mbaMission’s 2013-2014 Columbia Business School Essay Analysis
May 21, 2013
This year, Columbia Business School (CBS) continues a trend that has developed over the past three seasons, once again reducing the number of words applicants can use to tell their story. Last year, CBS allowed applicants 200 characters with which to respond to its short-answer question and 1,250 words total for its three essays—not much room to showcase one’s strongest attributes and set oneself apart from the pack. Now, CBS candidates have a mere 100 characters for the short-answer question and 1,000 words for the three essays.
Unfortunately, this reduced word count does not make your task as an applicant any easier—especially when you have only one essay (Essay 3) in which to discuss something outside the professional/academic realm and reveal your more personal side. Hopefully, our essay analysis can help you strategize…
Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (100 characters maximum)
Do not pretend to be anything you are not. Reveal honest, ambitious goals that are also realistic.
These two sentences are 98 characters long. You can now see just how brief you need to be with CBS’s short-answer question. Yet you must still demonstrate that you can convey a point within such strict limits. So, we are sticking with the advice in our example. Do not misguidedly believe that admissions officers have a preference for specific professions or industries—they do not. Think about what you truly want to do with your career and state it directly. Then, be sure that the rest of your application provides evidence that this goal connects to your existing skills and profound interests, making your professed goal achievable and lending credibility to your statement here. If you can do this in 100 characters—and remember that we are talking about characters, not words—you will have answered this question quite well.
Essay 1: Given your individual background, why are you pursuing a Columbia MBA at this time? (Maximum 500 words)
Because the CBS admissions committee is asking “why” you have chosen to pursue an MBA, you can justifiably delve into your professional career and explain how you identified your need for this particular advanced degree. However, take care not to overwhelm the admissions committee with an unnecessary level of detail about your career history. We cannot emphasize this strongly enough—the admissions committee does not want a recap of your entire resume—moreover, such detail would use up valuable word count. Approximately 100–150 words on your past should be enough to provide appropriate context.
You could perhaps offer an anecdote that reveals an academic or experiential void on your part, or explain that now is the right time for you because you have just completed a lengthy assignment and are ready to transition to the next phase of your career. A number of good reasons exist for wanting to earn your MBA now—just make sure that in your essay, the story of your progression is clear and you demonstrate the momentum and advancement that have brought you to this point. You will then need to explain how and why an MBA will serve as a bridge to the next level of your career. Notice that the school very specifically asks why you wish to earn a “Columbia MBA,” so you absolutely must incorporate into your essay elements of the CBS experience that are pertinent to your candidacy. Do not just list classes, but give a reasoned argument that explains how your goals, timing and CBS all intersect to make this the right time and the right experience for you.
Because personal statements are similar from one application to the next, we have produced the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. We offer this guide to candidates free of charge. Please feel free to download your copy today.
For a thorough exploration of CBS’s academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment and more, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to Columbia Business School. We also suggest that you visit the campus (a must if you live anywhere near New York) and use your network to connect with students to gain a firsthand understanding of the CBS experience.
Essay 2: Columbia Business School is located in the heart of the world’s business capital – Manhattan. How do you anticipate that New York City will impact your experience at Columbia? (Maximum 250 words)
Please view the videos below:
New York City – limitless possibilities
New York City – fast paced and adaptable
This question may seem challenging, but the key here is not to consider what New York City offers in general, but to instead focus on what you need from your educational experience and then address how this will be fulfilled or enhanced by the school’s location. We strongly encourage you to develop your core ideas before you watch the two videos the school provides as context for this question. Watching these videos first might lead you to deliver a canned or clichéd response, rather than honestly contemplating your needs and New York City’s ability to respond to them.
If you find that your sincere reasons for wanting to study in New York City are ones that others can also claim—such as proximity to Wall Street—you will need to do your homework and take your research a step further. Offering proximity to Wall Street alone would constitute a clichéd response, but taking your essay to a more granular level and discussing how specific experiential opportunities speak directly to your niche interests will allow you to “own” those resources and really personalize this brief, 250-word essay.
