columbia essay questions mba

A Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays (2024-2025)

Coach Melanie E. walks you through each Columbia Business School essay prompt for the 2023-2024 cycle, breaking down what adcoms are looking for and offering expert advice on how to nail your responses.

By Melanie E.

Posted June 27, 2024

Featuring Nate S.

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As a CBS alumnus, Alumni Admissions Ambassador, and professional Coach, I am excited to share my insights into Columbia’s current essays for their MBA application.

The Importance of the Columbia MBA Essays

Business school essays are an unbelievably critical component of the application process. Columbia Business School's MBA essays provide applicants with ample opportunity to showcase their goals, experiences, and fit with the program. On a deeper level, they also allow you to communicate directly with the admissions committee and provide context for your resume and academic records.

Each essay also serves as an opportunity to present different angles of your profile. For example, while the short answer question requires a short and succinct explanation of your post-MBA plans, the longer essays allow you to expand on your career ambitions, leadership experiences, and the unique qualities you would bring to the CBS community. By using this model of essay questions, the admissions committee aims to get a comprehensive view of your strengths and aspirations.

At the end of the day, your essays are one of your biggest opportunities to get your foot in the door with Columbia, so it’s necessary that your essay is flawless upon submission. Here's a step-by-step guide to approaching each of Columbia’s essay prompts.

Short Answer Question

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

It is critical to be straightforward with this question, and be consistent with your Columbia Business School essays. It is acceptable to write in phrases versus full sentences given the limited word count. In fact, the word count is limited as a way of forcing applicants to be extremely clear about their goals.

Examples of possible responses (provided by Columbia):

Work in business development for a media company. (49 characters)
Join a strategy consulting firm. (32 characters)
Launch a data-management start-up. (34 characters)

A great example is specific and most likely includes both the function/title and industry or type of company you’re pursuing. For example:

Poor execution: Work in CPG. (13 characters)
Good execution: Work in marketing for a CPG company. (36 characters)
Great execution: Marketing for a healthy-foods focused CPG firm. (47 characters)

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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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Understand the Question: Begin by carefully reading the prompt and understanding what it asks for. This is a common mistake where applicants do not directly answer the question(s) being asked in the essay prompt.
Be Specific: Clearly outline your short-term career goals, focusing on what you aim to achieve within the next three to five years. Discuss the industry, function, and potential companies or roles you aspire to work in. It is helpful to provide specific role titles and an example company (such as “a media company like Disney”). If you are sponsored and planning to return to your current employer (such as a Consultant at McKinsey), share this information as well as the mid-term goal, which would be your first role after leaving your current employer.
Explain Your Long-term Dream Job: Describe your ultimate long-term dream job. Discuss the impact you hope to make in that role and your mission. Showcasing impact while balancing your vision with realistic possibility is key. For example, sharing that you want to solve world hunger may be a bit outrageous, but saying that you want to build a new business model for achieving large impacts within world hunger is more reasonable.
Link to Your Background: Connect your career goals with your past experiences (personal and professional), skills, networks, and/or achievements. Demonstrate how your path to date aligns with your future aspirations. If applicable, share your “light bulb” moment where you realized your long-term career vision.
Share Your “Why”: An extension of the previous bullet, share your “why” or your motivations for your career aspirations. Bring this level of authenticity and personality to the Columbia MBA essay in order to make it more engaging, believable, and unique from the crowd. This is a critical element that is often missed by applicants.
Stay Within the Word Limit: With only 500 words, be concise and focus on the most critical points. I suggest not worrying about the word count for your first few drafts, and then edit down once you have all the relevant content ready to go.

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, the goal is for students to explore and reflect during their educational journey 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 or more of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)

Consider PPIL: First, take some time to review the PPIL curriculum on the Columbia website.
Choose a Relevant Situation: Select a specific situation from your professional or personal life that aligns with one or more of the inclusive leadership skills mentioned (Mitigating Bias and Prejudice, Managing Intercultural Dialogue, Addressing Systemic Inequity, Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking, and Creating an Inclusive Environment). The situation should be somewhat recent, and if possible, within the last ~2 years.
Set the Scene: Provide context for the situation. Describe the environment, the people involved, and the challenges you faced. Based upon the limited word count, you may need to leave out some details of the story.
Describe Your Actions: Detailing the steps you took to address the situation should take up the majority of your essay. Clearly identify which inclusive leadership skills were utilized via each action. I recommend choosing only one or two skills to focus upon due to the limited word count. It is better to go into more specifics and detail on fewer skills. Lastly, highlight any innovative or creative approaches you used, and share both soft and/or hard skills as is relevant to your story.
Share the Outcome: Explain the results of your actions. Emphasize any positive impact on individuals, teams, or the overall situation. Small impact is acceptable as long as it is clear, and the applicant was the one who created it.
Reflect on Your Experience: Discuss briefly what you learned from this experience, and perhaps how it has shaped your perspective on inclusivity or leadership.

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)

Overall: This prompt wants you to illustrate how you will actively contribute to and shape your experience at CBS. Highlighting your proactive approach to making the most of the MBA program will be key. If they are your #1 choice, don’t hesitate to share why in this essay.
Conduct Detailed Research: Before writing, thoroughly research the Columbia MBA program. Understand the curriculum, professors, clubs, conferences, events, and unique aspects of the school. You may also utilize virtual and in-person events specifically catering to applicants to gain knowledge. Lastly, you may decide to contact current students for further information, and are welcome to mention them (with their permission) in your essays. You can locate the names of current students through your network, LinkedIn, and/or school club websites.
Structure: The simplest and most effective way to structure your essay is to separately address how you plan to engage academically, culturally, and professionally. This will show that you are a fit for the entirety of what Columbia has to offerinstead of just a single program or facet of the university.
Unique Aspects: Identify and focus on specific aspects of CBS that relate to your profile and career aspirations, and describe how you plan to engage with and enhance these areas. For example, Columbia is highly aware that they are the only M7 MBA program to be located in fabulous New York City, and thus this is a unique point that can be addressed and utilized in this essay.
Academic Fit: Explain how the specific courses, concentrations, programs, and/or professors will support your academic interests and career trajectory. Then, describe how you will contribute to classroom discussions, group projects, and other academic initiatives.
Cultural Fit: Describe how you will contribute to the CBS community and culture. Highlight your interest in participating in or leading clubs, events, and initiatives that resonate with you. Discuss how you plan to engage with the broader New York City environment, such as through cultural activities or community service. Also mention any personal connections or interests that will help you integrate and be involved with the CBS community.
Professional Fit: Showcase how CBS's strong network, career services, employment data, and/or Executives-in-Residence program will aid in achieving your career goals. Discuss your plans for networking with alumni, attending career events, and possibly taking advantage of in-semester internships. Don’t forget to highlight how you will contribute to CBS’s professional community through mentorship, leadership in clubs, or collaboration on professional projects.
Be Genuine: Be authentic in your response and avoid generic statements. Don’t be afraid to show your personality, interests, and excitement!

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)

Don’t Write It: Consider if you need to write anything for this essay. In general, admissions committees do not want to receive superfluous materials that are not directly addressing new information that is of significance to the application. Therefore, this essay should only be used to explain any specific situations that are not otherwise addressed in the application. For example, this could be utilized to explain a poor GPA in your undergraduate career due to acute illness.
Keep It Short: As the guidance from CBS notes, you are welcome to write in bullet form. This means that the essay or bullets should be as short and direct as possible.

General Tips for All Essays

Know Your Reader: In 2022, the admissions committee at Columbia Business School received 5,895 applications. It’s highly likely, then, that the admissions committee member who reads your application will have read several hundred before yours. With that in mind, they are looking for applicants who demonstrate leadership, clarity of purpose, and a strong fit with Columbia, all while being succinct and to-the-point in their writing. Make sure you’re that student.
Showcase Your Unique Story: Use the essays to showcase what makes you unique and differentiates you from other applicants. This is your one opportunity to stand out in your application. Admissions committees value genuine stories.
Edit and Revise: Plan on having multiple rounds of essay drafts, and take your time to iterate over many weeks. Proofread your essays multiple times to avoid grammatical errors and ensure clarity.
Seek Feedback: Share your essays with trusted friends, family, or mentors for feedback and suggestions who understand the MBA process. It is best to utilize someone who has attended business school or who is a professional coach.
Stay on Topic: Focus on answering all the specific questions asked in each essay without straying off-topic.
Adhere to Word Limits: Respect the word limits for each essay, as exceeding them may reflect a lack of attention to detail.

Final Words

By following this guide and putting effort into crafting engaging, personal, and well-structured essays, you increase your chances of impressing the admissions committee at Columbia Business School and standing out from the crowd.

Good luck with your application!

About the Author

Melanie is an Executive Coach & Admissions Coach with 16 years of experience across strategy, operations, and coaching. A former McKinsey consultant, she is a member of the Forbes Council and has been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, Business Insider, TEDx, and more. Melanie has worked with prominent corporate clients including Google, KKR, IBM, and Morgan Stanley; as well as individuals such as business leaders, influencers, and Olympic athletes.

Melanie holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BS from Cornell University. She currently lives in Los Angeles (while remaining a New Yorker at heart), and enjoys creative pursuits in her free time.

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Columbia Business School MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines [2024-2025], Class Profile

Columbia Business School (CBS) essay prompts are out for 2024-2025 January and August entry applicants! Here is what is new this year:

August entry – Short Answer Question #2: Asks for your post-first-year summer plans
Essay #2 : Slightly narrower wording that will help you better select an example to share
Essay #3 : A change to the prompt that emphasizes collaboration as part of your Columbia experience

Ready to get to work on your CBS application? Read on.

Columbia Business School application essay tips

Columbia business school application deadlines, columbia business school class profile.

Applicants must complete two short-answer questions and three essays. (Source: CBS website )

Short Answer Question 1: 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

Note that this has a character (rather than word) limit. Your response must be significantly shorter than a tweet. What do you want to do professionally and in which industry immediately after earning your MBA?

Warning: This question is not asking about your intended area of study while in business school or about a nonprofessional goal or even a long-term goal.

Succinctly define your goal in terms of function (what you want to do) and the industry (or type of company) in which you want to do it.

January Term Short Answer Question: Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (50 characters maximum)

Why should you apply for January entry? It’s an accelerated 16-month program that’s ideal for people who don’t need a summer internship. Consider J-Term if you plan to return to the same industry, head into your family business, or focus on entrepreneurship. January applications are still reviewed on a rolling basis, meaning that they are evaluated as they come in, rather than as a big pool after a deadline. This means that the earlier you submit your application, the more spaces will still be available.

