Contents
Columbia Business School holds the accreditation of:
As per Columbia, they invest in the leaders of tomorrow by creating an environment rich in learning, collaboration and hands-on experiences. The MBA program is a
transformational experience that will help you become the leader you want to be. All full-time MBA students start with core courses and can choose from a wide range of electives.
According to the B-School, each year, applicants from a wide variety of cultural, personal, and professional backgrounds apply to the Columbia MBA program.
And while every student who joins Columbia MBA community is unique, they share certain defining traits: they are driven by a strong work ethic, ready to build and foster professional and personal relationships, and are determined to make a real impact on the world through their chosen field.
When you enroll at Columbia Business School, you join a student body of diverse individuals — a community that will support you long after your graduation ceremony.
Studying at the very center of business has its perks. When you embark upon the journey
to realizing your goals, Columbia Business School provides you with a number of resources and access to the top influencers.
| Business | 32% |
| Economics | 19% |
| Engineering | 17% |
| Social Science | 14% |
| Humanities | 8% |
| Sciences | 7% |
| Other | 2% |
| Technology | 1% |
| Financial Services | 29% |
| Consulting | 23% |
| Marketing / Media | 15% |
| Technology | 7% |
| Other | 6% |
| Healthcare | 5% |
| Nonprofit | 5% |
| Military / Govt | 4% |
| Real Estate | 3% |
| Energy | 2% |
| Manufacturing | 1% |
As per B -School, application checklist and criteria are as follows
A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution is required for admission to Columbia Business School. Applicants should scan and submit PDF versions of transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution from which they have received a degree.
If offered admission, you will be required to provide encrypted digital copies of your transcripts from each of the colleges or universities submitted on your application. Offers of admission are not binding until academic records have been verified.
Applicants should report their grade point average as it appears on their transcript.
All applicants must submit a self-reported GMAT, Executive Assessment, or GRE score. Your scores must be valid when you submit your application. (CBS considers scores to be valid for five years after your test date).
If admitted, you must submit an official GMAT, Executive Assessment, or GRE score. Columbia Business School’s GMAT and Executive Assessment code is QF8-N6-52, and its GRE code is 6442. The Admissions Committee will consider only your highest score when reviewing your application and will not combine sub-scores from multiple exams into a single composite score.
Applicants must complete one short answer question and three 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.”
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)
Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you? (250 words)
Who is a leader you admire, and why? (250 words)
Is there any further information that you wish to provide the Admissions Committee? If so, use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)
Rather than answer Essay 1, current Knight-Bagehot Fellows applying to Columbia Business School should use the space allocated to the first essay (500 words) to complete the Wiegers Fellowship application essay.
What are your career goals? How has the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship affected these goals? How will an MBA help you achieve these goals? (500 words maximum)
Deferred Enrollment candidates will answer three short essay questions instead of the essays listed above.
First-time applications require two recommendations unless applying for the Deferred Enrollment Program. Reapplicants are required to submit one new recommendation. If you have been working full-time for at least six months, one recommendation should be from your current supervisor. If you are unable to secure a recommendation from your direct supervisor, please submit a statement of explanation in the Employment section of your application.The second recommendation should be from either a former direct supervisor or from another professional associate, senior to you, who can share their insights on your candidacy.
If you have worked full-time for fewer than six months, at least one, but preferably both, of your recommendations should be from a person who can comment on your managerial abilities. You may ask a summer employer or another person whom you feel can objectively assess your professional promise. The second recommendation may be from a college professor. If you are a college senior, we encourage you to apply for the Deferred Enrollment Program, which requires only one recommendation.
Please note that Columbia Business School and several of our peer institutions use similar, if not identical, recommendation questions. This is an effort on our part to make the process easier for your recommenders. We expect that you, the applicant, will not participate in the drafting of these recommendations. Applications are not considered complete until all required information is submitted. This includes recommendations.
The B-School asks recommenders to consider the following guidelines when writing their recommendations (recommended limit – 1000 words):
As per B-School, Keep in mind applications cannot be reviewed until they are complete. Missing required materials, updated test scores, or additional materials must be received by the Admissions Office within three weeks of your application submission.
Once the B-School has received all required application components your application will begin the review process. During this stage, your application is reviewed by at least two admissions officers, after which you will be either invited to interview or denied admission. Please note that August-entry Regular Decision applications will not be reviewed until all January and Early Decision applications are complete.
For all terms of entry, the goal is either to invite applicants for an interview or deny admission within six weeks of a completed application being received. B-School goal for interviewed applicants is to render a final decision within two weeks of the interview report being completed.
Applicants may be invited to interview with one of our alumni. In most cases, interviews are offered in the applicant’s geographic area, and invitations to interview can be sent at any time after a completed application has been received by the Admissions Office. Interviews are by invitation only and cannot be requested.
The nonrefundable application fee for the Columbia Business School MBA Program is US$250. Applicants are strongly encouraged to pay this fee via credit card (Visa or MasterCard only) within the online application system in order to expedite the processing of their application.
Applicants unable to pay by credit card should contact the Admissions Office at apply@gsb.columbia.edu for directions regarding alternative methods of payment.
Fee waivers are available to full-time students, active duty US military personnel, and members of the Peace Corps, or Teach For All network partners who are currently in service. Proof of current service is required. Applicants who qualify for a fee waiver should email a fee waiver request, as well as proof of service, to apply@gsb.columbia.edu and explain their need for a fee waiver in the optional essay. Please allow up to one week for an update to your online status confirming that your fee waiver has been approved.