Essay 3: What will the people in your Cluster be pleasantly surprised to learn about you? (Maximum 250 words)
Stop now and consider what the admissions officers will know about you at this point from the other elements of your application they have already reviewed. They will probably have read your resume and thus gotten a sense of your career path to date. Your other essays should have provided an understanding of your goals and why you want to be at CBS and in New York City. They may have had some brief glimpses into your personality through these avenues, but this essay is your overt opportunity—albeit brief—to give the admissions committee a sense of your true character.
The key words in this question are “pleasantly surprised.” Although you certainly want to offer something surprising, you obviously do not want that surprise to be unpleasant. “Surprise” does not need to be understood as “shocked.” Do not think you need to totally revolutionize their understanding of you in a mere 250 words (though if you can, that is fine). Our point is that you should not worry if you have not climbed Mount Everest or launched a $50M venture capital–backed start-up. You are not expected to have spectacular achievement to share—CBS just wants to get to know you better by learning about an interesting aspect of your life. Whether you spent a month volunteering in Peru, helped put your sister through school or are passionate about flamenco dancing, these are all suitable stories, and one is not necessarily better than the other. What is important is that you show how what you do is manifest. You must offer a narrative that engages the reader in your actions and emphasizes how you conduct yourself.
We should note that you do not need to answer a question that was not asked. So in this case, you do not need to tie your response to CBS and explain how this aspect of your life will allow you to contribute to the school or your cluster. Not only is this unnecessary, but such attempts are also often transparent and cloying. If the school wanted you to include such information, it would have asked for it.
Optional Essay: An optional third essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays.
However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay from another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to use in any of your other essays. Instead, this is your opportunity, if needed, to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer may have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, with multiple examples, to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.
Want one-on-one help with your Columbia Business School application? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with an mbaMission Senior Consultant!
Still trying to formulate your list of target b-schools? This week we are spotlighting another top-notch program located in sunny California that is bound to make its way into your top ten: UCLA Anderson School of Management. If you are searching for a historically renowned program positioned in the heart of Southern California, Anderson might just be the program for you.
You’ll have the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Anderson School of Management at our upcoming Road to Business School fairs. Don’t miss your chance to meet one-on-one with admissions representatives from this highly respected program. Register today!
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Founded in the depth of the Great Depression, UCLA Anderson School of Management now ranks among the top-tier business schools in the world. An award-winning faculty renowned for research and teaching, highly selective admissions, successful alumni and world-class facilities combine to provide an extraordinary learning environment in the heart of Southern California.
UCLA Anderson represents a select group of diverse and talented individuals from more than 50 countries around the world and a network of more than 37,000 accomplished and accessible alumni. The school is strategically located in Los Angeles, the business hub of the West Coast and the gateway to South America and the Pacific Rim. The same entrepreneurial spirit that first drew people to the promise of the “City of Angels” provides the driving force behind the most diverse city in the US in its employment base, number of citizenships represented, languages spoken and cultural opportunities. As part of the Anderson program, students will not just witness the excellence that is there now, but will have a daily stake in building on it.
During my time as a GMAT instructor for Kaplan Test Prep, I have had the great pleasure to work with a select few individuals who display such foresight and reason as they stare down the barrel of their future that I hold a special place of respect and admiration for them. Taken individually, they comprise a highly diverse group, but the one thing all have in common is that they are fresh out of undergrad and studying for the GMAT.
I know what happens after undergraduate commencement: life. The vast majority of my aspirant MBAs are 3-5 years into their professional lives by the time they start positioning themselves for b-school. As the reality of the GMAT sets in, these individuals are soon overwhelmed and questioning how they might be able to pull off GMAT study in addition to all of the other things that were already too much to juggle effectively. Many discover that they simply cannot make it all happen. Balls and batons must be sacrificed for the show to go on, so the GMAT and b-school take a backseat to work and life. Maybe later, maybe next year.
The GMAT is the big obstacle for most people interested in attending business school. They already have their undergraduate GPA; they have long-since established relationships with those who will write letters of recommendation; work experience is exactly what they’ve been building since they last left university life; essays must be written, sure, but the source material from which content will be derived has already been lived through. What must be started from scratch, strived for, and completed successfully is the Graduate Management Admission Test.