Examples of possible responses:

Sponsored and plan to return to company
Plan to take over management of family business
Tapping into investor network to launch start-up

August Term Short Answer Question: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)

With this question, CBS wants to know that you understand your target industry and that you’re familiar with summer options that can be a bridge to your first post-graduation job/venture.

Research possible summer internship placements using the most recent CBS employment report . As the question clearly requests, spell out your target industry and function. You might not want to name a specific company, given that hiring trends can change between when you submit your application and recruiting season. Show, however, in the way that you phrase your goal that you have a strong grasp on what companies hire summer interns in your intended industry, and for what functions.

If you intend to pursue an entrepreneurial venture, consider the CBS resources that can support you over the summer, such as Summer Startup Track and the Summer Fellowship Program .

Columbia Business School Essay #1

Columbia’s adcom must really like the answers applicants have been providing to this question, because the prompt is back this year and has been a part of CBS’s application for the past several admissions seasons. CBS wants you to focus on your career goals for the medium and long term. That means don’t repeat “your professional path to date.” Instead, describe what you want to do three to five years after you graduate, which should build on what you have stated for your first post-MBA job. Make sure to answer the long-term question, and feel free to dream and aspire, but at the same time, reveal a feasible professional goal.

This essay offers you the opportunity to show that you know your intended industry’s opportunities and challenges. If you’re making a two- or three-way career pivot, indicate that you’re aware that those pivots could come a few years after your first post-MBA job. Also, show flexibility. Given the economic, political, and environmental issues the world faces right now, the adcom wants to know that you are open to a Plan A, B, and C.

Note that this question does not ask you how CBS will help you achieve your goals. You’ll have an opportunity in Essay #3 to discuss how you’ll make the most of CBS’s offerings. The adcom already has a strong grasp on the school’s curriculum and resources. You can briefly mention how CBS can help you reach your goals, but don’t include a laundry list of classes or professors. Use this essay’s real estate to talk about yourself and your future.

Guide the CBS adcom to see that you have a purposeful and exciting direction in mind for your future – a future that will transform you into a graduate they will be proud of.

Columbia Business School 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)

So, what changed in the prompt from last year? Two key phrases:

OLD: “… the goal is for students to explore and reflect … on the following five inclusive leadership skills”

NEW : “…students explore and reflect on the following five inclusive leadership skills.”

Great editing! PPIL is no longer a goal. It’s what you will do.

OLD : “Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one or more of these five skills…”

NEW : “Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one of these five skills.”

You can now focus your essay on just one of the five skills, rather than on a combination of one or more.

First, get to know the PPIL initiative . CBS describes the PPIL as “a one-of-a kind diversity, equity, and inclusion requirement.” You’ll need to attend four PPIL events over the course of the two-year program and submit four reflection forms on what you learned. Columbia has provided a handy guide that defines what the school means by each of the five PPIL leadership skills. Familiarize yourself with these definitions before you write your essay.

Second, reflect on your personal experiences. You can write about a situation at work, during a volunteer stint, or in any other social situation where you acted with inclusive leadership that relates to one of the five skills defined in Columbia’s prompt.

The best examples will demonstrate how you were inquisitive, reflective, and – if necessary – willing to create change within institutions or hierarchies for a more inclusive environment.

Third, organize your thoughts into a narrative. It’s useful to use the SOAR, or SOAR + L, framework to tell your story:

S = Situation. What was the situation you were presented with, and who were the people involved?

O = Obstacle. What was the obstacle or problem you faced?

A = Action. What considerations did you make, and how did you ultimately decide to act?

R = Result. What were the results of your actions?

L = Learning. If you have space, you can summarize what you learned about the importance of acting as a leader.

Remember, don’t worry that the best essays will come from people who have started or joined formal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in their workplace. Individual, one-on-one experiences outside of an institutional framework can be just as powerful, or even more so.

Columbia Business School 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)

What’s new? CBS appears to want to do away with navel-gazing. Rather than ask why CBS equals you , this year, the adcom wants to know how you will collaborate to make CBS your optimal MBA experience.

That means CBS should be a good fit. But the adcom asks you to dig deeper. What talents, skills, or ideas will you bring to campus to make the most of your time there, and how will your peers be a part of that story?

To write this essay, think about three to four things that you want out of CBS academically, professionally, and socially. Consider the challenges you foresee in your career. What don’t you know, and who can help you start iterating solutions? What do you like to do socially, and how do you best make friends? Then, research resources that Columbia offers where you can encounter people and create experiences that will help you reach those goals.

Here are some ideas: You could talk about your cluster. What would you do to find opportunities to collaborate? Look through the clubs that are available at CBS, and come up with events you could organize. Mention the skill sets you could offer and what other people (and skill sets) you would seek out to cocreate this experience. Can you collaborate on a PPIL event? Can you help organize an international experience ? Do you want to be involved in student government ? Entrepreneurial labs ? The CBS/well initiative? How can you have with your peers?

Now that you’ve done your research, give yourself loosely 75 words for each focus area. This means you can’t cram in everything you’ve discovered, so be selective. Choose aspects of the CBS program where you can have the most impact and where you will grow the most from interacting with people different from you.

Columbia Business School optional essay

The CBS optional essay is for you to add additional context or address areas of concern. That means you don’t have to write this essay . Believe me, unless you have a good reason, it will just annoy the adcom.

However, if you had a dip in grades, a period of unemployment, or some other issue that you want to address, this is your opportunity to do so. You don’t want the adcom guessing as to why something is the way it is and coming to the wrong conclusion. And remember, be brief.

Don’t even think about using this essay as a grand finale or wrap-up. And definitely don’t use it to rehash your reasons for wanting to attend CBS. Your required essays should make those reasons perfectly clear.

January 2025 Entry Application Deadline


Round 1	By June 18, 2024 at 12:00pm (ET)	Rolling	Ongoing, and no later than August 15
Round 2	By August 15, 2024 at 12:00pm (ET)	Rolling	Ongoing, and no later than October 15

The August 2025 application is expected to be available in late June. Updated deadlines will be published in the coming weeks.

Source: CBS website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with CBS directly to verify its essay questions, instructions, and deadlines.***

Here’s a look at the CBS MBA class entering 2023 (January and August). Data taken from the Columbia Business School website:

Applications received: 5,895

Enrolled: 900, divided into 12 clusters

January entry class size: 219, divided into 3 clusters
August entry class size: 681, divided into 9 clusters

GMAT score (average): 730

GMAT scores (range): 610-790

GMAT scores (middle 80%): 700-760

Undergraduate GPA (average): 3.5

Undergraduate GPA (middle 80%): 3.2-3.9

Work experience (average): 5 years

Work experience (middle 80%): 3-8 years

At least one year of work experience: 100%

Average age: 28

Age range: 22-40

Age range (middle 80%): 26-31

Minority of U.S. origin: 43%

International citizens: 47%

Undergraduate major:

Business: 35%
Economics: 20%
Engineering: 17%
Social sciences: 11%
Sciences: 8%
Humanities: 6%
Technology: 2%

Previous industries:

Financial services: 29%
Consulting: 21%
Marketing/Media: 12%
Technology: 11%
Healthcare: 5%
Military/Government: 5%
Real estate: 5%
Nonprofit 3%
Energy: 2%

Michelle Stockman has more than 17 years of admissions consulting experience and has had clients admitted to M7 and top-20 MBA programs. She taps into her background as a former admissions staff member at Columbia Business School and as a video journalist to coach MBA candidates to acceptance. Want Michelle to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for MBA Applicants
The MBA Admissions Calculator
Can Artificial Intelligence Help with Your MBA Applications?

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Columbia Business School MBA Application Updates: 2024-2025

Columbia University Business School campus

Columbia Business School has changed things up again for 2024-2025 MBA applicants.

J-Term application will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis, with 2 J-Term deadlines.
In addition, CBS updated its essay #3 question for 2024-2025 applicants.
Finally, applicants targeting August 2025 enrollment have a new second option for essay #2.

If CBS’s J-Term program is top on your list, do not wait to get started!

The 2024-2025 Columbia Business School J-Term MBA Application Deadlines Are:

Round 1: June 18, 2024

Round 2: August 15, 2024

The 2024-2025 Columbia Business School MBA Application Deadlines for August 2025 Entry Are:

Round 1: September 10, 2024

Round 2: January 7, 2025

Round 3: April 1, 2025

In addition to changing the deadlines, this year CBS has also updated its essays. (While the essays shared below are for J-term applicants, historically CBS has asked two-year MBA program applicants to answer the same essay questions).

Personal MBA Coach’s Top Tips for Tackling Columbia Business School’s Essays

Given Columbia Business School’s J-Term rolling admissions, getting an early start is particularly crucial.

The three questions together will prompt MBA candidates to cover a wide range of information about their professional goals, plans on campus, personal stories and leadership styles.

Avoid repeating yourself while ensuring that the three Columbia essays work together to paint an accurate and consistent picture of your candidacy.

Columbia Business School 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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words maximum)

Columbia specifically asks that candidates not repeat their resumes in this career goals question. While some mention of your professional past is still expected, it should be brief and used as context to further elaborate on why your goals are attainable. This question explicitly asks for both a short-term goal and a long-term dream job so be sure to include both.

According to Nicole Shay, former Columbia Business School Admissions Director: “Your goal should be pragmatic. The committee will be asking themselves: ‘Given the applicant’s work experience + the resources/opportunities at CBS, will this applicant be successful in achieving their short-term goal?’”

In addition, your goals should show a logical progression from your current experiences. If they do not, then a brief explanation is a good idea so that the admissions committee can understand how you will realistically attain your goals.

Discussing your long-term dream job is an opportunity to show the admissions committee your true ambitions and what really matters to you professionally. It is important that candidates have lofty goals here but ones that make sense for them and fit with both their short-term goals and overall story. This is a unique chance not only to show how you envision your career unfolding but also to give the readers a little more insight into who you are by adding at least a brief mention of why this career interests you.

Finally, while not explicitly asked, a bit on how you will prepare for these goals while at Columbia would serve as a nice conclusion.

Columbia Business School Essay 2 – January Enrollment: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a 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 and Prejudice, Managing Intercultural Dialogue, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking.

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)*.

Columbia Business School Essay 2 – August Enrollment: 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. Please respond to one of the below. (250 words)

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.
Alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization.

This second essay directly addresses a topic that continually is top of mind for nearly all top business schools — DEI. Those applying for August enrollment without a strong example here can answer the alternative question on collaboration and community, another important aspect of CBS’s culture.

With a very short word limit, it is crucial to be very direct in sharing the circumstances, your actions and the result. There is no room for fluff here. Examples can come from your personal or professional life.

