-
Target Test Prep's 2024 GMAT Focus Edition prep is discounted for the BTG community!
Redeem
Essay Advice – Columbia Business School
Working on your Columbia Business School application? Here is what you need to know:
Application Run Down
Columbia is one of the only top schools where the timing of when you click “submit” can matter. Since Columbia has rolling admissions, it’s often to your benefit to submit your application early. This is an important one to stay on top of if it’s on your list.
Deadlines
J-Term Entry (January 2022):
- Final – October 6, 2021
Regular Entry (August 2022) (70% of students):
- Early Decision (Binding) – October 6, 2021
- Scholarship Consideration – January 5, 2022
- Final – April 8, 2022
Essays
There is one short answer question and three required essays:
- Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
- Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what, in your imagination, would be your long-term dream job? (500 words)
- Essay 2 and 3: Please respond to two (2) of the three (3) essay questions listed below:
- The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a new co-curricular program designed to ensure that every CBS student develops the skills to become an ethical and inclusive leader. Through PPIL, students attend programming focused on five essential diversity, equity, and inclusion skills: Creating an Inclusive Environment, Mitigating Bias, Communicating Across Identities, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Managing Difficult Conversations. Tell us about a time you were challenged around one of these five skills. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome. (250 words)
- Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you? (250 words)
- Tell us about your favorite book, movie, or song and why it resonates with you. (250 words)
How To Tackle The CBS Essays
While it may sound odd, you can tell a lot about a school from the essay questions they ask applicants to answer. Columbia’s essay questions demonstrate that it seeks students who have defined, well researched career goals, hence the robust word count allotted to essay one and pointed short answer question. CBS also places heavy emphasis on diversity – not just in background but also in thought – and developing leaders who embrace this as a core value. Essays 2 and 3 seek to understand the unique perspective you bring to the table and look for you to demonstrate that you share the school’s focus on harnessing diversity. Keep these nuances in mind as you craft your answers.
The ‘Why’ is as Important as the ‘What’ in Essay One
While the first essay prompt indicates that Columbia isn’t looking for a restatement of your resume, some insight into the past makes for a more powerful and authentic response. In addition to a clear and specific explanation of your goals, the most important thing to communicate is the ‘why’ behind them. And the ‘why’ is often rooted in your past experiences.
The key is to be targeted about which of your past experiences you include. Start by thinking about the defining elements of the career you will pursue post-MBA. For instance, perhaps your dream is to launch a new beauty brand. The defining elements of this path could be described as (1) entrepreneurship and (2) consumer focused. Share things from your past that explain why you have a passion for entrepreneurship and also why beauty / consumer goods will be your focus as opposed to another product or service. Perhaps you launched a side business in college and loved the thrill of building something from scratch. And maybe your personal experience has demonstrated a gap in the current beauty marketplace that you feel compelled to rectify. Tell these stories to help the reader feel your passion and the authenticity underlying your goals.
Be Strategic When Choosing Prompts and Material for Essays Two and Three
When it comes to selecting the two of three essay prompts to answer, be strategic. Think of your application as a holistic package and choose the questions that will highlight critical parts of your personal brand that you haven’t had the chance to communicate elsewhere.
Because there isn’t another discrete place to cover your ‘why Columbia’ messaging, I often encourage clients to answer the second prompt and then select one of the others. The catch is that this is arguably the hardest of the three questions to answer well. Doing so requires communicating that you understand the unique perspective you bring to the table (harkening back to my earlier point) – both the skills you have and also those you lack – and have done your research to understand how they benefit and benefit from CBS’ program.
Leverage your final essay as a ‘gap filler’. Think about the differentiating things you bring to the table, particularly those you haven’t covered elsewhere, and find a way to weave them in. If you answer the third prompt, for instance, you could choose a book or movie that resonated with you because the main character shared your cultural background, philosophy on life, etc. Despite what the prompt says, it doesn’t have to be your favorite of all time – it’s better to focus on something that will help explain your own diverse viewpoint to the adcom.
If you need help with your MBA applications, including Columbia, click here to schedule an initial consultation.
Recent Articles
Archive
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009