The GMAT demands time and hard work. I tell all of my students that the best way to frame GMAT prep is to treat it as a part-time job. Set up a schedule and make it the rule, not the exception. The problem for so many GMAT students is that they are already on full-time-plus work schedules and often have partners—even children—that need these would-be GMATers involved in their lives. Furthermore, with respect to timing GMAT prep, all will agree that no aspect of their professional lives has helped prepare them for a test that is valid only to predict academic success.
Now, let’s pan back to the determined clairvoyants I love so much…
GMAT scores are valid for a full 5 years after Test Day. Closing out undergrad marks a time when the brain is fully engaged in student/study-mode and the responsibility payload is never going to lessen. The decision to tackle the GMAT now with the expressed intention of holding the score in your pocket until needed is a tremendous revelation indeed. Even for those that are well beyond their bachelor’s but nonetheless can see a window of relative downtime in the summer, taking on the GMAT before it is required can be a huge boon not only to your score, but also your general well-being.
Summer time is a wondrous time. Vacations, warm weather, long daylight hours… so much of the season is a recipe for joy. But, can you see how The Long Game unfolds? Do you have the dedication, commitment, and discipline to play it? If so, the rewards will be tremendous.
Business School Spotlight: IE Business School
May 8, 2013
Now is the time to very seriously start preparing for the business school application process. Our Road to Business School event series in August is fast approaching and every week leading up to it we are highlighting a new MBA program. This week’s school spotlight features the IE Business School. If you are interested in a unique international experience coupled with a high caliber dynamic MBA program, IE should be at the top of your list.
You’ll have the opportunity to meet with representatives from the IE Business School at our upcoming Road to Business School fairs. Don’t miss your chance to meet one-on-one with admissions representatives from this highly respected program. Register today!
IE Business School
IE is an international institution dedicated to educating business leaders through programs based on the core values of global focus, entrepreneurial spirit, and a humanistic approach.
IE has more than 500 international faculty members which teach a student body composed of more than 90 nationalities in their Undergraduate (IE University), Master, and Doctorate degrees, and Executive Education programs. Their alumni, now numbering over 40,000, hold management positions in some 100 countries worldwide.
Recognized as one of the world’s top business schools, IE is highly ranked for its MBA, Master, and Executive Education programs. IE Business School has an urban campus in Madrid and an online learning environment, thus catering to students who want to experience Madrid and to those who prefer to participate in our Blended programs which allow them to maintain a work-life balance. Our rolling admissions process means that candidates can apply at any time. IE Business School – a truly diverse center for innovation, entrepreneurship, and academic excellence.
Summer is fast approaching, which means that now is the time to very seriously start preparing for the business school application process. Kaplan plans to do our part to help you get a taste of what is out there leading up to our Road to Business School event series in August by highlighting a new MBA program each week. This week’s school spotlight features The Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.
You’ll have the opportunity to meet with representatives from The Fisher College of Business at our upcoming Road to Business School fairs. Don’t miss your chance to meet one-on-one with admissions representatives from this highly respected program. Register today!
Fisher College of Business - The Ohio State University
The Fisher College of Business MBA program prepares every student for an extraordinary career through an action-based, business management education, hands-on learning opportunities, and international experiences. Each student receives personal attention, and benefits from an unparalleled network of resources—including our distinguished faculty, strong business connections, proven career management office, and extensive alumni network.
GMAT Fluency
April 29, 2013
From The Free Dictionary:
flu·ent (flnt)
adj.
1.
a. Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly
b. Flowing effortlessly; polished
2. Flowing or moving smoothly; graceful
3. Flowing or capable of flowing; fluid
fluen·cy n.
fluent·ly adv.
When I teach people how to beat the GMAT a common refrain of mine during class #1 goes something like this:
“It is not enough to study content. It’s not enough to study methods and strategies. It’s not enough to merely understand how to get the right answer to a GMAT question. If you truly want to dominate this test, which is entirely possible for you to do, then you must attain GMAT fluency. You must be fluent in all aspects of the GMAT: content, methodology, strategy, timing, what the GMAT is, what the GMAT is built to test, why you have to take it, what the scores communicate, the levels and types of stress it cultivates, etc., etc., etc. Fluency is the key.”
