Deadlines:
Round 1: September 10, 2024
Round 2: January 7, 2025
Round 3: April 1, 2025
All deadlines are at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time
Columbia requires answers for one short essay and 3 longer essays:
Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
Examples of possible responses:
“Work in business development for a media company.”
“Join a strategy consulting firm.”
“Launch a data-management start-up.”
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)
(For J-Term applicants: Short Answer Question 2: Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (50 characters maximum))
Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a co-curricular program designed to provide students with the skills and strategies needed to develop as inclusive leaders. Through various resources and programming, students explore and reflect on the following five inclusive leadership skills: Mitigating Bias and Prejudice; Managing Intercultural Dialogue; Addressing Systemic Inequity; Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking; and Creating an Inclusive Environment.
Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)
Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership–academically, culturally, and professionally.
How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)
Optional Essay:
If you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the Admissions Committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)
Other Application components:
Recommendations:
First time applicants should submit ONE recommendation ideally from a direct supervisor. If you are unable to get one from them, then explain why in the employment section of your application. Beyond your direct supervisor, other recommender options include: a former direct supervisor or another professional associate, senior to you, who can share their insights on your candidacy.
Reapplicants are required to submit one new recommendation.
Following are the recommendation questions (recommended limit – 1000 words):
- How do the candidate’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples.
- Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
Interviews:
These are by invitation only and often conducted by alumni in your geographic area.
Reapplications:
Columbia considers you a reapplicant if you are applying within a year of your initial term of entry. Otherwise you are considered a new applicant and have to submit a new application. the reapplicant essay is:
- How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate how you plan to achieve your immediate and long term post-MBA professional goals. (Maximum 500 words).
Reapplicants should submit one new recommendation, preferably from a current employer. If you have already used your current employer for a recommendation, please choose someone else in a supervisory role or a client.