Columbia 2012 Applicants' Discussion Thread New! Columbia GSB Admissions Team Answers Questions on GMAT Club https://images.forbes.com/media/lists/95/2009/columbia-business-school.jpg Also, please see: Columbia GSB MBA Guide Columbia Applicant Summary (Real Time) Quick Glance: GMAT Club vs. Latest Intake (Class of 2013) Application Tracker Feed Detailed Applicant List: Add Yourself to This List (add Columbia GSB to your profile) GMAT Club's Real-time Admissions Statistics Add Your Profile to This List 2012 Roll Call (J-Term) Until the main roll call window hasn't added J Termers, I will manually update this. Please ping me to update your name and status here Even9net Tiggy - Accepted - 28th July, 2011 Submitted: 6/19, Review: , Invited to Interview: 7/12 Nimabi - Submitted: , Review: 6/1, Invited to Interview: 7/7 Miambaprosp - Accepted - 28th July, 2011 Submitted: 5/21, Review: 6/2 , Invited to Interview: 7/7 and Interviewed: 7/17 Mmbma - Submitted: 6/15, Review: , Invited to Interview: 7/20 Wishnuv - Submitted: 6/28, Review: , Invited to Interview: 7/19 NYYankees (R) - Submitted: 7/15, Review: 7/18, Invited to Interview: 7/28 (R) - Reapplicant Application Deadlines August 2012 Entry Early Decision: October 5, 2011 Merit Fellowship Consideration: January 4, 2012 Regular Decision: April 11, 2012 January 2012 Entry October 5, 2011 Essay Questions Applicants must complete one short answer question and three essays. Short Answer Question What is your post-MBA professional goal? (200 characters maximum) Essay 1 Considering your post-MBA and long term professional goals, why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Additionally, why is Columbia Business School a good fit for you? (750 words maximum) Essay 2 Describe a life experience that has shaped you. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally. (500 words maximum) Essay 3 For the third essay, please choose one of the following three options: Option A The annual A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition is a student initiative managed and run by the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO). The competition encourages Columbia MBA students to explore creative, entrepreneurial ideas that are sufficiently ambitious in scope and scale to be considered “outrageous.” Students explore these ideas while learning firsthand what goes into the development and presentation of a solid business proposal. Develop your own outrageous business idea. In essay form, compose your elevator pitch. (250 words maximum) Option B Columbia deeply values its vibrant student community, the building of which begins at orientation when admitted students are assigned to clusters of 65 to 70 fellow students who take most of the first-year core classes together. During the first weeks of school, each cluster selects a cluster chair. Further strengthening the student community are the more than 100 active student organizations at Columbia Business School, ranging from cultural to professional to community service–oriented. Leadership positions within clusters and clubs offer hands-on management and networking opportunities for students as they interact with fellow students, administrators, faculty members, alumni, and practitioners. You are running for either cluster chair or a club leadership position of your choosing. Compose your campaign speech. (250 words maximum) Option C Founded nearly three decades ago, the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School integrates senior executives into the life of the School. Current executives in residence include more than a dozen experts in areas ranging from media and investment banking to private equity and management. A hallmark of the program is one-on-one counseling sessions in which executives advise students about their prospective career choices. Select one of the current executives in residence with whom you would like to meet during your time at Columbia. Explain your selection and tell us how you would best utilize your half hour one-on-one session. (250 words maximum) CLASS PROFILE (Official Figures) MBA Student Profile — Class Entering 2011 (January and August) Applications Received 6692 Applicants Accepted 1062 Acceptance Rate 16% Class Size 751, divided into 11 clusters GMAT Scores (middle 80%) 680–760 Undergraduate GPA (middle 80%) 3.1–3.8 Work Experience (middle 80%) 3–7 years At Least One Year of Work Experience 100% Average age 28 Women 35% International Citizens 38% - 48% of the incoming class came with a background in Financial Services (28%) and Consulting (20%); Lowest percentages from Non Profit (4%), Manufacturing (3%) and Energy (2%) - Highest percentage of incoming students, by undergrad major, is from Social Sciences (35%) followed by Business (26%) External review of the Columbia Business School https://poetsandquants.com/2010/12/09/columbia-business-school/ Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQzdr1MFVFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cD2mv8-_xA Admitted Students can join the facebook page set-up. https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/gr ... 096381155/