In Kaplan GMAT courses, we begin our conversation about the Quant and Verbal sections of the test by discussing what we call the GMAT’s four Core Competencies. These core skills are what the GMAT is designed to test and every single question you will face on test day will leverage each of these competencies in some way. A particular problem solving question, for example, may lean heavily on critical thinking and pattern recognition, and less so on paraphrasing and attention to the right detail. The next one, though, might be built almost entirely around one tucked away, camouflaged detail that most test takers brush right by on their way to getting the right answer to the wrong question—a common GMAT mistake. However, the other three central competencies will still lurk within this question and the test will reward those who exercise those skills.
The point of this conversation about what skills the GMAT cares most about, despite my best efforts to make it intriguing, is very often lost on many. I try my best to describe that the GMAT is a definable thing and it belongs in a particular box and that the walls of this box are created by these core competencies. I try my best… but, despite my effort, I watch so many who are new to the game inherit only the most superficial appreciation of these concepts. I move on because there is always so much to do in a Kaplan class, always so much to cover, and I must trust that at some point on their trip down Preparation Road each will, in turn, have their own “a-ha moment” and perhaps revisit the big ideas again. (Admittedly, I help ensure these revelations by consistently tracking the competencies throughout the course.)
Possibly, what makes it a difficult sell initially is that the GMAT will never test whether someone knows what the four core competencies are or what aspects of a particular question pertain to which. Similarly, it is hard for some to remember the names of the Critical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension question types. After all, that terminology will never actually be tested. Yet, the ability to spot and accurately identify these question types is monumentally crucial to test day success. How a question ought to be approached and answered is inextricably tied to its type. Nonetheless, it is a common occurrence in my line of work to engage a seasoned GMAT prep student in conversation over a troublesome question and during that discussion I inquire as to the type of question we are talking about. Promptly, I am then met with a coy smile followed by, “I dunno… assumption? Inference?”
It is not that the student can’t understand the difference between an assumption question vs. an inference question. It is not even that they can’t articulate that difference if really pressed. The problem is that understanding is not enough. This knowledge must be at the very front of your mind. It must flow out of you so effortlessly it is as if you aren’t really even thinking at all—you are just doing.
Fluency is the key. It is difficult to acquire, though entirely possible, and it must be continuously worked in order to maintain once achieved. We most often use and think of fluency in regard to language—of which all of us are fluent in at least one. So, to stick with this line of thinking, I ask you:
Can you speak GMAT? Can you speak it fluently?
How Many Schools Should You Apply To?
April 25, 2013
These days, as candidates consider their strategies for the coming MBA admissions cycle, many have a logical question in mind: How many business schools should I apply? The answer, of course, varies dramatically from applicant to applicant, but the golden rule is that you should only apply to an MBA program if you have enough time to make your application the best it can be. So, if you have time to “perfect” only three applications, then you should focus on applying to just three schools—and not consider submitting five “average” applications.
In terms of a target number—assuming that time is not a factor and you can commit yourself to all of your applications—five or six is generally optimal. With five or six applications, you can apply to a mix of reach, competitive and safe schools and can thereby truly cover your bases. Of course, each applicant has his or her own risk profile and timing to consider, but for most candidates, applying to too few schools can increase the risk of not being admitted, and applying to too many can be overkill.
To get some professional advice on your MBA applications or the business school admissions process, contact mbaMission for a free 30-minute consultation at www.mbamission.com/consult.php.
Business School Spotlight: The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
April 17, 2013
This week we are continuing the ramp up to our Road to Business School event series in August by spotlighting another one of the prestigious schools that will be in attendance: The Isenberg School of Management. The Isenberg School of Management’s beliefs are rooted in the power of collaboration, adaptability, and a strong work ethic. Above all, they value innovative multi-disciplinary project-based learning, and a close personal connection between students, faculty, and the vast network of successful alumni. The school is located at the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst – a resource-rich, public research institution renowned for its accomplishments in technology, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
You’ll have the opportunity to meet with representatives from The Isenberg School of Management at our upcoming Road to Business School fairs. Don’t miss your chance to meet one-on-one with admissions representatives from this highly respected program. Register today!