As per B-School, Please note that candidates may only apply once to a given term of entry. Candidates may not apply twice to the same term of entry.
To reapply to the MBA Program at Columbia Business School, please use the following checklist to ensure smooth processing. Please note, information and requirements are subject to change without notice.
The Admissions Office retains all applications for one year after a decision is rendered. If you are reapplying no more than 12 months from your initial term of entry to Columbia Business School, the checklist below will help ensure that you submit everything the Admissions Committee will need to reassess your candidacy. For example if you applied for August 2019 you will be considered a reapplicant for January 2020 or August 2020. If you are reapplying more than 12 months after the initial term of entry, you must submit a new, fully complete application.
Please submit the following to the Admissions Committee for your reapplication. If you have trouble starting a new application, please contact the Admissions Office for assistance.
According t Columbia, All admitted students are required to submit two nonrefundable tuition deposits to secure their place in the class after admission. Deposits will be applied directly towards your first semester’s tuition and fees. Please be aware that if you do not matriculate, your deposit will not be refunded.
Students admitted for the January-entry must submit the first deposit of $2,000.00 within two weeks of admission. The second deposit of $1,000 must be received by November 6, 2019.
August-entry Early Decision admits must submit the first deposit of $6,000.00 within two weeks of admission. If admitted for August-entry Regular Decision your deposit will be $2,000. If admitted before January 31, 2019 you must submit your deposit by February 19, 2020. If you are admitted from February 1, 2020 through April 8, 2020 your deposit deadline will be April 22, 2020. Applicants admitted after April 9, 2020 will have two weeks to submit their initial deposit.
All early August-entry Early Decision and Regular Decision admitted students are required to submit a second deposit of $1,000.00 by May 27, 2020 in order to secure their spaces in the class.
| ITEM | COST |
|---|---|
| Tuition | $77,376 |
| Mandatory Fees | $3,847 |
| Health Services & Insurance | $4,601 |
| Books & Supplies | $954 |
| Room & Board | $21,375 |
| Personal Expenses | $6,066 |
| Total First Year Budget | $114,309 |
*Students may incur additional costs, such as study tours or club events. The January-Entry student living budget differs slightly since the first year is only 8 months.
As per B-School, Over half of the MBA students take advantage of federal and private loan programs to help finance their MBAs. Students should wait to apply for loans until after they have been admitted, as upon admission applicants will gain access to a site with loan application timing information and process. Please read below about each type of loan available to our students.
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Columbia Business School offers partial-tuition scholarships to many qualified candidates, both domestic and international. Scholarships are mostly need-based, however, certain named scholarships have a merit component or have specific criteria designated by the donor. Details on applying for scholarships are available after admission.
Award amounts range from $7,500–$30,000 for those who qualify and based on funds available (amounts can sometimes be higher in certain circumstances). Of those who apply, about half receive a need-based scholarship and the average award is approximately $20,000. Although the percentage of recipients is high, students should not assume they will be awarded a need-based scholarship as these awards are not guaranteed. Awards are generally renewed for the second year of study.
To assess a student’s eligibility for need-based aid, the School takes into consideration all possible resources (including cash, savings, investments, money market, IRA and retirement accounts, CDs, trust funds, real estate equity, GI and Social Security benefits, income of student and spouse, other familial resources, income tax refunds, sponsorships from companies, as well as prior educational debt levels). The school also takes into account merit-based awards made possible by the Admissions office. Additional information might be requested to best assess a candidate’s ability to pay and late applications are subject to a different process.
External Scholarships
The B-School encourages all MBA applicants to look for scholarship resources outside of the school as well. For more details you can visit https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/financial-aid/fellowships-scholarships/external-searches.
| TERM | AUGUST ENTRY | JANUARY ENTRY |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Term I | Core | N/A |
| Spring Term I | Elective/Core | Core |
| Summer Term | Internship | Elective/Core |
| Fall Term II | Elective | Elective |
| Spring Term II | Elective | Elective |
Columbia’s more than 325 offerings allow students to immerse themselves in specialized topics with faculty members who are at the forefront of innovation in their fields and practitioners who bring real-world, real-time experience to the classroom. The School also encourages students to take advantage of the more than 4,000 graduate-level classes available across the University, as well as the School’s many dual-degree programs. Students may assemble their own elective sequences or select from the School’s recommended courses for common career paths, such as entrepreneurship, healthcare, marketing, media, real estate, value investing, and social enterprise.
As per B-School, their Full-Time MBA Program is designed to be completed over four terms (16 months- January intake, 20 months-September intake). The curriculum consists of 18 credits of required core coursework, and a minimum of 42 credits of elective courses. No transfer credits from other institutions may be applied toward the MBA degree.
Students who exempt out of core courses replace them with electives to fulfill the MBA requirement of 60 credits of graduate-level courses taken in residence at the School in four terms of study. Fifty-four of these credits must consist of in-classroom business courses.
Students may count a combined maximum of six credits of Independent Study, Cross-Cultural Seminar, and graduate-level courses from other Columbia schools toward the MBA degree.
While students generally register for 15 credits per term, full-time residence at the Business School is strictly defined as a minimum of 12 credits. Students are permitted to take up to 18 credits per term, and may graduate with more than 60 credits.
A failed core course must be repeated; a failed elective must either be repeated or replaced by another.
2018 Placement Outside the U.S.
Source: 1
Got a comment, question or input? Share it below!
[news_focus cat=”columbia-USA” /]