If you have are a J-Term applicant, it is ok to think of DEI broadly, particularly if you do not have an obvious story to tell. However, do not force this essay — admissions directors are aware that students have had varying exposure to inclusive leadership so do not worry if you do not have the most impressive story to tell. Showing the reader how you act and think is most important.

Columbia Business School Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams , an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program .

How would you co-create your optimal mba experience at cbs please be specific. (250 words).

This question is new for 2024-2025 applicants; however, the objective remains the same: explain why CBS is a good fit for you and how you will tailor your experience.

With only 250 words and a lot to cover, it is important to be focused and specific. Show that you have done your research on what options are available on campus and which specifically interest you. Naturally, a tie should be made between these opportunities and your career goals.

According to Nicole: “In this essay, the committee is looking for which resources you are going to utilize to achieve your short-term goal and fulfill your social/cultural needs/interests. However, they are also looking at how you are going to contribute to the CBS community.”

This is the time to discuss the classes you hope to take, clubs you will join and other programs of interest to you, such as speaker series or immersion seminars. While we have always recommended that candidates consider culture as they answer this question (which, as we have shared in the past, is becoming increasingly important to many top business schools) this year CBS explicitly asks applicants to speak to why the CBS culture is a good fit. Be sure that you have done your research on CBS and its culture and community. Find out more about what sets CBS apart by visiting our CBS school guide. Plus, watch Personal MBA Coach’s Nicole Shay’s exclusive interview with former colleague and current CBS Adcom Director, Jordan Blitzer. Get insider information about CBS including what Jordan wishes applicants would do differently, what is new on campus and common misconceptions about CBS. This is a must-see for prospective CBS students.

Finally, Columbia has an optional essay for applicants . As we advise for most schools, do not feel compelled to answer this unless you have something specific to explain in your background (e.g., a career gap, an unusual recommender, extreme personal circumstances, etc.) This is not the time to spend 500 words professing your love for Columbia.

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Advice, tips and insights from the admissions dream team., table of contents, how to tackle the columbia mba essay questions.

By Cassandra Pittman

Columbia Business School requires three essays in its MBA application. The Columbia essay prompts probe your career goals, your track record as an ethical and inclusive leader, and your commitment to the CBS community and to co-creating your MBA experience.

In Essay 2, Columbia’s MBA admissions team is once again asking applicants to describe a time when they were challenged around one of five skills essential to becoming an inclusive and ethical leader. That’s a question that should be confronted with courage and careful self-reflection. I have some advice on how to respond below, but first, let’s take the application questions from the top.

Columbia MBA Short Answer Question

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters)

The Admissions team wants you to be direct, succinct, and demonstrate direction (ambition is good, but be realistic). This is an opportunity to provide a clear, overarching headline that lays the groundwork for subsequent essays that cover your career goals and reasons for pursuing the Columbia MBA.

Note that the question asks about your goal; it’s subtly asking what you envision doing, rather than the position you hope to secure in a specific company. A strong answer will indicate what you hope to achieve in a sector, such as ‘consultant focusing on clean technology’ or ‘structure investment deals in real estate.’

There is no right answer here, but whatever you choose should be coherent and credible based on your past experience, bolstered by the Columbia MBA. The admissions committee is looking to see that you know what you want to do, have a general understanding of that role, and that you understand the paths that would be available to you coming out of Columbia.

Tips for Columbia MBA Essay 1

Essay 1 remains the same:

My advice for this Columbia essay prompt is to be sure to focus on the future and how your Columbia MBA will get you there. A common mistake here is to write about where you have been rather than where you are going. The school specifically asks what your future career goals are, and so a substantial portion of the word count should specifically address short- and long-term goals (at least 250 words, if not more).

It often helps to start with a brief hook to show what inspires you to take the path that you will then lay out. It can be a brief anecdote, a quote, a reflection on something that happened in your past, and so on. Then, it helps to offer a (very brief) paragraph explaining what you have done on that career path to date, just to put a bit more context around the goals you will then introduce.

Short-term goals can be more specific than long-term goals. You certainly need to have a general idea of what you would like to do in the long term, but the admissions committee is not expecting the same level of detail about where you will be decades from now as they are for the immediate post-MBA goals. Again, the school is looking to see that you have a clear understanding of where a Columbia MBA can take you (and then essay 3 will show how the MBA will help you get there).

Tips for Columbia MBA Essay 2

The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a 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 and Prejudice, Managing Intercultural Dialogue, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking.

Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one or more of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome.

Alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization . (250 words)

This essay seems to reflect the importance Columbia Business School places on its values of diversity, inclusion, and equity and the importance of explicitly cultivating the specific skills that ethical, inclusive leaders need.

Here, you have wide flexibility and latitude in your response. After all, there are five specific skills to choose from. You can, of course, address several. Or you can choose the alternate option that focuses more on a situation and your actions.

This offers many ways to highlight how you’ve engaged in one of five themes and how you have built and nurtured teams. Your response should identify one meaningful example from your career or experiences, and then extract lessons learned that showcase the kind of person you are and leader you hope to be.

Implicit in this prompt is a question about your knowledge of and your commitment to Columbia Business School. Channel your authenticity and courage to show how you have already engaged this capacity — and then make clear where you hope to let it shine at Columbia. Be sure to show how you will engage with the diverse and global Columbia Business School community and how you will add value.

I repeat: Show, don’t tell. Give us the scene, then tie the story to the implications for your future. Self-reflection is essential here: Remember that diversity and inclusion can be about race and ethnicity, but also gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, or different viewpoints, ideas, or experiences. Show how you are questioning the status quo, inviting diverse perspectives and cultivating awareness of the less visible forces that shape decision-making and group dynamics.

Tips for Columbia MBA Essay 3

How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

This is a version of the classic Why Columbia? essay, revised slightly for the 2024-2025 cycle. Last year, this essay asked candidates why CBS was a good fit for them. This year, the admissions committee is asking what you will do to shape that fit and make your “optimal MBA experience.”

With terms like “co-create” and “agency,” the school is signaling that they seek students who will be active contributors to the class and community. CBS is asking how you will participate in shaping your own learning experience. The prompt mentions agency — a term which refers to the ability of students to take control of their own learning, make independent decisions and actively shape their academic, cultural, and professional experiences. This indicates that students are empowered and expected to contribute to these experiences, rather than just absorbing them. Columbia Business School values applicants who will seize opportunities among its offerings — and perhaps create new ones.

This is a great opportunity to demonstrate that you have done your homework, assessed your fit with the school and are eager to attend Columbia. You should showcase your knowledge of the school and its emphasis on collaboration and partnership. You could mention experiences such as clusters, learning teams and career mentorship opportunities like their Executives-in-Residence.

In light of the demonstrations surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict that roiled the Columbia University campus in early 2024, this essay question seems designed to reinforce the school’s commitment to cultural inclusion. (Note that the protests took place on Columbia’s Morningside Campus; there were no disturbances around the business school’s new home on the Manhattanville Campus.) In the framing of the question, the school is subtly suggesting that students have a responsibility and role to play in creating that critical sense of belonging, agency and partnership.

This is an opportunity for you to illustrate your readiness to be an inclusive leader. Again, this will require some self-reflection and honesty. You must authentically show how your experiences and strengths prepare you to connect to Columbia’s values related to collaboration, partnership, mentorship, and DEI. Be specific; explain how and where you will contribute to the Columbia MBA community.

Even though it isn’t directly in the essay prompt, you should still explain why you want to pursue your MBA in New York City, because the city, as a global center of business, is such an integral part of the Columbia experience.

Additional Essay Advice

A few final details are worth noting.

Columbia Business School offers an optional essay as an opportunity to share any other information you wish with the Admissions Committee (500 words). This space could be used 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.
Deferred admissions applicants answer two different essays: Why are you interested in obtaining a Columbia MBA in the future? (300 words maximum) Who is a leader you admire, and why? (300 words maximum)
Reapplicants submit just one essay response to this question: 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. (500 words)

Want more advice?

For everything you need to know about how to get into the Columbia MBA program, from program basics and admissions requirements to our team’s insider tips for admission success, read my colleague Karen Hamou ‘s related blog: How to Get Into Columbia Business School: MBA Application Requirements . You can also view Fortuna’s Columbia MBA B-School Profile or the M7 Admissions Masterclass below, which offers a deep dive on the Columbia MBA and how to position a standout application.

Let’s Get You In.

Fortuna Admissions is a dream team of former MBA admissions directors and officers from the world’s most elite business schools, including the Columbia MBA program. With our unparalleled collective expertise, we are able to coach you to develop a clear vision of your goals for business school and beyond. We work closely with you throughout the application process and provide expert guidance at every stage to maximize your chances of admission to a top school.

Our free consultations are consistently rated as the best in the industry. To learn more about Fortuna and assess your chances of admission to CBS and other top programs, request a free consultation .

Fortuna Admissions Senior Expert Coach Cassandra Pittman is a Columbia MBA alumna and a former member of admissions teams at London Business School and INSEAD. For more free advice and a personal, candid assessment of your chances, you can sign up now for a free consultation .

Posted on June 27, 2024

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Columbia Business School MBA Essays for 2022-2023: Tips & Strategy

Columbia Business School just posted its deadlines for the 2022/2023 season, along with a new essay question.

Unlike its M7 rivals, Columbia operates on a rolling admissions process – both for early and regular decisions – and applications are reviewed in the order that they are received. The new Early Decision deadline is September 28, 2022 (which commits you to Columbia if you’re admitted), with January 11, 2022, as the Merit Fellowship deadline, and April 5, 2023, as the final deadline.

There are clear advantages to applying early for the Columbia MBA: the pool tends to be smaller and your application will likely gain greater visibility. Either way, if Columbia is on your target list of programs, the earlier you start working on your essays, the better.

Speaking of trends, MBA essay questions over the last several years have skewed toward behavioral, with programs posing essay questions requiring candidates to demonstrate substantial self-reflection. Like Standard GSB’s iconic essay ‘what matters most & why,’ Columbia essays 2 and 3 epitomize the notion ‘simple, but not easy.’ As each essay question should help build a coherent and powerful narrative for your candidacy, I’m offering my advice on how to tackle each prompt.

As a Fortuna Admissions coach and Columbia Business School alum, as well as a former Deloitte Consulting recruiting lead, I’ve seen firsthand how the best candidates translate their experiences into a narrative that’s both distinctive and persuasive. Onward to the strategy.

How to Tackle the Columbia MBA Essay Questions

Short answer question: what is your immediate post-mba professional goal (50 characters).