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Columbia 2012 - Calling All Applicants

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bizlady

Joined: 16 Nov 2011

Last visit: 24 May 2012

Posts: 29

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Schools: CBS '14 (A) HBS '14 (WL) Wharton '14 (A) Stanford '14 (D)

Posts: 29

Kudos: 7

17 Nov 2011, 10:49

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jcswinterpark

rsmba

Been lurking on this forum for a while. Good luck to all of you who are playing the waiting game! Quick question for some of you more experienced applicants - my recommender told me today that he's concerned about the appropriate length of the rec letter. Does anyone know if Columbia gives any guidance on this, meaning should the answers be ~1 paragraph per question, vs 1 page per question (and therefore more detailed)? Hoping to submit for RD in the next few days...

Thanks!

I had the same question but when I attended an information session with Mary Miller (one of the top decision makers in the adcom and a person who reads apps) she told me that it was up to the person giving the recommendation BUT she didn't see any reason that a recommendation should be longer than 2 pages. As she put it, the adcom wants to know about an applicants strongest attributes or those that the applicant needs to work on. Therefore, the person writing your rec should be able to hone in on a few attributes rather than write a bio on who you are.

Put it this way, if you are reading 50 apps per week and 95% of the apps have recommendation letters of 2 pages or less, then it is not going to reflect well if you drop one in that is 2.5 pages.

I wanted to stand out in content but not in length.

That's my humble two cents.

Thank you - very helpful!

NoggieViking

Joined: 24 Aug 2011

Last visit: 12 Oct 2012

Posts: 187

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Affiliations: Phi Beta Kappa

Concentration: International Business, Other

Schools: Columbia - Class of 2014

Posts: 187

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[1]

17 Nov 2011, 12:38

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Sorry to hear about the dings, folks. So many new names here. With PTK out, I believe the ones I remember are MCE17 and AiAsia. I wish you all the best of luck.

As for recommenders, I didn't waive my right - but clearly that has no bearing on the application - which I think they say.

kdsvs

Joined: 24 Aug 2008

Last visit: 05 Mar 2013

Posts: 12

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[1]

Schools: Wharton '14 (D) Booth '14 (I) CBS '14 (I) Sloan '14 (S) Stern '14 (S)

Posts: 12

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17 Nov 2011, 13:16

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Invited to interview today.
Submitted Oct 5, under review Oct 13, interview invite Nov 17.

americanInAsia

Joined: 16 Jun 2011

Last visit: 07 Aug 2017

Posts: 78

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[1]

Given Kudos: 72

Location: United States (IL)

Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

GPA: 3.1

WE:Asset Management (Finance: Investment Banking)

Products:

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

Posts: 78

Kudos: 33

[1]

17 Nov 2011, 14:14

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NoggieViking

...the ones I remember are MCE17 and AiAsia. I wish you all the best of luck.

No news either way today. Hopefully some good news friday!

jcswinterpark

Joined: 17 Oct 2011

Last visit: 02 Mar 2014

Posts: 23

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Given Kudos: 2

Status:Wharton Class of 2014

Location: United States (CO)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

GPA: 3.89

WE:Other (Other)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

Posts: 23

Kudos: 9

17 Nov 2011, 14:55

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Does anyone know approximately what percentage of applicants that are invited to an interview get accepted?

businessweek.com states that CBS interviews 26% and accepts 16% which is roughly 60% acceptance rate for those interviewed.

https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/ra ... umbia.html

I am curious to know if someone has any other information on this or saw another stat somewhere else.

I recently went complete with CBS and have a RD1 app in for Tuck but don't really want to start working on any other apps on account of my overarching desire to go to CBS. Just trying to figure out if it is worth waiting or if I should get back to work on other apps.

speedkk

Joined: 17 Nov 2011

Last visit: 25 Feb 2012

Posts: 3

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[2]

Posts: 3

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17 Nov 2011, 15:32

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Got call from Mary Miller today! Been waiting for a whole month since interview completed, and finally relieved..
Wish all the people waiting luck! Just hang in there!

