As we posted a few weeks ago, Columbia Business School’s deadlines and essay questions for the January and September 2007 intakes are now available. The school has also released the official MBA application PDF with all the relevant forms for applicants. [Note: despite the PDF's availability, the CBS adcom strongly encourages applicants to apply online.]
Since many diligent applicants have already started pondering their responses to the essay topics, we wanted to offer some basic tips on how to approach each question:
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (recommended 1000 word limit)
The general advice we’ve offered in the past on how to tackle this sort of question applies here. Because Columbia is very sensitive to the fact that it is often treated as a backup for Wharton and other leading programs, it’s especially important to convince the adcom of your interest in the program by packing your essay full of school-specific details about classes and clubs.
2. Leading in the global economy requires enabling high performance from a diverse set of employees, colleagues and partners. Tell us about a manager you’ve observed who enabled or inspired others to do their best work and analyze how this manager did it. (Recommended 500 word limit)*
On one hand, this new question is rather unusual as far as business school essays go; whereas we usually see MBA programs asking applicants to recount a time they took on a leadership role or guided others in making an impact, this question requests that candidates describe a time someone else was in the spotlight. But on the other hand, the thinking behind such a question is quite reasonable: an applicant’s ability to learn from the example of another and extract the general principles behind the specific instance might be an interesting predictor of his or her future effectiveness in absorbing the concepts taught in business school and applying them in a post-MBA position.
Though the question focuses on the example of someone else, applicants should think strategically about what story to highlight here, ideally relating a situation in which he or she played an active role, or concluding the essay with a few comments about a time he or she successfully applied these lessons in a subsequent leadership role.
3. In discussing Columbia Business School, Dean R. Glenn Hubbard remarked, “We have established the mind-set that entrepreneurship is about everything you do.” Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity. (recommended 500 word limit)
This question is not only looking for resourcefulness in seeing something that others missed, but is also interested in the process by which you garnered support for your idea. As always, be careful to effectively set the stage for the opportunity you captured, while leaving ample space to elaborate on your mindset and the decision making process. See our thoughts from an earlier entry on Columbia’s fascination with entrepreneurship for further advice.
4. Please select and answer one of the following essay questions.
a. Please tell us what you feel most passionate about in life.
b. If you were given a free day and could spend it anywhere, in any way you choose, what would you do?
It goes without saying that beyond a slightly different format, questions a and b are highly similar in terms of the ultimate message that needs to be conveyed. While it’s important to write about something that you truly enjoy in either case, it’s also important to approach this essay from a strategic standpoint and write about something that is relevant to your business school candidacy. While your hobbies and interests are certainly of interest to the adcom, it’s important to avoid getting too personal. For instance, writing about one’s family can make an applicant sound immature, and it’s difficult to predict how a reader will react to comments on potentially sensitive topics like politics or religion.
The best topics for this essay are activities and interests that you can connect to some contribution you would make to the school community, ideally those in which you are currently active and to which you have a long-standing commitment. Although it is good to keep in mind that more unusual activities are advantageous, you don’t need to have something that is really rare for this essay to succeed. It is more important to discuss what you do in a compelling and personal manner that conveys the depth of your enthusiasm for your topic by exploring your individual experiences. Finally, remember that specific anecdotes will make a greater impression on your reader than a broad discussion
For more information about Clear Admit’s one-on-one counseling for Columbia applicants please email your resume to info@clearadmit.com to set up a free session with one of our admissions counselors.
*This is the new question #2 for the 2006-07 application cycle (introduced during the week of July 3rd). This entry has been updated to include the new question. For details on this, as well as information about the former question, click here.