The Admissions team wants you to be direct, succinct, and demonstrate direction (ambition is good but be realistic). This is an opportunity to provide a simple headline that lays the groundwork for subsequent essays on your career goals and reasons for pursuing the Columbia MBA. But note the subtlety that asks what you envision doing, rather than the position you hope to secure in a specific company. Rather than a narrow path such as ‘strategy consultant at Bain’ or ‘senior analyst at Morgan Stanley,’ you can open things up by indicating what you hope to achieve in a sector, such as ‘consultant focusing on clean technology’ or ‘structure investment deals in real estate.’

There is no right answer here, but whatever you choose should be coherent and credible based on your past experience combined with the Columbia MBA. Columbia is looking to see that you know what you want to do, have a general understanding of that role, and that you understand the paths that would be available to you coming out of Columbia.

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)

A common mistake here is to focus on where you have been rather than where you are going. Columbia specifically asks what your future career goals are, and so a substantial portion of the word count should specifically address short- and long-term goals (at least 250 words, if not more). It often helps to start with a brief hook to show what inspires you to take the path that you will then lay out. It can be a brief anecdote, a quote, a reflection on something that happened in your past, etc. Then, offer a (very brief) paragraph explaining what you have done on that career path to date, just to put a bit more context around the goals you will then introduce.

Short-term goals can be more specific than long-term goals. You certainly need to have a general idea of what you would like to do in the long term, but given that it would be quite a few years out, the admissions committee is not expecting the same level of detail there as they are for the immediate post-MBA goals. Again, Columbia is looking to see that you have a clear understanding of where its MBA can take you.

Essay question 2 is new this year. While essay 1 invites you to speak to your professional ambitions, your two remaining essays should contribute to a fuller picture of who you are and what matters to you outside of the office. Note: 250 words each is scant real estate for storytelling, so you’ll want to aim for substantive yet succinct in your responses. Below is the new essay with additional context, along with my advice on how to respond to each of the prompt.

Essay 2 (NEW in 2022): We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, co-curricular initiatives like the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership, which aims to equip students with the skills and strategies necessary to lead in an inclusive and ethical manner, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program.

Why do you feel columbia business school is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally (300 words).

It’s helpful to understand that the new question #2 distills last year’s choice between two questions. Last year, applicants were asked to either speak to a time they were challenged around one of the five “essential diversity, equity, and inclusion skills” addressed in its new Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) co-curricular program, or, answer why CBS is a good fit. This new, singular question – particularly encompassing its context-setting statement – underscores Columbia has taken a more explicit stand around its values related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the context of cultivating essential leadership skills. Moreover, the framing of the new question around fit related to CBS “academically, culturally, and professionally” invites you to make this connection as well, and to showcase the kind of person you are and the leader you hope to be.

This essay question prompts you to explain why CBS is uniquely positioned to help you achieve your goals. It is a great opportunity to demonstrate that you have done your homework and are passionate about attending Columbia. You should showcase your deep knowledge of the school and the engagement that you’ve had with members of the Columbia community. Self-reflection is essential here: Channel your authenticity and courage to show how you connect through your experience to Columbia’s values related to collaboration, mentorship, and DEI. Then, make clear where you hope to let this shine at CBS.

Even though it isn’t directly in the essay prompt (as it has been in previous years), you should still explain not only why Columbia’s campus life and leadership culture is right for you, but also why want to pursue the MBA in New York City, as NYC is such an integral part of the Columbia experience.

Essay 3: Tell us about your favorite book, movie or song and why it resonates with you. (250 Words)

Once again a required essay question (last year it was among the options), this is for the creative-leaning wordsmiths who are undaunted by having a little fun with getting personal. Know that Columbia cares less about the book, movie or song you choose, but rather the values, characteristics and insights that your choice conveys about what makes you tick. Just as any work of art – literature, film, music – has the ability to transform or reflect unspoken truths, the Admissions Committee wants to understand what moves you.

This essay is where you can really display who you are under the surface, beyond the ambitious achiever with a sparkling record of successes. While essay 1 shows the professional path you want to take in life, essay 3 can add additional depth to the type of person, and business leader, you want to be. So whether your artistic choice is an undisputed classic, political satire, or a Steampunk thriller, dare get personal and do not get stuck trying to pick the perfect, most impressive one. What is much more important here is the WHY behind your selection, how it speaks to you, and its impact or influence on how you show up.

Want more advice?

You can also view Fortuna’s M7 Admissions Masterclass below, which offers a deep dive on the Columbia MBA and how to position a standout application.

Let’s Get You In.

Fortuna Admissions is a dream team of former MBA Admissions Directors and Officers from the world’s most elite business schools, including the Columbia MBA program. With our unparalleled collective expertise, we are able to coach you to develop a clear vision of your goals for business school and beyond. We work closely with you throughout the application process and provide expert guidance at every stage to maximize your chances of admission to a top school.

Updated May 30, 2022

Fortuna Admissions Expert Coach Karen Hamou is a Columbia MBA alum and former Deloitte Consulting recruiting lead, as well as well as #2 ranked consultant globally in Poets & Quants list of the Top 20 MBA Admissions Consultants of 2021. For more free advice and a personal, candid assessment of your chances, you can sign up now for a free consultation .

The post Columbia Business School MBA Essays for 2022-2023: Tips & Strategy first appeared on Fortuna .

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2024-2025 Columbia MBA Essay Analysis and Tips

Admit expert.

July 30, 2024

The application and essay questions for the 2023 MBA program at Columbia Business School have been made available. The questions are similar to those from previous years, however, they have been revised to emphasize career objectives and fit.

Columbia University offers a fast-paced program in a fast-paced city. MBA students who aim to take full use of the unique resources given by Columbia and its surroundings in New York City will be a strong fit for the program. Another consideration is having the academic credentials to endure the rigors of Columbia.

Columbia Business School (CBS) asks its applicants to write a 50-word “short answer” about their goals and three essays that aren’t too long.

The first essay question from CBS is about candidates’ long-term career goals, just like the goal statement, but in much more depth (at 500 words).

The second essay asks applicants to explain why they want an MBA from CBS.

The third essay asks candidates to talk about a favorite book, movie, or song.

Read on for our full analysis of the questions for the Columbia MBA program.

Columbia MBA essays for 2025 intake

Applicants must complete Two short answer question and three essays for both January and August intakes.

January Essays

Short answer question 1.

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

Short Answer Question 2

Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (50 characters maximum)

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)

How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

August Essays

How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)

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. Please respond to one of the below (250 words).

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.
Alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization.

Optional Essay

Short Answer Question

Examples of possible responses:

“Work in business development for a media company.”

“Join a strategy consulting firm.”

“Launch a data-management start-up.”

The important point to note here is that there is an upper limit of 50 characters and not words. The space between words will also be counted towards this limit.

Therefore, get straight to the point and answer this question with the job and industry. Don’t even waste the character limit for words like ‘I want to.’

So think about what you really want to do with your career in the near future and say it out loud. Don’t forget that the rest of your application needs to show that your stated goal fits with your current skills and deep interests, especially after you’ve gotten your MBA. This will show that your stated goal is attainable and give your claim more weight. If you can do this in 50 characters (not words! ), you will have done what the school wants you to do and answered their question well.

Short Answer Questions (January and August Intakes)

January short answer question.

Why do you prefer the January entry term? (50 characters maximum)

The CBS admissions committee is keen on understanding the specific motivations behind a candidate’s choice of the January-entry term, which forgoes the traditional summer internship. This term is ideal for those who have a clear post-MBA career path that doesn’t rely on the internship experience. Applicants who might already have a job secured, intend to return to a current employer, or are involved in a family business, often choose this route. Similarly, aspiring entrepreneurs who are certain about launching their own ventures may also prefer this entry. The committee seeks clarity and thoughtfulness in your rationale, rather than a generic or pre-determined answer. Your response should demonstrate a well-considered decision that aligns with your professional goals and the structure of the January-entry program.

January Short Answer Question Tips

Be Direct and Specific: Given the 50-character limit, your answer must be concise and to the point. Clearly state your reason for choosing the January-entry term.
Highlight Your Career Plan: Explain how skipping the summer internship aligns with your career goals. Whether you have a job secured, plan to return to your current employer, or intend to start your own business, make your reasoning clear.
Demonstrate Thoughtfulness: Show that you have thoroughly considered your options and that the January-entry term is the best fit for your professional trajectory. Avoid generic statements and focus on your unique situation.
Avoid Repetition: Instead of merely stating that you do not need a summer internship, explain why this is the case. Provide context that illustrates your understanding of your career path and the program’s structure.

August Short Answer Question

This question aims to gauge your career planning and readiness for the MBA journey. The admissions committee looks for candidates who have a clear vision of their career trajectory and understand how the summer internship (or other summer plans) fits into their overall professional development. By detailing your intended industry or function for the internship, or the specific focus of your business venture, you demonstrate foresight and strategic thinking. The committee appreciates applicants who have researched the employment landscape, are aware of recruiting trends, and have realistic plans that align with their career aspirations.

August Short Answer Question Tips

Detail Your Summer Plans: Clearly describe how you intend to spend the summer after your first year. Whether you plan to intern in a specific industry or function, or work on your own venture, provide precise details.
Showcase Your Research: Reference CBS’s recent employment reports and align your plans with the school’s recruiting trends. This demonstrates that you have done your homework and understand the opportunities available.
Connect the Dots: Illustrate how your summer plans fit into your overall career goals and the progression you envision throughout the MBA program. This helps the admissions committee see a clear, strategic path.
Acknowledge the Journey: If achieving your summer goals requires additional effort outside the support of CBS’s Career Management Center, mention this. It shows that you are prepared for the challenges ahead and have a realistic plan to achieve your objectives.

As with any goals essay, it’s critical to bear in mind that this is not a theatrical retelling of your resume. However, you should include a few lines of background information to enable the reader to subsequently comprehend that you have the abilities and drive required to achieve your objectives.

In short, make sure that your comments build on what the admissions committee can find in your recommendations or resume, rather than repeating it.

This question asks about your short- and long-term goals. In contrast to long-term goals, short-term goals might be more specific. The admissions committee expects you to have a general idea of what you want to achieve in the future, but they don’t require the same amount of detail as they do for the immediate post-MBA aspirations. Columbia wants to know that you have a clear idea of where an MBA from Columbia can take you.

For example, maybe you want to run a company or division as its general manager. But for the most part, you have been working in marketing right now. After that, you could take classes in finance and strategy and do consulting projects while working as an intern at a start-up. All of these will help you get the required experience on your way to becoming a general manager.