Timeline:
Submit: 9.21
Interview invite: 9.28
Interview: 10.17
Interview complete: 10.18
Second Interview by phone: 11.16
Accepted:11.17

waitingforananswer

Joined: 15 Nov 2011

Last visit: 29 Nov 2011

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17 Nov 2011, 16:39

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speedkk

Great speedkk!! Congratulations!!... What was the second interview about? Didn't know there was a second interview...

speedkk

Joined: 17 Nov 2011

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17 Nov 2011, 17:16

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waitingforananswer

speedkk

Great speedkk!! Congratulations!!... What was the second interview about? Didn't know there was a second interview...

I am interested in healthcare management program, received the phone call request last week through email by director of healthcare management and made the phone call appt for yesterday. In the phone interview, He asked me about my career goals on healthcare in details and also why columbia, why now. Because my first interviewer is from a non-health care background, and I probably did not articulate on my career aspiration in my first interview. I guess adcom just try to make sure I have a sound career plan. Luckily I got the second chance to defend myself. I believe adcom really consider thoroughly of everyone's candidacy.

americanInAsia

Joined: 16 Jun 2011

Last visit: 07 Aug 2017

Posts: 78

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[1]

Given Kudos: 72

Location: United States (IL)

Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

GPA: 3.1

WE:Asset Management (Finance: Investment Banking)

Products:

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

Posts: 78

Kudos: 33

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17 Nov 2011, 19:22

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jcswinterpark

I'm not sure where business week gets those numbers. From the "research" (googeling) that I've personally done, I've seen a variety of different numbers...Business week says 27%, some say 50%, others say the data doesn't exist. CBS and Wharton seem to interview a larger portion of applicants then admits less than half, while HBS tends to invite very few people then admits most. This article is old(er) and the data is before Mary Miller was in charge so things could have changed - but who knows? https://blog.clearadmit.com/2006/11/admi ... processes/

The only thing that I've taken from it is don't get too comfortable just because you are invited to an interview.

jcswinterpark

Joined: 17 Oct 2011

Last visit: 02 Mar 2014

Posts: 23

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Status:Wharton Class of 2014

Location: United States (CO)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

GPA: 3.89

WE:Other (Other)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

Posts: 23

Kudos: 9

[1]

17 Nov 2011, 20:50

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americanInAsia

jcswinterpark

Thanks for finding that article from ClearAdmit. While I want to believe that Columbia invites a smaller sampling to interview than the ClearAdmit article suggests, I realize that there is no way to know for sure.

Best of luck with CBS. I know you have been waiting for a while!

jwl

Joined: 30 Oct 2011

Last visit: 29 Aug 2018

Posts: 21

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Location: Canada

Concentration: Operations, Strategy

Schools: Columbia - Class of 2014

Posts: 21

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18 Nov 2011, 08:18

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Hi guys,

I finished my interview last night and my Ambassador actually supplied me with the statistic: around 27% of applicants get invited to interview. The data point was part of the information package that she got when I confirmed the interview. The only problem is that we do not know if this varies across J-Term, ED and RD.

Best of luck to those of you waiting on a decision and on interview invitations!

jcswinterpark

Joined: 17 Oct 2011

Last visit: 02 Mar 2014

Posts: 23

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Given Kudos: 2

Status:Wharton Class of 2014

Location: United States (CO)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

GPA: 3.89

WE:Other (Other)

Schools: CBS '14 (WA) Sloan '14 (A) Yale '14 (D) Kellogg 1YR '13 (WL) Wharton '14 (M) Tuck '14 (A) Darden '14 (A) Goizueta '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Johnson '14 (A)

Posts: 23

Kudos: 9

18 Nov 2011, 08:41

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jwl

Wow. Thanks for the statistic. Just curious - did your interviewer just tell you that or did you ask?

The percentage seems more in line with other top schools. MIT interviews less than 30%, as does Harvard. Interviewing 50% of the applicants would translate into more than 3,000 interviews.

Good luck. You and I are in the waiting game now.

