you can consider reapplying. What’s your GMAT? And perhaps consider apply much earlier next time. Good luck!!



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[/quote]

I'm so sorry for the heartbreaking news about Columbia. You are unfortunately in good company. Columbia has a very low acceptance rate. I'm wondering how old you are. (Given that you've already served as a diplomat, which likely confers more than the 4-5 years average work experience of CBS students when they enter the full-time MBA program). If you are older, strategic positioning is really important. If you'd like to apply next year, keep that in mind. The CBS re-app essay is pretty easy to complete relative to the first time around. It's basically just a 500 word essay that asks what has changed since your last app. My fingers are crossed for your other applications![/quote]

Thanks for the support.

I'm 26. I was the youngest one and only ethnic minority (when I joined at least) in the mission out of maybe 30 diplomats so I thought I had a lot going for me as a result.

I'm a bit perplexed because I'm really not sure what more I could have done professionally or academically.

To date, I have just over 3 years work experience in Government, where I've had 4 roles across foreign policy/development roles.

In addition, I've had 3 months Associate Consultant experience at an MBB equivalent firm that only does international development projects, there's only one firm of this kind doing development strategy consulting.


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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?

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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Congrats! Welcome to the CBS community. You must be so thrilled! Scholarships can come later than the actual acceptance, so it may not mean anything if you did not receive funding yet. I believe last year a wave of scholarships came out around this time of year.

Does Columbia do a mass update before Feb?

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CBS DECISION TRACKER

Updates for the last hour:

• Invited to interview, 16 minutes ago, from United States, GMAT:700, GPA: 3.9, heard via: email
• Denied, 34 minutes ago, from United States, GMAT:730 (Q47 V44), GPA: 3.4, Industry: Manufacturing, WE 60, heard via: portal_update
• Denied, 34 minutes ago, from United States, GMAT:740 (Q49 V41), GPA: 3.57, Industry: Non-Profit and Government, WE 60, heard via: email

UPDATE YOUR STATUS

Has anyone who submitted on January 3rd received interview invites yet?

A friend of mine (ED admit) got a call this week about merit aid

One of my clients got the call yesterday, too, so I spoke a bit too soon!

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According to ClearAdmit, a lot have.

They have issued a lot of rejections as well unfortunately... its a blood bath for CBS over on ClearAdmit

Strange. I haven't received a rejection or acceptance, but I submitted on the January 3rd deadline, similar to applicants who have already received theirs. Does this imply that I am not getting an interview?