Also, the part about a “dream job” really stands out. In light of this, your long-term goals should be ambitious, since top programs want to accept people who will change the world. Still, they should be based on your short-term goals, your MBA, and your career so far.

Remember, Columbia wants to know who you are and what makes you different from everyone else who has applied. Don’t try to be the perfect candidate. Instead, show your real personality, goals, and what drives you.

To learn more about what Columbia Business School is looking for and how to make your application stand out, get in touch with us at [email protected]

Admissions Committee’s Expectations

The CBS admissions committee is looking for candidates who embody the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and have actively engaged in fostering these values in their personal or professional lives. The PPIL program aims to cultivate leaders who can navigate and address DEI challenges effectively. By including this essay prompt, the committee seeks to understand your experiences and actions related to DEI, assessing your ability to reflect on these experiences and articulate the impact of your actions.

Key Aspects the Committee Looks For:

Active Participation: Applicants should demonstrate that they were not passive observers but active participants in achieving a positive DEI outcome. This includes taking tangible actions and making significant contributions to addressing DEI challenges.
Structured Reflection: The essay prompt encourages a structured response, similar to the STAR method (Situation, Action, Outcome). This structure helps in presenting a clear and concise narrative that showcases your involvement and impact.
Connection to Personal Growth: The committee is interested in how the situation influenced you, your values, and your approach to leadership. Highlighting personal growth and learning from the experience is crucial.
Realistic Outcomes: The committee does not expect all outcomes to be entirely positive. Realistic and honest reflections on challenges and partial successes can be as impactful as wholly positive results, especially in complex DEI issues.
Specific Examples: Whether you choose to discuss utilizing one of the five DEI skills or fostering collaboration and community, specific examples that illustrate your actions and their impact are essential.

How to Write This Essay

Step-by-Step Guide:

Research the PPIL Program: Before you begin writing, familiarize yourself with the PPIL program’s objectives and vision. Understanding the context will help you align your experiences with the program’s goals and articulate your fit for the Columbia MBA program.
Choose the Right Experience: Select an experience that clearly demonstrates your engagement with one of the five inclusive leadership skills or your ability to foster collaboration and community. The experience should be significant enough to showcase your values and leadership abilities.
Situation: Briefly set the stage by describing the context and the challenge you faced. Aim to do this in 50–75 words to keep your response concise.
Action: Focus on the actions you took to address the challenge. Describe how you applied the chosen DEI skill or how you facilitated collaboration. This section should be the most detailed, using 100–125 words.
Outcome: Summarize the results of your actions. Discuss the impact on the team, organization, or community, and reflect on what you learned. Use the remaining words to provide a clear and honest outcome.
Reflect on Personal Growth: Explain how the experience influenced your perspective and leadership style. Demonstrating personal growth and the ability to learn from challenges will strengthen your essay.
Be Concise and Direct: Given the 250-word limit, every word counts. Ensure that each sentence contributes to showcasing your experience and the impact of your actions. Avoid unnecessary details and focus on the key elements of the story.

Example Outline:

Briefly describe the context and the DEI challenge you encountered.
Detail the steps you took to address the challenge.
Explain how you applied the specific DEI skill or facilitated collaboration.
Highlight your communication and leadership efforts.
Summarize the results of your actions.
Reflect on the impact and your personal growth.

Alternative Prompt:

If you choose to discuss fostering collaboration and community:

Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your response.
Focus on how your efforts improved team dynamics and outcomes.
Provide specific examples of your contributions to building a collaborative environment.

We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams , co-curricular initiatives like the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership , which aims to equip students with the skills and strategies necessary to lead in an inclusive and ethical manner, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program . Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? (300 words)

This essay question wants you to say why CBS is the best place to help you reach your goals. It’s a great chance to show that you’ve done your research and are really interested in going to Columbia.

In the prompt, the admissions committee mentions three major parts of the CBS program and gives links to more information about them. This is a good place to start (or, ideally, continue) your research, even if you don’t think any of the three immediately applies to you.

In your essay, you need to show a clear plan of action and show how CBS’s services fit directly with your interests, personality, and needs.

Note that the “academically, culturally, and professionally” part of the prompt does not have a “and/or” option. This means that you must make sure to talk about all three things in your essay, and you should do so thoroughly and about equally.

This will show the admissions committee that you are a good fit for and excited about the whole CBS MBA experience, not just a few key resources or parts.

Even though it isn’t directly in the essay prompt (like it was in years past), you should still explain not only why Columbia’s campus life and leadership culture are right for you, but also why you want to get your MBA in New York City, since NYC is such a big part of the Columbia experience.

The admissions committee makes it pretty clear that you need to talk about any problems with your application, such as gaps in employment, bad grades, etc.

In these situations, applicants should keep their answers short and to the point, explaining what happened without making excuses and bringing up mitigating factors in a humble way.

Still, it’s possible that there are other parts of your background that would be relevant but aren’t covered anywhere else in your application, like an upcoming promotion or a part of your identity that isn’t covered by the program’s data forms.

Even though applicants should try to show everything about themselves in the required parts of the application, there is still some room for short exceptions.

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Columbia Business School – What’s New (a Lot!) and How to Wow the Adcom with Your Essays

Columbia Business School means New York is home.

Several key things have changed this year when it comes to the Columbia Business School application.

First, they’ve done away with rolling admissions for their fall cohort as well as the option to apply early decision. There will now be rounds that mirror most peer schools. Having seen clients stress about when to hit submit in a rolling admissions world and agonize over whether to apply early, we see this change as a positive.

Second, they’ve tweaked two of their essay questions. With essay two, they’ve increased their focus on diversity and inclusion, seeking an example of how applicants have fostered these in the past. In essay three (which was essay two last year), ‘fit’ with Columbia Business School remains the hot topic but the prompt is slightly narrower, as is the word count with 50 fewer words to make your case. The first essay prompt (and accompanying short answer question) remains unchanged and critically important to demonstrate robust thought about your future career plans and how an MBA fits into them.

If you’re applying to Columbia Business School, read on for some tactical details about the process as well as guidance on how to approach the essay prompts.

Columbia Business School Deadlines (for Fall 2024 entry)

Round 1: September 13, 2023

Round 2: January 5, 2024

Round 3: April 3, 2024

Columbia Business School Essay Questions

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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

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, the goal is for students to explore and reflect during their educational journey 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 more 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. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program.

Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? 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)

Note for Reapplicants Applying in Successive Years: Reapplicants are not required to submit additional essays. Only the following reapplicant essay is required: 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).

Columbia Business School Essay Advice

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 – as well as collaboration and developing leaders who embrace these core values. Essays 2 and 3 look for you to demonstrate how your values and goals align with CBS’ offerings and what unique perspective you bring to the table. 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.

Once you’ve provided sufficient context, the remainder of the essay should be forward-looking, painting a clear picture of what you hope to accomplish and how you seek to grow professionally both in the near-term and long-term. This may require some research into your desired career path but does not need to be tied to one specific role or job. Instead, remain anchored in how you will continue to define success. Your long-term dream job should be a natural progression on that success path but don’t get too hung up on what’s “realistic”. This is where you can – and should – dream big about your future.

Don’t Be Intimidated by Essay Two – ‘Small’ Stories Can Make for Powerful Essays

Essay two is a question that CBS used to ask but replaced with another prompt in the last several years. As a first step, ground yourself in the PPIL curriculum . Then, with that context as well as the five inclusive leadership skills in mind, brainstorm a number of stories from your past that may fit. Don’t just stop at the first story that comes to mind – we find that this can cause people to overlook even stronger examples.

Clients are often intimidated by this type of question, concerned that the impact they’ve had in past situations is not ‘big’ enough. On the contrary, sometimes examples that were small in scale but had a significant impact on just one person or a few people – particularly if that impact was squarely driven by the applicant – can make for some of the most powerful essays.

In addition to identifying the best example in your arsenal, the key to a successful essay is to briefly cover off on the situation (250 words is short!) – this may even mean leaving out some of the story and keying in on only details that are relevant to the diversity angle. After setting the stage, spend the greatest portion of the word count on your actions. Describe them in a way and level of detail that makes the reader feel like they were there and, of course, demonstrate how you were an inclusive leader. Don’t forget to end with the result – how your actions benefited others on your team, in your organization, society more broadly, etc.

Remember that ‘Fit’ is a Two-Way Street in Essay Three

Answering this question well requires communicating that you understand the unique perspective you bring to the table – 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. Further, they want to understand this fit across three dimensions – academic, cultural, and professional. That’s a lot of ground to cover, so make sure each point you choose to make is powerful and cut to the chase with each.

To stand out in a sea of “why CBS” essays, it’s more critical than ever to draw specific and personal connections between what you want and need to get out of your MBA and what CBS offers. For example, go beyond restating a class description and show how the knowledge you will gain will complement your current set of experiences. If you have experience or relationships within a specific industry, this could be a great place to show how those would benefit your classmates as well.

In many cases, ‘cultural fit’ is the hardest to write about since you haven’t lived the student experience. This is where a campus visit, or at a minimum, 1:1 conversations with current students / recent alums come in handy. From hearing their experiences, you’ll notice what is most appealing or exciting to you. Don’t overcomplicate this one – genuine insights are always the best. Help the reader picture you as a member of the CBS community.

Interested in personalized, 1:1 coaching for your Columbia Business School application (and others)? Reach out to request an initial consultation .

Katie is a passionate mentor and coach, helping her clients craft a unique, compelling story by leveraging her experience as a corporate executive, alumni interviewer, and campus recruiter. Before completing her MBA at Kellogg, Katie spent five years in banking where she learned practical finance skills as well as how to operate in a demanding, high pressure environment. She pursued an MBA in order to transition to an industry role where she could utilize her finance knowledge to drive change within an organization. Post-MBA, she worked in finance and strategy for a leading CPG firm, progressing to an executive role leading the finance function for a $2B business segment. Her experience managing diverse teams led to a passion for developing others. In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, she led her firm’s MBA recruiting efforts and served as an alumni admissions interviewer for Kellogg.

MBA Letter of Recommendation Questions and a HBS Letter of Recommendation Sample

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Columbia MBA Essays Prompts: Tips for 2024-2025

This year’s MBA application prompts are out, which means it’s time to start brainstorming what your topics will be. Wondering where to start, what to write? No worries, we have all the tips you need to get a nice start on writing a quality essay for Columbia Business School.

At Menlo Coaching, we noticed that most MBA essays will fall into one of a number of categories: personal essays, career goals essays, behavioral essays, etc. Read ahead for our expert guide on approaching these essays for Columbia Business School.