MCE7

Joined: 03 Sep 2011

Last visit: 05 Jul 2013

Posts: 111

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Location: United States (NY)

Concentration: Real Estate, Entrepreneurship

Schools: CBS '14 (D) Stern '14 (I) Tuck '14

GPA: 3.6

Schools: CBS '14 (D) Stern '14 (I) Tuck '14

Posts: 111

Kudos: 23

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18 Nov 2011, 09:18

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jwl

I got the same numbers from my interviewer. He said about 25-30% of applicants only get interview, so "it's a big deal, congratulations".
He also said that from his experience at this stage, it will take about 2-3 weeks at least to hear back.

jwl

Joined: 30 Oct 2011

Last visit: 29 Aug 2018

Posts: 21

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Location: Canada

Concentration: Operations, Strategy

Schools: Columbia - Class of 2014

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18 Nov 2011, 11:45

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jcswinterpark

jwl

She offered the information as part of a congratulations for making it to the interview stage.

Waiting game indeed! I don't really expect to hear back until December, since I still haven't gone 'complete' yet and there is American Thanksgiving next week.

Truthfully, I am eager to hear back because I don't want to start my R2 applications...it would be hard to explain "Why X school" when I am still harbouring hopes for a CBS admission =)

americanInAsia

Joined: 16 Jun 2011

Last visit: 07 Aug 2017

Posts: 78

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Given Kudos: 72

Location: United States (IL)

Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

GPA: 3.1

WE:Asset Management (Finance: Investment Banking)

Products:

Schools: Booth PT '20 (M)

GMAT 1: 660 Q47 V35 Verified score

Posts: 78

Kudos: 33

18 Nov 2011, 12:39

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jwl

great, thank you for the information! Feel a little better now.

going to bed....no call or email...yet haha

KPrizzle

Joined: 09 Feb 2011

Last visit: 13 Jul 2012

Posts: 88

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Given Kudos: 10

Location: United States

Concentration: Real Estate, Entrepreneurship

Schools: CBS '14 (D) Tuck '14 (WL) Kellogg 1YR '13 (D) Owen '14 (A$) Stern '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Anderson '14 (A$)

GMAT 1: 730 Q47 V42 Verified score

GPA: 3.33

WE:General Management (Real Estate)

Schools: CBS '14 (D) Tuck '14 (WL) Kellogg 1YR '13 (D) Owen '14 (A$) Stern '14 (A) Fuqua '14 (A) Anderson '14 (A$)

GMAT 1: 730 Q47 V42 Verified score

Posts: 88

Kudos: 11

18 Nov 2011, 14:18

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FYI to all Regular Decision Applications: I spoke to the admissions office today, and they stated that they began to review regular decision applications yesterday. Hopefully we'll start noticing some updates in our statuses within the next 2 weeks.

tlbkcal

Joined: 29 Mar 2011

Last visit: 08 May 2013

Posts: 117

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Given Kudos: 44

Location: United States (CA)

City: San Francisco

Concentration: Finance, Healthcare

Schools: Haas EWMBA '15 (M)

GMAT 1: 730 Q49 V41 Verified score

Schools: Haas EWMBA '15 (M)

GMAT 1: 730 Q49 V41 Verified score

Posts: 117

Kudos: 20

18 Nov 2011, 14:56

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Ding w/o int! 3:38 EST. Best of luck to all going forward!! All my eggs for Rd 1 are in the Booth basket now...

pnshetty

Joined: 11 Nov 2011

Last visit: 18 Dec 2011

Posts: 7

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[1]

Schools: Wharton '14 (D) CBS '14 (A) Kellogg '14 (A) HBS '14 (D)

Posts: 7

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18 Nov 2011, 15:21

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Just got an invite after 7 weeks! Please do not lose hope - I think they just take longer to review the apps.

xxpatzz

Joined: 27 Jul 2011

Last visit: 12 Jun 2012

Posts: 19

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Location: United States

Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Strategy

Schools: Stanford '14 (D) CBS '14 (M) Sloan '14 (S) Wharton '14 (S)

GMAT 1: 740 Q51 V38 Verified score

GPA: 3.51

WE:Project Management (Energy)

Schools: Stanford '14 (D) CBS '14 (M) Sloan '14 (S) Wharton '14 (S)

GMAT 1: 740 Q51 V38 Verified score

Posts: 19

Kudos: 6

18 Nov 2011, 18:52

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Do you guys think the timing of interview matters？ My preferred interviewer contacted me back with the proposed date on Dec 5th, which is more than two weeks from now, and the other local alumni (he got his master in my Alma mater) also contacted me today offering an interview next Monday. I am concerned that Adcom may defer my decision due to the timing if I choose to interview in Dec....What do you guys think?

Many Thanks!