The Isenberg School of Management, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
The Isenberg Full-time MBA is a 2-year residency program designed for individuals who want an on-campus experience and desire to specialize in a specific area of business. The first year is focused on core business curriculum while the second year provides the freedom to focus on your particular area of interest. The Isenberg experience offers individual attention, a collaboration culture, exceptional ROI, and long-term career success. The Isenberg MBA gives you the freedom to complete your degree on your own terms. It’s about options – the flexibility to pursue your studies full-time at their flagship campus, completely online from anywhere in the world, or in a blended format at one of their satellite campus locations in Massachusetts. Online and blended options offer the same AACSB-accredited curriculum and accomplished faculty as full-time, traditional classes – the difference lies in the freedom and convenience provided by these alternative venues. Rigorous regardless of its flexible format, the Isenberg MBA provides up-to-date knowledge and skills for today’s complex business environments.
Isenberg attracts motivated students from all 50 states and 19 foreign countries and continues to garner attention from the nation’s biggest, most profitable, and most influential companies – over 47% of students in the program are employed by Fortune 100 companies. As one of the first major accredited business schools to pioneer offering graduate education online, the Isenberg MBA is enterprising, with a strong emphasis on experiential, collaborative learning.
The Isenberg MBA has received ongoing national recognition including:
#6 Best Online MBA Program under $50,000 (The Best Colleges, 2011)
#8 Top Part-time Best Business School in the Northeast (BusinessWeek, 2011)
#10 Smart Choice Online MBA programs (SuperScholar, 2012)
#18 Top 25 Online MBA Programs (The Best Colleges, 2011)
#28 Best Part-time MBA (US News, 2012)
The School is also home to the Center for International Securities & Derivatives Markets, the Virtual Center for Supernetworks, the Mark H. McCormack Center for Sport Research & Education, the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and the Chase Career Center, a professional development resource tailored especially for the needs of business students.
For more information on the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, please visit: www.isenberg.umass.edu/mba.
Choosing the schools that will hit your short list of b-school targets is a tough task. Kaplan plans to do our part to help you get a taste of what is out there. Leading up to our Road to Business School event series in August, we’ll introduce you to a new program each week. This week’s school spotlight features Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, located in the heart of Baltimore, MD. By considering JHCBS, not only will you get a world class education, but you’ll be able to satisfy your craving for amazing crab cakes in one of the East Coast’s largest cities.
You’ll have the opportunity to meet with representatives from Johns Hopkins at our upcoming Road to Business School fairs. Don’t miss your chance to meet one-on-one with admissions representatives from an incredibly innovative and highly regarded program. Register today!
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is dedicated to producing innovative leaders with broad, interdisciplinary knowledge and continuing the Johns Hopkins tradition of bringing innovative business management programs to the ever-changing workplace. The program is committed to educating humanistic business leaders and entrepreneurs who can transform business and in the process help society thrive.
The Carey Business School’s offerings include a full-time Global MBA, Executive and Flexible MBAs and Masters Degrees in Enterprise Risk Management, Marketing, Financial Business, Real Estate and Infrastructure, and Health Care Management.
As a part of the Road to Business School event series that will take place in August, we’ll be featuring a different business school every week to help you explore your options. Keep in mind that the schools featured will be participating in our upcoming business school fairs, so you’ll have the chance to meet them in person or virtually during the Road series.
Finding the right school for you is always a challenge. Take the time to dig in and get to know each program as you do your research. This week’s spotlight is on Smeal.
Penn State Smeal College of Business
The Penn State Smeal MBA is a two-year, full-time, internationally ranked MBA Program that has been designed to provide the connections, resources, learning, and experiences to transform business life and the business world. The program focuses on four critical thematic areas: Global Perspective, Total Business Focus, Functional Expertise, and Principled Leadership. At Penn State Smeal, students customize their experience to suit their aspirations while leveraging the resources the program offers such as personal focus in and out of the classroom and a tight-knit community with students from around the world.