Career Goals Essay

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters)
Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3 to 5 years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Why This School? (New Prompt for 2024-2025)

How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

The Columbia MBA Leadership Essay

Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one or more of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)

The 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)

Additional Short-Question for January-Entry Term

Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (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.”

If you are a reapplicant to Columbia Business School, you can also find a section on the reapplicant essay .

Applying to Columbia Business School

Conveniently located in New York City, CBS is committed to creating a learning sphere influenced by the current global business environment, which helps develop the students’ skill to create an opportunity in any situation. Through the story you relate in your essay, the admissions council is looking to see if you reflect the same values that the school does. CBS is looking for students who are inspiring leaders, entrepreneurial, and dedicated to creating an intellectual community. The best way to represent that you possess those qualities is through the type of essay you choose to write.

The Career Goals Essay

You’re not the only one hoping you’ll have a job after you’ve graduated with your MBA. Admissions committees are looking for students who are motivated and clear in their intentions so that when they get a job post-grad, they’ll be more willing to speak positively of their experience in the program. And, of course, in the hopes that their alumni will earn enough money to become a donor to the school one day.

There are three aspects to the career goals essay:

What you want your future profession to look like.
Why an MBA is necessary to advance your career.
Particularly, why a degree from CBS will be most beneficial to you and your job plan.

Your aspirations need to be convincing, ambitious, and realistic. Columbia Business School is looking for applicants who have meaningful goals grounded in their past experiences, and it’s important that you relate that notion in your essay, however it applies to your experience in life.

Why This School?

Now, here’s where all that practice stuffing extra-curriculars into your resume comes in handy. CBS is looking for applicants who are going to get involved on campus. Being an active participant in campus culture is essential to the experience of Columbia’s business program, and this university is looking for students who will not only enrich their own lives, but that of the school as well. Many of the programs on campus rely on students to run them, which is your golden ticket in.

When writing this kind of essay, it’s important to keep in mind what your specific interests are—which clubs do you want to join, which conferences do you wish to attend? Figuring out where you most want to be involved and writing how you will thus benefit the school in that position is the key to writing a strong participation essay. Spend some time researching and thinking through your options before diving into the writing process.

Introduced in the 2023-2024 application cycle, Columbia’s Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) essay aims to evaluate candidate’s based on their track record surrounding inclusive leadership.

In this essay, CBS wants to understand your values as a leader and get to know how your leadership style and background will add to the Columbia Business School MBA class.

It’s important, in this essay, to clearly describe a specific situation, the actions you took, and the results of these actions—as well as what you learned from the experience. Were there setbacks or challenges? Were your team all willing and able to facilitate your vision? How did management feel about your actions?

You can also use this essay to highlight aspects of your profile that you haven’t gotten to mention before—if you’re a passionate and talented rower, for example, maybe you could speak about a time when you steered your team to victory by making sure everyone felt included.

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Optional Essay

In addition to these essay types, Columbia Business School also offers applicants the opportunity to write an optional essay to expand on gaps in your resume or other potential weaknesses in your record. Keep in mind that this essay is meant as an addition, so try to keep it short and concise.

The Reapplicant Essay

For reapplicants, Columbia Business School requires a specific essay in which you can address how your application has improved since your last application. In this essay, you can address any improvements to your test scores, promotions at work, additional volunteer or community work, or any significant professional development that you have undertaken since you last applied to the program.

Timing is key for reapplicants, and when you’re applying for an MBA program a second time around, you want to be sure that you are a more qualified and desirable client than you were a year ago—even if your application was stellar the first time.

Writing strong, coherent, genuine stories is an essential part of your MBA application. These essays are meant to help you stand out among many other applicants, so it is worth your time to do the work and write about situations unique to your life and that you truly learned from. Working with an MBA consultant can help you improve your MBA essays for Columbia Business School.

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Columbia MBA Essays for 2024-2025

The Columbia MBA essays and deadlines for the 2024-2025 admissions season are now available. This year’s applicants to Columbia Business School must complete two short answer questions and three essays.

Short Answer Question

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? ( maximum 50 characters )

Examples of possible responses:

“Work in business development for a media company.”
“Join a strategy consulting firm.”
“Launch a data management start-up.”

January Short Answer Question : Why do you prefer the January entry term? (50 characters maximum)

August Short Answer Question: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)

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.
Alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization.

Word count: 250

How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)

Optional Essay

The August 2025 application will be available in late June. For more information on applying, please visit the Columbia Business School admissions website. If you need guidance on your Columbia MBA essays or wish to discuss your MBA plans, reach out for a complimentary analysis of your candidacy. We’re here to help!

Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team .

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School HBS MBA

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School Kellogg MBA

Director HBS Admissions at Harvard Business School MBA, the Wharton School

HBS Admissions Board at Harvard Business School

Director HBS Admissions at Harvard Business School HBS MBA

Admissions Officer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA, Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB)

Asst Director MBA Admissions at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) Director MBA Admissions at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

MBA, Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) Minority Admissions, the GSB Diversity Programs, the GSB

Associate Director MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania

Associate Director MBA Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute

Director, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania Professional Writer

Assistant Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS) NYU Admissions

Assistant Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS) M.S.Ed, Higher Education, U of Pennsylvania

Associate Director MBA Admissions at Columbia Business School (CBS)

Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...

Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...

A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...

Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...

Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...

Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...

Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...

Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...

Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...

Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...

Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...

Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...

Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...

Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...

Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...

Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants.

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from LBS, Columbia CBS and every elite business program in the US and Europe. These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Meet Susan , just one of the many superstars on the SBC team. Susan was the Director of Recruitment and Admissions at London Business School LBS and also the Director of the Executive MBA program at Columbia Business School CBS.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation .

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Columbia Business School Essay Questions And Strategic Guidance, 2023-2024

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Columbia Business School (CBS) asks three essay questions as part of its application process. Through your essay responses, the school hopes to better understand your experiences and career goals, as well as your rationale for wanting to pursue your MBA at CBS specifically. We at Gatehouse appreciate the program’s range of essay topics because it allows applicants to communicate a broad picture of their candidacy.

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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Columbia has been asking this question for several years now. We appreciate this because it has allowed us to see a number of success stories, which have shown us what makes a good essay response. Even better, we also know where applicants are likely to stumble. Our first piece of advice is to answer the entire question. CBS is asking for two distinct things: your career goals over the next three to five years and your long-term dream job. Too often, candidates combine these two parts into one when crafting their essay. Instead, follow the prompt and answer each one distinctly!
With respect to your goals, focus on what you will be doing (role, industry, and/or function), as well as the kind of impact you want to have—the problems you want to solve, the products you want to create, the team you want to build. This is especially important when you are describing your “dream job.” Your dream job likely inspires you, and the admissions committee wants to know why. Also, make sure that your short-term goals flow logically into your dream job. They should ideally prepare and position you to achieve that dream job.
The essay prompt does not explicitly ask how your goals relate to where you are now, but that does not mean you cannot address the connection. Although the admissions committee is all but telling you not to rehash your resume here (which would make for a poor MBA application essay for most schools, anyway), you can certainly include some references to past accomplishments or experiences if doing so provides context that is relevant to understanding your goals or assessing your likelihood of reaching them.
This essay is a kind of goal statement essay. The core components of a goal statement essay are (1) a vision of the future, (2) an explanation of how that vision relates to where you are today, and (3) the reasons you need to attend business school to make that vision a reality. You will also address (3) in CBS’ Essay 3, but you can still make a clear case for needing business school in this essay response as well.

Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a 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 and Prejudice, Managing Intercultural Dialogue, Addressing Systemic Inequity, and Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking.

Tell us about a time when you were challenged around one of these five skills. describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome. (250 words).

We at Gatehouse are excited to see this question in CBS’s application. Not only does the prompt give applicants a sense of how CBS is adjusting its MBA experience to meet the leadership needs of the moment, but it also offers candidates the chance to share a specific experience. When executed well, doing so can reveal much about your motivations, unique candidacy, and ability to observe, learn, and grow.
While you can choose which of the five highlighted skills you want to focus on, Columbia is clear about what it wants you to share: the situation, actions, and results—or, SAR. We encourage you use the fuller STARR—Situation, Task, Actions, Results, and Reflection—approach in crafting your response. Each of these elements is important in storytelling. The Situation helps your reader “see” your world. The Task conveys the challenge or goal at hand. The Actions, as well as your thought processes behind them, illustrate who you are as a doer. The Results are perhaps obvious (the “so what” of the story!), but we at Gatehouse also encourage you to Reflect. How did this experience affect and shape you ? Why was it meaningful to you ?
Applicants often assume that because they are applying to business school, they should recount only positive stories—stories in which they are the hero or did everything right. You can absolutely choose such a story (as long as you can still explain how the situation affected and shaped you). However, you could instead focus on an experience that did not end positively or one in which you were not at your best. If you choose to highlight this sort of experience, really lean into that last “R”—the Reflection—and be sure to think about and discuss how you have developed since that experience. Columbia is not expecting perfection; on the contrary, the school’s MBA program exists expressly because CBS believes you are capable of more growth and change ahead.

Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams , co-curricular initiatives like the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership , which aims to equip students with the skills and strategies necessary to lead in an inclusive and ethical manner, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program .

Why do you feel columbia business school is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally (250 words).

A well-executed essay response to this prompt will present clear connections between you and the aspects of the business school that you find compelling. Make a case for why you need an MBA (i.e., the experiences, skills, knowledge, and/or connections you are lacking), and then prove to the admissions committee that you know how CBS specifically can fulfill those needs. Note the resources and offerings (whether well-known or somewhat obscure; they do not have to be arcane!) that resonate with you and will help you advance toward your career goals. You can also mention the clubs and activities you hope to participate in and why they are so important to you.
We strongly caution you to avoid empty pandering! Simply describing CBS in glowing terms and praising its resources does nothing to enhance your candidacy. By telling the admissions officers what they already know about the school they represent rather than what they want to know about you, you run the risk of losing their attention—and worse, their support.

Also, note that CBS asks the following important short-answer question that you should develop in tandem with your essays:

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.”

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.

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November 1, 2023

MBA Essay Guidance 2023-24: Columbia Business School

APPLICATION & ADMISSIONS
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Columbia Business School has released its MBA application deadlines and essay questions for the 2023-24 application cycle. Here are the important dates and Admitify’s guidance on the essays.

R1: sep 13, 2023 / r2: jan 5, 2024 / r3: apr 10, 2024, j-term: sep 13, 2023.

“In addition to learning about your professional aspirations, the Admissions Committee hopes to gain an understanding of your interests, values and motivations through these essays. There are no right or wrong answers and we encourage you to answer each question thoughtfully.

