Columbia MBA
Rankings | Class Profile | Employment Report | Sample Essays | Interview Questions
Columbia MBA – Introduction
Columbia’s new core is made up of two full-term courses–Financial Accounting and Finance– and nine half-term courses that range from Business Analytics to Strategy Formulation. Incoming students at Columbia are assigned to clusters of 65 to 70 students who take all of the first-year core classes together. Before each term, students can opt-out of a core course by exam and replace it with an elective.
Among the latest changes, Columbia will now teach some technical components of courses online to free up more classroom time for deeper dives and discussions. The school also will increase the number of electives students can take in the first year to allow them to make a stronger impression on employers during their summer internships. In the second half of the second term, MBA students at Columbia will have no core courses at all but five different elective courses.
Dean Glenn Hubbard, who had been chief economic adviser during the Bush administration, has worked hard to get the school a sorely needed new home in the Manhattanville section of New York in West Harlem where Columbia University is developing another campus. The business school will eventually be housed in two new buildings on that 17-acre campus at a cost of $500 million. And it’s location in New York City allows the school to tap into one-of-a-kind executive talent in a world capital. For more details Click Here…
Columbia Business School MBA Rankings
| Class Profile Summary | |
| Class Size | 782 |
| Average GMAT Score | 726(520-780) |
| Average Work Experience (yrs.) | 5 years |
| Average Age (yrs.) | 28 years (24-35) |
| Employment Summary | |
| Average Salary | $130,000 |
| Average Bonus | $30,300 |
| % placed within 3 months | 94% |
| Tuition Fees Summary | |
| Total Tuition | $154,752 |
| Living Cost | $ 62,136 |
| Total Cost | $ 216,888 |
Columbia MBA Class Profile 2022 (Click Here)
| Deadlines | Applications |
| Round 1 | 06 Oct 2021 |
| Round 2 | 05 Jan 2022 |
| Round 3 | 08 April 2022 |
Columbia MBA Application Essay Tips
Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3-5 years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)
Quick essay Tips – To write career essays for Columbia Business School MBA program, a very simple structure to follow is
- Explain your current position and work experience → 2. State your short and long term goals → 3. Skillsets you have acquired throughout your career so far → 4. Explain what you currently lack to attain your short and long term goal → 5. Show how an MBA from school like Columbia Business School can help you bridge the gap in your skills to achieve your short term goal
Start with a strong introductory paragraph on who you are and what are your desired goals from an MBA.
Eg: “I am an engineer with four years of experience in the IT sector leading projects for clients across multiple countries. In the short term i want to transition from a software developer role to a product manager role”
For the main body, start on a strong note, show what skills you already have. B-schools in general prefer to see strong academic track record, progress in professional career, client management exposure, leadership and international experiences. Highlight some of your key achievements with numbers or awards that you may have received. Show your outstanding performance via the promotions or opportunities to lead or international deputation.
After establishing the strengths of your profile, move on to show how the limitation of your current role and skills are hindering your future career progress or desired transitions. Establish the need for upskilling yourself which can only be done via an MBA at this stage of your career. Talk about how an MBA can enhance your business acumen, leadership skills, soft skills for communication and presentation or provide you the network to grow your career or business.
Essay 2: Why Columbia? (250 words)
To answer the – “why Columbia Business School MBA” part of the essay, build your argument on 3-4 points which helps you fulfill the gaps in your skill set and achieve your goals. Reasons to choose the Columbia Business School MBA program should align with your reason to do an MBA as mentioned in the first half of the essay.
Ensure your reasons portray a holistic approach to how you intend to gain/upskill from the MBA program. An easy way to structure can be to break it down across three buckets –
- Inside the class – what excites you the most about the Columbia Business School MBA program in regards to the academic curriculum? Is it a particular specialization? Range of Electives? Quality of Professor? Feel free to name drop a few.
- Outside the class – outside of the academics, how do you plan to make the most of the opportunities available at Columbia Business School? Clubs? Networking event? International exchanges? Leadership seminar? Speak with Alum, current students and find specifics which perfectly aligns with your needs to achieve your goals in a particular industry or function.
- Outside of campus – show how the overall school brand, alumni network which you would carry and be a part of long after your campus stint can help you build a successful career in the long term.
Closing argument
Summarize your entire essay in 3-4 lines and confidently portray how you believe the Columbia Business School MBA program is the perfect next step or logical step for you to achieve your career goals and how you would be a great fit and valuable addition to the class if selected.
For Columbia Business School MBA essay samples, you can also read some of the great essays written by our clients here on the sample essays page.
Essay 3: Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (250 words)
While choosing a book or movie or song, identify those that you can connect with a good personal story highlighting your passion or extra curricular activities. The essay is not about writing laurels of the chosen book or song, but to highlight your characteristics or values that are better portrayed by the book or song.
Once you have identified the book or movie or song, illustrate your story using the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Give a brief description about the book or song that you have chosen. Then briefly explain the characters or the parts of the book that you resonate with. This gives a background to the reader. Then explain how the characters from this book have influenced you to take certain actions in your life. In what capacity do you resonate with these characters? Did this person face similar circumstances in life as you did? Did this person from the book or the movie inspire you to become a better person? Did this book or movie push you to serve a community? What were the results of these actions? Then explain how these actions have changed you as a person or what value did you create through these experiences.
Optional Essay: Is there any further information that you wish to provide the Admissions Committee? If so, use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)
Use the optional essays only for specific reasons. If you have a career gap or are currently unemployed or have a low GPA, only then consider explaining yourself in this essay.
Additionally, you can also use this essay to explain your choice of recommender. It may so happen that you do not want to tell your current employer of your MBA plans and hence seeked recommendation from others. You can explain this to the admission committee if this is the case.
One common pitfall candidates do is to elaborate on certain extracurriculars that they have already mentioned in other parts of the application. Please do not not use optional essays to repeat whatever is already described in your application or resume.
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