Applicants must complete one short answer question and three 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.”

Admitify Guidance

Find a way to include as much specificity and differentiation as possible in the goal statement given the character limit. Don’t just settle for a lazy/short/generic goal statement like ‘management consulting at M/B/B’.

Columbia is unusual in that it separates its goals essay from its Why Our School? essay. That means you potentially have 500 words to describe your goals, which is quite a lot of space. However, we don’t recommend that you use the entire essay to walk the reader through a blow-by-blow timeline of your post-MBA career. Do state your long-term ‘dream’ goals at the beginning of the essay, being as concrete/specific as possible: job titles, org names, Plan A and Plan B—Columbia loves to learn what applicants’ backup plans are). These are your rosiest-scenario career outcomes, your bliss, your career’s ‘end game’ and lasting legacy. When did this dream job first crystallize for you and why? How have you due-diligenced this goal – has your career thus far intersected with it any way? Have you had informational interviews or networked with people who are already living your dream job? If your dream job is off the beaten path, can you share any market-research type date to help the reader understand the scale of the opportunity or how the niche works? Now double back and explain how your three-to-five-year post-MBA goal will give you the skills and exposures to position you to achieve the long-term dream goal. The short-term goals you described in the Short Answer Question above is just the telegraphed summary of this three-to-five-year. Don’t verbatim repeat your Short Answer response here: provide 1-2 additive details to flesh out the Short Answer response and definitely share your short-term Plan B.) If the leap from your three-to-five-year goal to your dream job is too vast, feel free to share a medium-term goal and describe how it gives you the skills/assets to bridge the two ends of your post-MBA career. You may well find that even doing all of the above leaves you with unused word count. If so, consider using the leftover space to (a) share a pre-MBA accomplishment that helped you identify your post-MBA goal (Columbia doesn’t give you many opportunities to share career achievements, so here’s your chance—as long as it’s truly relevant to helping you uncover your goals) and/or (b) add an anecdote to the beginning of your essay that dramatizes or illustrates why your goals matter to you personally. Very few schools allow applicants to truly flesh out their post-MBA goals. Columbia does, so do it right.

Tell us about a time when you were challenged around one of these five skills. Describe the situation, the actions you took, and the outcome. (250 words)

In many ways this is a classic accomplishment essay (situation/context—>your actions/EQ/problem-solving—>outcome (happy ending + lessons learned). What’s different is the D&IE twist. Columbia, as are other schools, is signaling its institutional interest in this urgent social/business issue. Happily, they’re giving you 5 possible sub-themes to choose from (because they know not everyone has been or is expected to be on their firm’s D&I team). Applicants who have been D&I champions at or outside of work may gravitate toward an example relevant to Creating an Inclusive Environment or Addressing Systemic Inequity. The first is asking for a direct D&I scenario; the second could work for someone who has championed broader issues of inequity (e.g., socioeconomics), even if that latter scenario had no overt diversity element. Applicants who are themselves diverse applicants and perhaps particularly those who are LGBTQ may lean toward the Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking skill (e.g., how did you break the silence around the diversity issue you faced?). Those applicants who are not traditionally considered ‘diverse’ may gravitate toward the Mitigating Bias and Prejudice skill (e.g., how did you work to offset your own bias?) or the Managing Intercultural Dialogue skill (which need not involve diversity, identity, or bias at all — e.g., how did you simply demonstrate the EQ to build a bridge between different folks?). Don’t fret if you are not in a diverse applicant group traditionally defined. Columbia’s inclusion of the bias and difficult conversations as well as its reference to ‘ethical leadership’ show that they are open to any examples that show you demonstrating EQ/emotional intelligence, good values, or integrity/ethics in a way that makes groups or organizations function more openly.

We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program.

Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? Please be specific. (250 words)

This is essentially a classic Why Our School? essay, but much more directive in its guidance: (1) it requires you to reflect on ‘why CBS’ from three angles– academic resources, cultural resources, and professional resources–and (2) hints at the specific resource types that Columbia is proudest of (its collaborative learning environment, its very active student extracurricular culture, and its career mentorship resources). Columbia has used a version of this essay before, but this year has shortened the length by 50 words and replaced one of the resources CBS is proud of (Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership – which this year is the focus of Essay 2) with a new proud resource: its active student extracurricular culture.

You should not assume that Columbia expects you to name all three of these resource types in your essay. Instead, start by building your essay around the academic , cultural , and professional resources that most align with your learning needs. Divide your essay into three roughly equal sections addressing traditional academic or curricular opportunities at Columbia most relevant or attractive to you, Columbia’s culture (its values—diversity, collaboration, community participation, etc.), and Columbia’s resources for your career (which are intimately connected to Columbia’s links with New York City—see our last paragraph in this section below).

Note that of the 3 resource types Columbia is proud of, “collaborative learning environment” can align with either Columbia’s academics or its culture , “active co-curricular and student life environment” clearly aligns with its culture , and “career mentorship opportunities” aligns with its professional resources. So if you want to capture/echo Columbia’s three resource hints in your essay, find specific examples of these three resource types that resonate most with you and discuss them in the essay’s three main sections on academics , culture , and professional resources.

When writing the final professional section of this essay, keep in mind that in the past Columbia has framed the Why Us? question in terms of NYC being the ‘very center of business’ and has steered applicants toward discussing its experiential and NYC-connected resources such as Immersion Seminars, master classes, practitioner faculty, etc. This year’s question, for example, references the Executives-in-Residence program. So maybe lean the essay toward the practical, hands-on side of Columbia resources — summer and in-term internships (which organizations will you pursue?), adjunct or practitioner faculty or visiting speakers that link with your goals, and any other career-related interfaces between Columbia and NYC as a career mecca.

Optional Essay

Columbia is not restricting you to only extenuating circumstance (grades, GMAT, etc.) discussions here, but they are limiting you somewhat to ‘areas of concern.’ But many things – such as your age, leadership or extracurriculars – could be framed as areas of concern. Feel free to discuss multiple areas of concern but separate them into separate paragraphs with headers/titles.

It’s not too late to start on your R2 Columbia MBA applications! Contact us today and we’ll guide you through the application process.

Related blog posts, admitted to hbs & mit sloan class of 2026.

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Tips for Your Columbia Business School Application Essays

May 28, 2024

Kelly Lundy

Columbia Business School Application Essay Tips, 2024-2025

Columbia Business School (CBS) has made several changes to its essay questions for both January and August term applications this year. August term applications have three rounds of deadlines (Round 1 is September 10, Round 2 is January 7, and Round 3 is April 1). The school has also introduced two application deadlines for its January term candidates (Round 1 is June 18, and Round 2 is August 15). Our guidance for each essay question follows.

The admissions committee added a new short-answer question for both January and August entry applicants. They also rephrased two questions to more prominently address collaboration and community. This includes last year’s third prompt about why “Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally.” The new wording asks, “How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS?” which will allow applicants to highlight how they intend to collaborate with classmates (and professors) to maximize their experience and leave a positive impact on the school. All CBS applicants must complete three essays and two short-answer questions.

To write successful essays for CBS, you need to convey that you have clear goals, especially well-thought-out reasons for wanting to attend the school and live in New York City (NYC), and strong values. Moreover, you must do your homework on CBS so you can really prove that it is the best place for you. CBS doesn’t want to be a commuter school filled with people coming to Manhattan for a two-year vacation; it wants to know that you recognize and appreciate it for the world-class business school it is and that you plan to be a leader in its community. So, demonstrating “fit” is critical. Let’s delve deeper into each CBS application essay question.

Free: Download Stratus Admissions’ Guide to Getting into Columbia Business School

SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

What is your immediate post-mba professional goal (50 characters maximum).

This is a noticeably short statement (remember — 50 characters, not words!). Make your response as specific as possible, noting the position you want, the industry that interests you, and/or a company that is ideal for you. Keep in mind that whatever you say here should tie into your first long required essay.

August Short Answer Question: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)

This is a new question for August-term applicants, whereas previously, they might have addressed their summer plans in Essays 1 or 3 instead. Candidates now have a dedicated (albeit limited) space in which to describe their intended professional pursuits for the summer between school years. Ensure that your answer here sets the stage for your short-term career goals, at minimum. Be specific: Will you continue to be based in NYC? What types of deals, consulting projects, or products do you aspire to work on? If you intend to pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor, be sure to check out student resources from the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurship Center. You can also reach out to students and/or recent graduates to get ideas about which companies typically hire summer interns in your intended field.

January Short Answer Question: Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (50 characters maximum)

Again, you’ll need to keep your response concise but specific. Some reasons you might prefer the J-Term are not needing a summer internship (e.g., you’re planning to return to your current firm or a family business after graduation) or wanting to complete school on an expedited timeline.

Essay One: 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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

By starting with some simple context/backstory, you can give the admissions reader a sense of why your stated goals are credible and exciting. Simply launching into why you want to go into consulting or edtech or whatever your interest is could be confusing if you have not yet provided some sense of why you have that interest. So, your first task is to establish that your goals are feasible without rehashing the entirety of your professional path.

Next, delve into your long-term goal. By starting with your long-term goal, you are solidifying why you absolutely need a CBS MBA. Think big, think creatively, and think outside the box. Here, giving a job title is not essential (though you can), but you do need to convey what sort of impact you hope to make — on a community, on a company or organization, or somewhere else. In addition, give examples of how and why your long-term goal will be important.

Finally, describe your three- to five-year career goals, which should directly help you achieve your stated longer-term goals. Consider offering a specific job title and an example of a company or organization you aspire to work for. This will help the admissions committee connect with your goal. You have ample word count here to show that you really know what this job entails — that you are not just chasing prestige but have really thought about fit and about how, after you have completed the CBS MBA program, your desired role will prepare you for your long-term dream job. Be sure that your long-term goal can be achieved via your short-term goal. If you cannot build the bridge from one to the other, the admissions committee will question whether CBS can support you in such an improbable endeavor.

You can briefly finish with how the CBS MBA specifically will be critical in meeting your goals. Consider highlighting certain classes, centers, programs, and/or organizations that are unique to CBS that would be beneficial to you.

Essay Two: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) Pathway 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. Please respond to one of the below.

-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), -alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization. (250 words).

This essay is a great opportunity to give the admissions committee more depth and perspective on your unique background and experiences. But to begin crafting an effective response to this essay prompt, you first need to learn more about the PPIL program, so be sure to start there.

Because this is a short essay, every word counts. Our suggestion would be to devote approximately 50–75 words to describing the situation you experienced and why it stands out for you. With such tight constraints, you clearly need to get to the heart of the matter quickly. Of course, the situation you choose to discuss is important, but what is more important is revealing your values by sharing the steps you took. You might dedicate 100–125 words to relaying those actions and then use the remainder to discuss the outcome. Remember, your results don’t all have to be rosy. For example, if one takes on systemic racism, it almost goes without saying that the experience will not be an easy one. Even amid such restrictive limits, strive to convey the reality of applying one of the stated skills, and make sure your values are on display in a thoughtful manner.

If you choose to address the alternative essay component about collaboration and fostering community, you can use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action and Result) to illustrate how your efforts improved both your team’s results and overall experience (e.g., improving retention on your team, encouraging others to pursue active leadership or mentorship roles).

Essay Three: 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).

There are many unique ways to convey how you intend to contribute to the campus experience and collaborate with your peers to leave a lasting legacy at CBS. Before you begin writing, do significant research into what CBS has to offer that fits with your specific goals, including classes and professors (to check the “academic” box), extracurricular clubs and unique traditions (to check the “culture” box), and local networking and internship opportunities (to check the “professional” box). The ways you plan to contribute during your MBA experience should be tied to unique aspects of the school and particular interests and needs that you have.

For example, to fulfill the “academic” element, you could mention how you’d like to co-author a white paper with a specific professor or how you intend to collaborate with fellow students on an entrepreneurial endeavor through the Lang Center for Entrepreneurship. For the “culture” element, you could talk about taking a board position in an affinity-based club (Columbia Women in Business, Latin American Business Association, Ski & Snowboarding Club) and planning an event, panel, or trip. For the “professional” element, you might talk about how you could leverage your existing skills or network to help your fellow classmates. For example, if you are currently a consultant, offer to do mock interviews. If you are currently in the tech industry, offer to set up a panel with your existing industry mentors or leaders you know. Again, remember to tie the experiences you highlight to what you need to gain to attain your goals.

Research could take the form of reading the CBS website, speaking with students and alumni from similar backgrounds or in relevant post-grad roles, attending an info session, or visiting campus. The application specifically asks candidates to list the students and alumni they have connected with, so leverage such resources as the Hermes Society website to connect with students who have shared interests, backgrounds, or goals. Be aware that if you live in NYC, it is imperative that you schedule a campus visit. Not making an effort to go to campus and engage directly with students there can be a red flag.

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)

See our blog post on Optional Essay Do’s and Don’ts for guidance.

In the related article How to Get into Columbia Business School, you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings, such as the Lang Entrepreneurship Center, J-Term, Immersion Seminars, and the CBS World Tour.

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Columbia MBA Essay 2 and 3: does it matter which question we answer?

Columbia MBA Essays for 2022 entry are published. For Essay 2 and 3, there are 3 questions listed and we are asked to answer 2 of the 3 questions:

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 give essential diversity, equity, and inclusion skills: Creating an Inclusive Environment, Mitigating Bias, Communicating Across Identities, Addressing Systemic Inequality, 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)

I have prepared essays for the 2nd and 3rd question, as they were part of the application last year, and I still tend towards sticking with those two (I like especially the question about favourite book/movie etc. because it is quite personal).

However, the 1st question seems like more sophisticated to me. Would the applicants who answer questions 2 and 3, and leave question 1 out, be at a disadvantage?

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MBA students and Dean Prashant on the front steps of Hariri

Georgetown MBA Program Launches Applications for 2024 with Three New Essay Prompts

Samantha Krause

August 29, 2023

Georgetown MBA Admissions is now accepting Full-time , Flex MBA , and Flex MBA Online program applications for the fall 2024 semester. The application includes two new written and one new video essay prompt to provide prospective students with more opportunities to share their unique experiences, passions, and personal interests throughout the application process.

“The new essay prompts allow prospective students to dig deeper into their story and share more about the unique experiences and perspectives that shape who they are,” said Shelly Heinrich, associate dean for MBA Admissions and director of marketing. “Grounded in the Jesuit tradition, McDonough strives to educate the whole person – and that starts with telling your authentic story and what you hope to bring to the Georgetown community.”

This year’s written essays include three topics: focusing on Georgetown’s Jesuit value of Magis or achieving “more” or “greater” excellence; fostering a diverse community; and the legacy one hopes to achieve on the Hilltop. As with previous years, students only choose one essay to submit with their application materials.

Looking beyond professional and academic achievements, the video essay offers a unique opportunity to highlight an applicant’s interests outside of work. Prospective students are asked to share five to 10 random facts that are not on their resume that contribute to who they are as a professional and leader. The video essay builds upon the written essay options, which help the admissions team curate a unique portfolio of students who bring varying personal and professional life experiences to the program.

To increase program accessibility and reduce economic hardship, the MBA programs also offer application fee reductions and waivers for those with low to no income levels, are members of specific groups, and/or attend certain Georgetown McDonough events.

The Round 1 application deadline closes on October 2, 2023. Learn about the full application process by reviewing the necessary MBA application components .

The Princeton Review’s Top 50 Online MBA Rankings Released for 2024

MBA Students in Classroom, Top 50 Online MBA Princeton Review, 2024 Text

Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology is ranked 43rd nationally in The Princeton Review’s Top 50 Online MBA Programs as part of its Best Business Schools 2024 rankings. This ranks #3 among New York State programs and is only one of two Executive MBA programs included in the ranking. The Princeton Review’s yearly rankings are based on student surveys, career outcomes, admissions selectivity, and academic rigor, among other categories.

Saunders’ online executive MBA program is a rigorous program meant to push professionals to reach their full potential. The curriculum includes high-level courses on topics such as effective team leadership, economics, marketing strategy, and international business.

The online Executive MBA is accredited by AACSB and is intended for seasoned professionals who want to put their creativity and innovation to the test to propel themselves into higher leadership roles.

Saunders’ undergraduate and graduate programs are internationally ranked and recognized . Visit our events page to view graduate information session opportunities and other events

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Columbia Business School just posted its deadlines for the 2022/2023 season, along with a new essay question. Unlike its M7 rivals, Columbia operates on a rolling admissions process - both for early and regular decisions - and applications are reviewed in the order that they are received. The new Early Decision deadline is September 28 ...
2024-2025 Columbia MBA Essay Analysis and Tips
MBA Essay Tips. July 30, 2024. The application and essay questions for the 2023 MBA program at Columbia Business School have been made available. The questions are similar to those from previous years, however, they have been revised to emphasize career objectives and fit. Columbia University offers a fast-paced program in a fast-paced city.
Columbia Business School Essay Advice
Columbia Business School Essay Advice. 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.
2022/2023 Columbia Business School MBA Essay Questions and Analysis
In comparison to last year, the admissions committee has preserved their long-standing goals essay and added a DEI option. In this blog post, we will look at the MBA essays and short answers required for the Columbia Business School admissions cycle 2022-2023.
Columbia MBA Essays Prompts: Tips for 2024-2025
Need help with admissions essays for Columbia MBA? We'll walk you through the prompts and share advice on how to tackle each essay type.
Columbia MBA Essays for 2024-2025
The Columbia MBA essays and deadlines for the 2024-2025 admissions season are now available. This year's applicants to Columbia Business School must complete two short answer questions and three essays.
Ready to Apply?
Apply to the MBA program at Columbia Business School and join a diverse and dynamic community of leaders. Learn about the application process and deadlines.
Poets&Quants
Columbia Business School Essay Questions And Strategic Guidance, 2023-2024. Columbia Business School (CBS) asks three essay questions as part of its application process. Through your essay responses, the school hopes to better understand your experiences and career goals, as well as your rationale for wanting to pursue your MBA at CBS ...
MBA Essay Guidance 2023-24: Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School has released its MBA application deadlines and essay questions for the 2023-24 application cycle. Here are the important dates and Admitify's guidance on the essays.
Tips for Your Columbia Business School Application Essays
Second, they rephrased last year's third prompt about why "Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally." The new wording asks, "How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS?" which will allow applicants to highlight how they intend to collaborate with classmates (and professors) to maximize their experience and leave a ...
Full-Time MBA Admissions
Explore Columbia Business School's MBA admissions: application process, deadlines, requirements, and resources for prospective students. Apply today!
Question on answering "Why Columbia" question : r/MBA
Question on answering "Why Columbia" question. Advice. As some of you may know already, one of the Columbia Business School essay questions is. "Why do you feel that Columbia Business School is a good fit for you?" I have done a lot of research on the professional side of why Columbia, however, one of the biggest factors is that my boyfriend is ...
Columbia MBA Essay 2 and 3: does it matter which question we ...
Columbia MBA Essays for 2022 entry are published. For Essay 2 and 3, there are 3 questions listed and we are asked to answer 2 of the 3 questions: 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.
Application Requirements
Columbia Business School requires that the work contained in your application (including essays) is completely accurate and exclusively your own. Columbia University permits the use of generative AI tools for idea generation and/or to edit a candidate's work; however, using these tools to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code.
Georgetown MBA Program Launches Applications for 2024 with Three New
Georgetown MBA Admissions is now accepting Full-time, Flex MBA, and Flex MBA Online program applications for the fall 2024 semester. The application includes two new written and one new video essay prompt to provide prospective students with more opportunities to share their unique experiences, passions, and personal interests throughout the application process. "The new essay […]
FAQs about the MS Programs
Find answers to common questions about Columbia Business School's MS admissions process, requirements, and program details. ... New essay; New letters of recommendations; Please be aware that you must file a new application, in addition to paying the current application fee. Your previous transcripts, letters of recommendation, and other ...
The Princeton Review's Top 50 Online MBA Rankings Released for 2024
The curriculum includes high-level courses on topics such as effective team leadership, economics, marketing strategy, and international business. The online Executive MBA is accredited by AACSB and is intended for seasoned professionals who want to put their creativity and innovation to the test to propel themselves into higher leadership roles.

A Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays (2024-2025)

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The Importance of the Columbia MBA Essays

Short Answer Question

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Optional Essay

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Columbia Business School MBA Application Updates: 2024-2025

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The 2024-2025 Columbia Business School MBA Application Deadlines for August 2025 Entry Are:

Personal MBA Coach’s Top Tips for Tackling Columbia Business School’s Essays

Columbia Business School 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 is your long-term dream job? (500 words maximum)

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Columbia Business School MBA Essays for 2022-2023: Tips & Strategy

Columbia Business School just posted its deadlines for the 2022/2023 season, along with a new essay question.

How to Tackle the Columbia MBA Essay Questions

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)

Essay 3: Tell us about your favorite book, movie or song and why it resonates with you. (250 Words)

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2024-2025 Columbia MBA Essay Analysis and Tips

Columbia MBA essays for 2025 intake

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